Friday, March 28, 2003
Issue # 10.3.2 "Cinderellas Fall"
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ROSEMEAD/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- #1E-Oklahoma survived a #12E-Butler scare, 65-54, as they had trouble pulling away until the last couple of minutes. The other double-digit seed, #10E-Auburn rallied from 17 points down but #3E-Syracuse held on, 79-78. In the South, #1S-Texas blew a 14-pt lead but hit their free throws (and a little home state Texas luck) to beat #5S-UConn, 82-78. Defending champion #6S-Maryland used an amazing 15-0 run in just 3:46 to pull ahead by one with less than four minutes to play as #7S-Michigan St. couldn't turnover the ball fast enough (at one stretch, Maryland scored 8 points while Michigan St. took no shots). But big Spartan freshman Paul Davis scored on three consecutive shots including a monster dunk to tie and the game-winning bank with 4.3 seconds left to give Michigan St. a 60-58 win.

The Sweet 16 was one of the most exciting and even had the six teams who have won the past seven championships (Kentucky '96 & '98, Arizona '97, UConn '99, Michigan St. '00, Duke '01, and Maryland '02) and a couple of recent former championship matchups (Kentucky-Utah '96 in 2nd Round, Michigan St.-Florida '00 in 2nd Round, and will Kentucky-Arizona '98 happen in Final Four?). Arizona had the only easy win of the 8 games. The rim also had a big day, helping Texas get a key possession late when the ball on UConn's end got wedged against the rim and backboard with the possession arrow pointing Texas' way and blocking Maryland's Steve Blake's uncontested layup when Blake couldn't decide whether to slam or lay in the easy basket and instead banged the ball against the side of the rim with 11 minutes to play.

The second day of the Sweet 16 saw 16 people eliminated from the top four spots and left just 12 entries battling for first place. In proof how crazy this pool is, the past eight games saw 10 of the top 15 entries knocked out of a chance to win first and four entries knocked out completely. MR. WIZARD moved up to first with 111 points and ZIPPY to second with 110. BLOOMERS123, who started the day 6th, was eliminated by the third game. DENVER BLIZZARD (3rd, 108 pts) and BINGO (4th-Tied,106) can't win first! GALAXY (91) sitting tied for 37th place still has a chance to win first. Just 2 people picked Michigan St. (DARA (22nd-T, 97) and GHOST OF VALVANO (40th-T, 90). MARTINI BLUES (25th-T, 96), which is an actual blues nightclub in Huntington Beach!) and THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA (33rd-T, 92) were 2 of 3 people to put Maryland in the Final and were eliminated.

Defending pool champion THE FABO9ERS (who won't repeat) was one of 12 players to go 3-1, but just as important, had Maryland lose, pushing him from tied for 31st to start the Sweet 16 to tied for 7th by going 7-1. Four entries went 0-4 with BLUEBERRY (62nd, 74) and TEAM SAMURAI (63rd, 72) going 1-7 for the round. YELLOW MONKEY (16th, 100) began the day with a chance to win first but lost that chance with Oklahoma's win, lost a chance for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd with Texas' win, and was eliminated alltogether with Michigan St.'s win.

MR. WIZARD is close to money with a 73.4% chance of winning money and a 30.5% chance of claiming first. ZIPPY also has a 30.5% chance of winning first and a 46% chance of winning money. But that can change tomorrow.

As for the Bonus Prize, 34 are still in the running, all with the BIG 12. Here is the latest winningest conference standings. The BIG EAST went 1-3 in the Sweet 16 but the BIG 12 went 3-0. The BIG 12 now leads with 11 wins. The winning conference will have at least 11 wins. The PAC-10, ACC, BIG 10, and SEC conferences can't have the most wins now, leaving just the BIG EAST and BIG 12 conferences.

      Teams Curr Max Poss
Conf.  Left Wins   Wins
------ ---- ---- -------
Big 12    3  11    17    KAN, TEX, OKL
Big East  1   9    12    SYR