CERRITOS, CA (smt)- #12E-Manhattan routed 2000 Runner-up #5E-Florida (the 15th time in the past 16 years at least one #12 seed has won) and #10MW-Nevada picked up their first-ever tournament win over 2000 Champion #7MW-Michigan St. providing the only two upsets of the day. #8E-Texas Tech, #4W-Maryland, #8W-Alabama, #4E-Wake Forest, #5W-Syracuse (Gerry McNamara had 9 3-pt baskets en route to 43 points), #8S-Seton Hall, and #7W-DePaul (in double OT; both teams combined to miss 28 free throws) squeaked by while #2W-UConn, #3S-Texas, and #6S-UNC pulled away late. The three #1 seeds (E-St. Joseph's, W-Stanford, and S-Duke) and #2MW-Gonzaga had easy victories (average margin of victory: 26.8). Interesting note: Texas was 12/35 (34%) from 2-pt range and 11/15 (73%) from 3-pt range while its opponent #14S-Princeton was 5/26 (19%) from 3-pt range.

As for the pool, my prediction of around 50-55 entries was way off (as are my picks after 16 games- tied for 56th). We unofficially have 81 entries but two are not confirmed yet (and are noted in the standings). The official total will be reflected on Saturday morning. Our record is 80 entries in 2002 so we will probably fall one short. Seven people have tried their luck by entering twice while one has submitted 3 entries (as he has for the past 3 years). Four people had multiple entries last year and none won. The prize breakdown will be announced later this weekend. We got a record 48 entries on Wednesday (previous record 34), which drives us nuts but we enjoy it and hopefully you all do, too. Thanks for your participation and support. Now on to the results!

FABIO (2nd-Tied, 28 pts) won his first 13 games before Arizona failed him. However, it was JEDI MASTER ROB who leads the pack with a 15-1 record (30 pts). Seven are tied for 2nd. Three are tied for last going 9-7 (16 pts). GATOR BLIND (56th-T, 22) lost his champion, Florida, while defending pool champion BIG LUTHER (30th-T, 24) lost his champion, Arizona (Darryn B. still has one other entry with its champion alive). Three others lost one of their Final 4 teams. But it's still too early to call anything. No previous pool champion has ever took the top prize twice and the five former champions (1995, 2000-2003) who are playing are tied for 30th or lower.

(Based on 81 entries) - Just 11 people picked Seton Hall (unusual for a #8 seed), only 21 picked Nevada, while 26 picked Manhattan. The split decisions were DePaul (44-37) and Alabama (46-35). As far as picking the champion, 15 teams got picked with Stanford getting 21 votes (26%). Duke (16), #1MW-Kentucky (13), and UConn (11) were the only other teams with 10 or more votes. Twenty-eight (28) think Kentucky will make the final while 27 think Stanford is in the big game. For the top seeds, 11 think St. Joseph's won't make the Sweet 16 while 10 think Duke won't.

Whew. One day down.

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The Madness is upon us...
Scott