CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Two more subregional sites saw a double dose of upsets. In Orlando, #7S-Xavier shocked #2S-Mississippi St. followed by #6W-Vanderbilt staging an incredible comeback to beat #3W-North Carolina St. NC St. had an 10 point lead with 3 minutes left and gave the game away with two fouls on 3-pt attempts and a breakaway foul (essentially a 5-pt play; two free throws plus the ball, which they made a 3-pointer). In Columbus, fans saw #5S-Illinois put #4S-Cincy out of its misery (the 7th time in the past 8 years the highly seeded Bearcats failed to reach the Sweet 16) and then saw the King of Kings, #1MW-Kentucky, fall to #9MW-Alabama-Birmingham. So two #1 and two #2 seeds fail to make the Sweet 16. #3MW-Georgia Tech and #3E-Pitt held off their fiesty opponents, the latter doing it in #6E-Wisconsin's home state. #2E-Oklahoma St. won easily and #4MW-Kansas finally put away #12MW-Pacific late in the game.

With four of the top 8 seeds arleady gone, the pool has turned ugly. Five of the top 9 entries have lost their champion (41 overall have). Just 3 have their Final Four intact and none near the top (YELLOWMONKEY (42nd-Tied, 74), HOOPSTER (49th-T, 72), and ELDO (49th-T)). It'll be an interesting finish.

BINGO, RANDOM PICKS, and PINKBUBBLES share the lead with 86 points. Four went 6-2 today while LARZ (76th, 65) tied a record low by going 1-7. SAMURAI JACK (77) got a pool high of 11 correct in the 2nd Round and moved from a tie for 72nd place to a tie for 26th which shows one should never give up.

However, we now know for certain who is eliminated from the top 4 prizes and now know who should give up (but remember, one can still win the Bonus Prize). Twenty-one entries have been eliminated. The most interesting quirks. DC944 (84) who sits tied for 4th place just two points off the lead, can't finish higher than 2nd place. UTLA WARRIOR (76) just ten points off the lead in a tie for 31st place, is eliminated while ONE EAGLE (62) who is tied for 76th place, still has a chance to win first place!

BINGO is in the best shape, with a high of 16.7% chance of winning it all and a 57.6% chance of winning money (of course some of that is padded with such possibilities as a UAB-Alabama final). BABY B (7th-T, 82) is the only other entry (11.6%) with a greater than 10% chance of winning first and 35 entries overall still have a chance for that top prize. RANDOM PICKS has a 31.9% chance of money followed by THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA (7th-T) with a 24.6% chance.

Tomorrow, we will reveal the prize money structure and Bonus Prize information. Some of you who find yourselves eliminated from the top prize money will now be revived with a chance to win the Bonus Prize. Don't tear those brackets yet!

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Kentucky and Cincy's coaching jobs in jeopardy?...
Scott