CERRITOS, CA (smt)- While #9MW-UAB, #8W-Alabama, and #10MW-Nevada try to continue their amazing Cinderella runs, #2W-UConn, and #3MW-Georgia Tech, and #1S-Duke will try to take advantage of an opened up bracket en route to the Final Four. #1E-St. Joseph's still doesn't get any respect as all four top seeds are alive in the East (or East Rutherford) Region. Upsets seem unlikely, but we've heard that before.

In the pool, BINGO, RANDOM PICKS, and PINKBUBBLES are tied for first but only BINGO still has his champion alive (Duke). ONE EAGLE and JAREBOK, who have both their top 2 teams alive (Pit and Conn), will try to do the unthinkable and rise from the 70's and finish in the top 4. With each correct pick worth 4 points today and Friday, the stakes are high. YELLOWMONKEY, ELDO, and HOOPSTER have all their Final Four teams and are in good shape to make a move upward. More upsets can only help those near the top of the standings. Those at the bottom need every point they can get.

And now, my Sweet 16 Thoughts & Observations:

About the pool...

1) 79 entries. Just short of our record of 80 but still a good jump over last year's 63 entries. It looked like we'd hit about 50-55 but we got a whopping 60 entries in the last 33 hours. Are people are actually thinking about their brackets trying to get the last piece of info before submitting?
2) Amazing pick. SCHADENFREUDE (geez, I hope she doesn't do well cause it's a pain to try to remember how to spell it :-)) picked #10MW-Nevada over fan favorite #2MW-Gonzaga. Why? If she wins by 1 or 2 points, that's the reason.
3) Amazing dopes? One round earlier, GATOR BLIND tried to oust Gonzaga with #15MW-Valparaiso. Also, MARTY THE GREEK was all alone in hoping for a #14E-Central Florida miracle (over #3E-Pitt). But LARZ was the only person to not only entry to incorrectly pick #14MW-Northern Iowa would upset #3MW-Georgia Tech, but he had them going to the Sweet 16!
4) West Coast Bias. While most #8/#9 matchups are evenly split, the Pac-10 earned undeserved respect with 68 picking #9S-Arizona and 51 picking #8MW-Washington... both were wrong. Also, a high of 21 entries thought Stanford would go all the way and 17 thought Gonzaga would make the Final Four. Stanford was also the only team all entries thought would make the Sweet 16.
5) Open field. A record 15 different teams were picked to win it all. Just one picked #1E-St. Joseph's and just one picked defending champion #5W-Syracuse. Twenty-six (26) teams were picked to make the Final Four, one short of the record.
6) Whoa. What about a Final Four of Stanford, St. Joseph's, Washington, and Arizona? BRENT's faith in the Pac-10 killed him bigtime.
7) Sizzlin'. JODON007 got a high of 29 of 32 correct in the first round.
8) Fizzlin'. JODON007 only got 7 of 16 correct in the second round to fall into a tie for 18th.
9) Just izzlin'?. SAMURAI JACK tied for 72nd after one round. Two days later, he is tied for 26th place, 8 points off the lead, and 6 of 8 Elite 8 teams alive.
10) One-Sided. 53 of 79 entries have the champion coming from the right side of the bracket (South and West).
11) By Seedings. If you picked a straight ticket, you'd have 83 points and be tied for 6th. Of course, your champion Kentucky would be gone as well as Stanford.

About the tournament...

12) Buzzer Beaters. There were none. Yeah, we had the clutch layup by Alabama in the first round but that still left five seconds left. Here's a list: Southern Illinois (vs Alabama), Dayton (regulation), Dayton (1st OT, 0.4 seconds left), Dayton (1st OT, 0.0 seconds left), East Tennessee St., Washington, UNC, Stanford, Maryland, Boston College, NC St., and Kentucky. All missed their last second shot to tie or win the game. 0-for-12. The last gasp... all failed.
13) Commercials. CBS has it down pat. They can go to a commercial, come back and switch to another game, which in seconds is going to a commercial as well. I think in a one 10-minute span I saw 2 minutes of actual basketball.
14) Regions. The Phoenix Region? It sucks. And we ignore it. Give us our West, South, Midwest, and East Regions please. Have you seen some sites try to abbreviate? "E-RUTH", "ER", "E-R", "Er..." (East Rutherford).
15) Choking. I know they're just kids and aren't being paid, but it's frustrating to see the demoralized looks on these "favorites" as they go down by 8-10 points late in the game. Gonzaga, Stanford, Mississippi St., NC St., Kentucky. Geez. You *are* the top seed, play like one.
16) Gifts. And these top seeds gave the games away. It was bad enough to blow a 13-point lead (by getting outscored 16-0 in a 5:49 span) with over nine minutes left (Stanford) or the *best* team in the tournament losing a late 4-point lead in 25 seconds, but to blow a 11-point lead with 3:44 left (NC St.)? It's only possible if you foul the other team on every play (Stanford), foul a player shooting a three, not once but twice (NC St.), or turnover the ball four times in less than two minutes (Kentucky).

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Poor Alabama St. got creamed by Duke...
Scott