JOSHUA TREE NP/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Is there anything more annoying than seeing Duke's Coach K in nearly every commercial? Well, at least we won't have to see him 2 hours at a time anymore. #5S-Michigan St. upset #1S-Duke, 78-68, taking advantage of 22 Blue Devil turnovers. The Spartans will face #2S-Kentucky, who also won by 10 (62-52) over #6S-Utah, who shot just 50% from the charity stripe (14/28).

#6E-Wisconsin completed the Big 10's sweep over the ACC by igniting their offense, of all things, in the 2nd half in ousting NC State, 65-56. The Badgers, who trailed by 9 at the half, had no assists and 11 turnovers in the first half but came out of the half blazing, going on a 26-7 run and never let the Wolfpack get closer than five. #1E-UNC prevented the ACC from getting shut out in the Elite 8 by holding on to a 67-66 win over #5E-Villanova. UNC nearly blew a 10-point lead with 3:45 left but survived by hitting free throws and by getting a timely traveling call (the correct call as it turned out).

LUCKORBUST remained in first with 102 pts but lost his champion, Duke. FLIP FIGHTERS was one of 3 entries to go 3-1 for the day to move into 2nd with 100 pts. DARA continued the move upward and is now sitting tied for 5th with 94 pts. Five entries went 5-3 for the Round that featured five non-1 or 2 seed winners. KAIZEN (37th-Tied, 84 pts) was the only one to pick Michigan St but was already elminated. Five picked Wisconsin (vs 3 for NC St), four of which are still in contention. HOOPGURU (20th-T, 88) just got 4 of 8 correct but all 4 were his Final Four teams and is the only entry with such a chance. On the flip side, REGGIEK945 (Last, 58) and TROY SOLDIERS 2 (22nd-T, 87) don't have any Final Four teams left. In fact, REGGIEK945 went 0-for-8 and is just the 2nd person to ever to do. Congrats, I think.

BIRTH-ILLINOIS-DEATH is now dead and joins 55 others. Just 26 are alive for the top 4 prizes and only 12 can win first. FLIP FIGHTERS now has the best chance to win first (25%) and money (89%). Five others have a 10-15% chance for 1st and six others have a 20%+ chance to win money. And, if you're following the saga, BIRD LEGS now has a 1 in 128 chance to win money (started at 4 in 32,768). Amazing.

As for the bonus, the ACC collapse has left just 12 with a chance for the Bonus Prize. In fact, if the Big 10 does too well, no one will win the Bonus Prize and the money will be filtered back to the top 4 prizes. Here is the latest:

      Teams Curr Max Poss
Conf.  Left Wins   Wins
------ ---- ---- -------
Big 10    3   9    15   (Illinois, Michigan St, Wisconsin)
ACC       1   9    12   (UNC)
Big East  1   7    10   (West Virginia)