CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Illinois and North Carolina were our top two predicted teams to win it all in our 11th HWCI NCAA Pool and as scripted, they met in the Final. But like 1999 when Duke and UConn were one and two, number two won out again, giving UNC coach Roy Williams his first national title and sending a 37-2 Illinois team home just short of their "dream season". Last comment, Illinois really did everything right in the last couple of minutes (well, before the errant pass) in terms of shot selection... they had open looks but just missed them. Very well coached but sometimes it just comes down to execution and there's nothing you can do once a ball is fired from 20 feet away on target. Sometimes you miss.

One more thing... for some reason, I was listening to the Women's semifinals on the radio and there are two female announcers. Exactly, what does it mean when the lead announcer says "get your girl panties up"? Are there guy panties? Can you even say panties on the radio these days? Can you picture Dick Vitale saying "get your guy bikini briefs up"? Okay, maybe, but can you picture Billy Packer saying that? And then I am watching the final, and the female coach is spanking her teammates (hard, I must say) on the butt as they exit the game. Is this progress? Is this what I've been missing??

But, anyhow, here are some final thoughts on the crazy tournament and even crazier pool.

RPI RIP?: Kansas was #1 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) despite losing 4 of their last 7 games. And then they were bounced in the 1st round, snapping a 21-game 1st Round win streak. In fact, 5 of the top 7 and 7 of the top 10 teams didn't make it past the third round and UNC was #6.

TIRESOME: The first several days weren't pretty. Lots of missed dunks, players trying to lean into a defender for a foul (almost never called), and top seeds playing very tense marred the magic of the games.

THEN MAGIC: Then, Wake Forest-West Virginia. 216 points. Two overtimes. WF's Eric Williams incredible block to save the game in regulation. And (WV's Mike) Gansey, Gansey, Gansey. And it got better after that... WV-Texas Tech... Arizona-OK State... UNC-Villanova.... then the magical Elite 8 games... then the Final. Slight edge for WF-WV for best game followed by Arizona-Illinois and then WV-Louisville (all those 3's).

BEST SHOT THAT FELL: Again, no buzzer beaters to win the game :-( Second straight year of that. But we did have a buzzer beater that fell to tie a score that literally came almost two seconds after the buzzer sounded. Kentucky's Patrick Sparks double-pump three-point attempt danced on the rim before falling to send the game into OT vs Michigan St. But no, more drama, as refs reviewed the play to see if a shoelace was on the line or not... how could they even think about taking it away if it wasn't conclusive on the first couple looks at the replays?

BEST SHOT THAT DIDN'T FALL: You'd think you'd never see a shot like Duke's Christain Laettner's vs Kentucky because teams would know how to defend against it. Well, we almost had one again. Kansas' Wayne Simien caught the court-length pass, turned and shot but it was just short, giving Bucknell an improbable win. And that would've been our buzzer-beater! Damn it!

UNDERRATED: Michigan St, Wisconsin, heck, the Big 10 in general. Low seeds West Virginia and Louisville unfortunately had to meet each other but gave us another classic game.

OVERRATED: Wake Forest, Washington, Kansas, UConn, and once-loved Gonzaga.

LIVE AND DIE: Illinois lived and died by the 3-point shot (they took 40 in the Final). But Arizona only lived with Salim Stoudamire because they never gave the ball to him in the final possession of regulation and overtime in the loss to Illinois.

CONGRATS: Now two-time champ Robinson C ($400), newcomer and online entrant Paul T ($195), fellow Raytheon coworker Roy W ($135), and Patrick N ($90).

BONUS: No bonus. Wow. The Big 10, supposedly ranked the 6th best conference (even with Illinois), finished tied with the ACC with 12 wins. Since no one picked both the ACC and Big 10 with 12, no one won the Bonus Prize. More money to the victors!

PLAY-IN: For the first time, someone actually picked the Play-In Winner to beat a #1 seed (of course, it didn't happen). Someone also picked Fairleigh Dickinson to beat Illinois. And the one team EVERYONE picked to go to the Sweet 16, WF, failed to do so.

NICE TURNAROUND: Roy W was 54th and 65th the past two years before claiming 3rd. Patrick N went from tied for 60th after one round to 4th. Jane D (BIRD LEGS) went from 4/32768 odds to 1/2 before losing in the tiebreaker (moving from tied for 76th after Round 1 to 5th). In reverse, Troy B (TROY SOLDIERS 2) went from a tie for 1st after one round (tied for 6th after 2 rounds!) to finishing 73rd.

TIEBREAKER: This is just the third time a tiebreaker was used to split the top prizes and this was the closest one yet. Just two points prevented Jane D from taking home money. So close. Also, for the first time, no one clinched money going into the Final making it extremely stressful for 12 entries (11 people).

MULTIPLE POSSIBILITIES: While all 9 multiple entries went moneyless last year, two of the 8 people who entered more than once won money. But note, that in the 11 years of the pool, only two (Robinson C this year and myself in 1999) out of 42 multiple entrants have ever won on their 2nd or 3rd entry. In other words, of the 7 who have won when entering more than once, five have been on what would've been their first entry anyway. But feel free to enter twice... we need to increase the pot.