TUCSON, AZ (smt)- #1MW-Kansas rallied from 9 points down with 2:12 left in beating #1S-Memphis, 75-68, in overtime for the Jayhawks' first title since 1988.  First, after a Jayhawk basket, Antonio Anderson stole the inbound pass which led to Sherron Collins' 3-pointer to cut the lead to 4.  Then, the Tigers suddenly reverted to their old form and missed 4 straight free throws in the last 1:15 (including the first of a one-on-one).  Then KU avoided getting fouled and Mario Chalmers hit a 3-point basket with 2.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime, tied at 63.  KU scored the first six points of overtime and never let the Tigers get within three the rest of the way.  Kansas jumped to an early 7-point lead and led by 3 at 47-44 before Memphis went on a 16-4 run to lead 60-51.  But Kansas closed the half on a 12-3 run in 2:12.

Watched the most of the game at Sam Hughes’ Place in Tucson with about 16 co-workers and a surprisingly pro-Kansas crowd. So when Chalmers hit the 3, the place went crazy as we headed to OT.  The place had dozens of HDTVs (though only regular TV in the bathrooms) so you can watch from any angle at our table.  Watching it live, I was questioning why Derrick Rose's circus bank shot (c'mon!  if Memphis would've won it would have left the same bad taste in my mouth as Eli's Hail Mary throw in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl) was ruled a 3-pointer.  Sure enough, as we come out of commercial, the refs reversed it.  One crucial point.

That one crucial point helped Cliff T (BELUCKY2) win the 14th HWCI NCAA Pool with 146 points and sent Robinson C's (FLIP FIGHTERS) bid to top the all-time earnings mark of $1,000 home.  He also became the first person to ever have a perfect Last-7 (all 4 Final Four teams, both finalists, and the champ correctly picked) and won his last 10 games overall.  He won just 44 games (and just 5 of 8 Elite 8 teams) while two (JUNO INO and FLYING ACE (who finished 11th) won 47.  The 3 wins is the largest margin for a winner (for most points) who did not have the most wins.

The overtime added 17 points (total: 143) which was enough to give Bob G (COBI'S DAD) the tiebreaker and 2nd place over Doug H (JUNO INO) who took 3rd.  The top 3 winners are all first-time winners (Cliff & Bob's 1st wins in 10 pools; Doug's 1st in five pools).  Don C (DC944) won 4th place for the second straight year (total: $205 in 3 pools) winning the tiebreaker over Jeff H (U BETTA BELIEVE IT), who won for the 3rd time (total: $340 in 6 pools) in taking our first-ever 5th place prize.  Three of the 7 who picked Kansas won money.  Jake P's JOHNNY APPLEHIGHSEEDS, which was picked by highest seed, finished 6th, just one point of money (ooh, what change could he have made?  Just one extra 1st round win would have given him 4th place).  Once again, picking the top seeds does not yield money (and hasn't since 1996, a measly $60).

The Jayhawk win gave the Big 12 12 wins for the winningest conference title for the second time since 2003.  Four people were eligible for the Bonus Prize which was won by Robby D (ARBEDYTHREE), also a first-time winner (4th year).

PRIZE		MONEY		NAME		ENTRY
-----		-----		----		-----
1st Place	$440		Cliff T		Belucky2
2nd Place	$220		Bob G		Cobi's Dad
3rd Place	$150		Doug H		Juno Ino
4th Place	$100		Don C		DC944
5th Place	$ 60		Jeff H		U Betta Believe It
Bonus		$ 40		Robby D		ArbedyThree

Notes / ملاحظا:  Once again, Kansas had more turnovers than its opponent, this time 17-13 (last game: 19-18)... Once again, Kansas scored 50 points in the paint so it looked doubtful KU could come back by hitting 3-pointers but only needed two in the final minutes... Memphis had hit 75% (9-12) of their free throws before missing those critical four in a row (lost 5 points as one was a front end of a one-and-one)... this is the 3rd straight year the Champ has come out of the Midwest Regional... all four teams (Memphis with 38 this year) who have won 37 or more games failed to win the championship... Kansas and Memphis were picked by 7 (each)...  FABIO was the lowest placed entry (73rd) who picked Kansas... POOLRAIDER has picked 3 of the last 4 champions (only Lisa F had that type of run (1999-2002))... had Chalmers not hit the game-tying shot, the 123 points would have caused two women, Yumi S (9ERS IN 09) and Nikki N (BLUESTARS1996), to split the $40 prize (Bonus2)... there was a record 9-way tie for 32nd place (116 pts)... BRACKET BUSTER, SANTANA, and XK2XBOILX all correctly picked 143 points (sorry, no prizes for that)...