CERRITOS, CA (smt) - Last year, every #1-#3 seed plus two #4 seeds made the Sweet 16.  This year, halfway through the second round, a #1, #2, two #3's and a #4 will not make it.  The biggie, of course, was #9MW-Northern Iowa's stunning upset of the #1 of #1 seeds, Kansas, 69-67.  The Jayhawks had seemingly put behind their horrid history in the tournament, winning in 2008, but apparently the monkey may be climbing back on their back as this is the 3rd time they have lost in the 2nd round as a #1 seed.  The end of the game was not pretty (though suspenseful) by any means.  Northern Iowa in the last few minutes?  Four turnovers while trying to inbound the ball leading to six points (and could've eight but...).  Kansas in the last few minutes?  Missing the front end of a one-and-one (additional 2 points lost off a turnover), two charges, another free throw missed.  And what could've been the most regrettable play, the Panthers leading by one with 42 seconds left, they finally broke the press and Ali Farokhmanesh shoots a three with 30 seconds left on the shot clock and nailed it, breaking the Jayhawks' back, as they pushed it back up and Tyrel Reed was called for a charge (he was also the one who backed off of Farokhamesh).  Farokhamesh was also the one who took the very long three that ended up being the game-winner vs. UNLV.  His "cultness" reminds me of Pittsnogled (Kevin Pittsnogle), the West Virginia three point specialist back in 2005 who rained in threes at will.  What do I call this?  Farokhameshed^TM?

There were other games and the day started off with #10S-St. Mary's (Ca.) which also used a possibly regrettable play as Mickey McConnell took a very long three that banked in to break a 65-65 tie and send #2S-Villanova home.  #13W-Murray St. outplayed #5W-Butler but couldn't hold on to a late two-point lead and then failed to get a shot off at the end of the game to either tie or win it.  #3S-Baylor went on a 14-4 run late to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time.  #11E-Washington had an surprisingly easy time against the highest ranking mid-major, #3E-New Mexico, go give the Pac-10 a 3-0 record so far.  #6MW-Tennessee, #2W-Kansas St. (by amazingly hitting their free throws), and #1E-Kentucky rolled to wins.

Kansas has been in our pool for all 16 years, the only team to be in every single one.  Below is how they have fared (light green cells is the furthest they advanced) and how we picked them.  As a #1 seed, they have failed to reach the Final 4 three times and have done poorly so many times, that in 2008 when they won it all, nearly half didn't think they'd make the Final Four.

Year	Sd	Region	Team	W6	W5	W4	W3	W2	W1	W0
1995	1	MW	KANSAS	0	1	3	4	3	1	0
1996	2	W	KANSAS	2	2	12	0	3	0	0
1997	1	SE	KANSAS	12	4	5	0	1	0	0
1998	1	MW	KANSAS	4	10	10	3	1	0	0
1999	6	MW	KANSAS	0	0	0	0	1	33	2
2000	8	E	KANSAS	0	0	0	0	0	16	20
2001	4	MW	KANSAS	0	1	1	10	27	16	4
2002	1	MW	KANSAS	11	11	19	19	8	11	1
2003	2	W	KANSAS	4	2	5	19	20	11	2
2004	4	M(STL)	KANSAS	1	0	2	6	55	13	2
2005	3	E(SYR)	KANSAS	1	1	6	23	36	14	1
2006	4	W(OAK)	KANSAS	0	5	10	16	20	31	3
2007	1	W	KANSAS	12	16	11	43	7	8	1
2008	1	MW	KANSAS	7	11	37	36	9	1	0
2009	3	MW	KANSAS	1	4	7	26	45	29	2

Wow.  Well, who would've thought Kansas would lose in the 2nd Round?  Well, Jonna Rocks did.  And she used that to jump from a tie for 90th to a tie for 37th (57 pts) (BamaG 2 also made a similar jump).  She was one of seven entries to go 5-3 in this upset filled day.  Buckeye23 and Flip Fighters both went 1-7 for the day (tying the record low held by 3 others) to go from a tie for 38th to a tie for 104th.  But who's in first?  Well, Jon J. is doing well as his picks are 1-2, SilverSurfer (69) and SlackJaw (67) but both have lost their champ ('Nova and Kansas, respectively).  Of the top 12, just 2 still have their champ but none have all Final Four teams.  Just six entries still have all their Final Four teams.  This is out of 117, not 118 entries, as Troyboy4 (who still had 3 of his Final Four teams) was removed due to lack of response of how payment was going to be done.  This person seemed to exist as the email was valid and could be found in a search but oh, well, no response.  117 is still pretty impressive.  This is the first time since 2004 we had to remove entries.  We have improved our screening process a lot since we had to remove 19 entries in 2003!

You can now view the OFFICIAL list of people in our pool and you can find out who Jonna Rocks or Buckeye23 are.  Please explain your nickname or discuss which nicknames you like, don't like, or don't understand in our discussion forum.

   Tids & Bits - So we are going to call this pool official and go with 117 entries...  one small caveat is if we get mailed in bracket with payment postmarked Thursday AM on Monday, but it's be eons since I remember getting one... the first and second day standings will still reflect 118 entries though I may amend it later (Sisyphus, you could now go from 118th to 117th!)... speaking of Sisyphus, already starting the day in last, he then proceeded to lose Villanova, New Mexico, and Kansas in his Final Four... two others (Marty the Greek and #1 also have just one team left in their Final Four)...  you can now view the OFFICIAL team choice distribution and individual choice distribution online... 64 picked Kansas to win it all, 83 had them in the Final and 95 had them in the Final Four... 49 had Villanova in the Final Four... AndyParsons2 and Max Approved were the only ones to pick St. Mary's... ten picked the Huskies, so there are those who gave the Pac-10 some love; six are picking Cal tomorrow... 17 picked Tenn and 50 picked Butler... the last time a #1 failed to advance to the Sweet 16 was in 2004 when 2 failed to do so... so part of my limited research is free throw shooting, and Georgia Tech and K-State are two of the worst so I didn't pick them to go very far; yet Ga Tech made 24/25 yesterday and K-State hit 27/30 and held on for victories...