CARSON & CERRITOS, CA (smt) - #6MW-Tennessee reached its first Elite 8 by beating #2MW-Ohio St., 76-73.  The Buckeyes reduced to a one-man team (Evan Turner, 31 pts) which hampered them down the stretch when the Vols figured this out.  It seemed like the Buckeyes were just watching him play and were lackadaisical on rebounding including the last possession where the Buckeyes got the offensive rebound but immediately tried to give it to Turner, causing a turnover.  Tenn becomes the 2nd SEC team to advance to the Elite 8.  They will face #5-Michigan St., which battled #9-Northern Iowa the whole game before pulling away at the end., 59-52.  The Spartans held the Panthers to just 4-of-16 shooting from long range (and didn't get Farokhmaneshed, who went 1-for-6).  Still, Northern Iowa kept close and had tied it 51.  The top 4 seeds in the Midwest bit the dust.  In the South, #3-Baylor routed (sparked by an early 30-7 run) #10-St. Mary's (Ca.), 72-49, to give the Big 12 two teams in the Elite 8.  The Bears will face #1-Duke who struggled but kept #4-Purdue just far enough away (the Boilermakers did come within two at 42-40 but never got closer) to win 70-57.

The Ohio St-Tennessee and Michigan St.-Northern Iowa games were great in that no team had a lead larger than 7 the whole game.  However, the winners of those games had more or equal to turnovers than their opponents (Tennessee 16 to 9 and Michigan St. 10 to 10).  Also, Duke had twice the turnovers of Purdue (14 to 7).  Butler is now the only mid-major left in the tournament as four others lost in the Sweet 16. 

Another Two-Peat relied on his SEC loyalty (1 of 4 to pick Tenn) to be the only one to go 3-1 for the day but he still sits a point shy of leader You're My Boy Blue who leads with 102 points.  Three others have an even 100 points with SilverSurfer not being able to finish higher than 5th!  His second pick, SlackJaw (98) sits tied for 6th and is eliminated (his third and final entry, LuckyNumberSlevin (32nd-Tied, 87 pts) was also eliminated today).  Not a good day for Jon J.  Fourteen drew a blank today, the most since 24 went 0-4 in 2000.  Eleven got 5 of the Elite 8 correct while six only got one (worst since 2006).  Suznana (23rd-T, 90) was the only one to pick Michigan St., but alas, she is eliminated and cannot get any more points.  Thirty did pick Baylor while 97 chose Duke, even though most probably don't like them.

You're My Boy Blue has a 1 in 4 chance to win 1st while three others (Another Two-Peat, The Pride of Troy! (6th-T), and Sandy Cheeks (3rd-T)) have at least a 13% chance for 1st.  Those four plus Larzby (3rd-T) have at least a 32% chance to win money.  Thirty-three (33) still have a chance to win money while an even dozen can still take home the $500 top prize.  If you want to know which of the remaining 128 possible outcomes you could win money, post your request to our discussion board topic.

In the Bonus1 race, only five could win this.  If the Big 12 has the most wins (currently at 9 with the Big 10 at 8 wins, Big East with 7, and the SEC and ACC with 6) with either 11, 13, or 14, then someone will win the Bonus.  If not, then the Bonus2 will take effect and most people will be back in the hunt.

   Tids & Bits - Tennessee has beaten both Ohios (Ohio & Ohio St.)... Baylor has not faced a team from the big six conferences yet and have not beaten a team ranked higher than 10... only 4 top seeds are in the Elite 8, the lowest since 3 advanced in 2005... we have a #1, #2, #3, #5, and #6 in the Elite 8... for the first time since 2005, no one will have picked all 4 Final Four teams... Ohio St's loss eliminated 10 brackets and 8 from winning 1st... Suzanne M's Suznana became the 3rd person to go 0-for-the-Final-Four and the second time she has done this (Roy W's Krispy Kremer holds the record with four and if Kentucky loses Saturday, it'll be his 5th).. despite all the upsets, the 3.44 average wins for the Sweet 16 by everyone is only the 5th lowest...