CERRITOS, CA (smt)- #1MW-Louisville and #4S-Michigan both had to rely on their bench to rescue their starter's poor shooting in reaching Monday's Final.  #9W-Wichita St stymied the Cards and then jumped to a 12-point lead with about 13 minutes left but they missed two front ends of a one-and-one and the Cards walk-on player Tim Henderson hit 2 3's and it was quickly down to 6.  In fact, the Cards bench had 34 of the 72 points in the 72-68 victory over the Shockers, who were trying to become the lowest-seed to ever make the Final.  The Shockers went over 25 minutes without a turnover but then had six in the last 7 minutes sealing their fate.  The refs were quick to the whistle early putting Louisville in foul trouble early but then the refs held back and let them play before once again going for the quick whistle on the missed free throw with 6 seconds left calling for a jump ball - possession Cards.

Meanwhile, Michigan got their perimeter shooting going early and built a 33-25 halftime lead.  The Wolverine bench outscored the #4E-Syracuse bench 21-11 and nearly blew a 6-point lead (missing 3 free throws, well four (see notes below)) under a minute left but held on, 61-56.  They also got the benefit of a 50/50 block/charge call when Syracuse was trying to tie it with 28 seconds left.  Not sure why the Orange took some time only to go for a running 2-pointer down by 3 with 18 seconds left.  Either a quick 2 or work the 3.  But now I get to hear the cool Wolverine fight song on Monday!

63 picked the Cards and 3 picked Michigan so just over half got one of their Finalists correct.  More importantly, this combination gave The Rat Pack (119 pts) the 2013 HWCI NCAA Pool title and the $530 prize that goes with it.  He's our 18th different winner in our 19 years doing the pool.  As his first win, he's our 61st different person to win money.  For some reason, the pool is very good at distributing the money to different people over the years.  Also in the money is Poolraider (4th-Tied, 112) who will win 4th, 5th, or 6th by virtue of being in the middle of the ongoing 3-way tie between himself, Lastminute, and Flying Ace.  One of the last two won't win money if Michigan win the championship.  Bwakewey Cubed (2nd or 3rd) (2nd, 115) and Shake N' Bake (3rd or 4th) (3rd, 113) were already guaranteed money but now at a higher slot.  The 7th and last person with a chance to win money is Cliff Paul (21st-T, 104), who can win 2nd if the Wolverines are victorious Monday.

In the Bonus1 race, we were thankfully denied an all-Big East final and the Big 10 now has 14 wins, enough to claim the Winningest Conference over the Big East (12 wins).  25 can still win the Bonus (Lastminute can't win since she'd win money in her Bonus winning scenario) while 96 have been eliminated from both the top money and Bonus. The only possible outcomes for Winningest Conference are Big 10 with 14 or 15 wins.  There is a possibility that there could be a 4-way TIE for the Bonus (Louisville wins with a total point total of 137), meaning each would get just $10, the price of their entry fee.  Interestingly, 1 of the 4 players is Andy F (Frumunda Mabalz) who was involved in our first-ever split prize last year. 

           Teams  Curr  Max Poss
Conf.      Left   Wins  Wins
-------    -----  ----  --------
Big10        1    14     15

   Tids & Bits -  Louisville is an early 4.5 point favorite... Michigan led 36-25 at the half against the 'Cuse's 2-3 zone, with the 36 more than Montana's entire game total (34) and nearly as many as Marquette's (39), 2 of the 4 Orange victims in the tourney... Michigan's Mitch McGary actually missed 3 free throws with 48 seconds left (he got a reprieve on a lane violation but still missed the next one)... Chi-Town Mikey's (26th-T, 103) was the only person with a chance of getting both Finalists correct but Syracuse lost; none of the 3 who picked Michigan picked Louisville... if you're in a tiebreaker, today's games had a total of 140 and 117 points; with tough defensive teams Wichita St (combined with Louisville for just 51 points at halftime) and Syracuse out, it may be a higher scoring game... with the Big 10 being the Winningest Conference, this now makes a 4-way tie for most times being the Winningest Conference with the Big 12, ACC, and Big East (3 each since we started the Bonus in '03)... All four #9 or lower seeded teams that made the Final Four lost in the Semifinal... Luke Handcock's 20 points for the Cards was the first time a bench player has scored 20+ in a semifinal since '75... both teams have never been in the Final in our HWCI Pool era (Louisville last in '86, Michigan in '93; last titles: LOU in '86, MI in '89)... 39 entries have 100+ points; 9 others can join the club if Louisville wins... for the 16th straight year, someone will pick the correct champion (only shutouts: '97 (AZ) and '98 (KY))...