CERRITOS, CA (smt)- For the second straight game, the Cards fell behind by 12 points.  For the second straight game, a run of 3's quickly cut down the lead.  And for the second straight game, Luke Hancock came off the bench to score 20+ points to lead the #1MW-Louisville Cardinals to a 82-76 victory over the #4S-Michigan Wolverines.  This was the Cards 3rd national title and Rick Pitino (recent Hall of Famer and soon to be tatoo'd) became the first coach to win titles for two teams.  In one of the most well-played finals in recent memory (at one point late in the game, each team was shooting 54%), the Cards once again came out slow as Michigan were hitting 26-foot 3-pointers.  But instead of waiting until mid-second half like in the semifinal, the Cards quickly went on a 14-1 run (with 4 3's from Hancock) to turn a 12-point deficit to a one-point lead just before the half.  The Cards built a 10-point lead late in the second half and let it get down to four but held on by hitting their free throws.

With the #1 overall seed winning, 32 got it correct.  More importantly, the Cards win sent the only person who could've ruined the trio tied for 4th home (Kevin J (Cliff Paul (37th, 104 pts))).  Thus all 3 tied won money (tiebreaker = 158 total points) with Byron W (Flying Ace (124)) winning for the 1st time in 14 years, Paul T (Poolraider) winning for the 2nd time in 9 years, and Van P (Lastminute) winning for the 3rd time in 11 years.  Steven N (The Rat Pack (131)) had a stress free day, knowing he already won the pool Saturday, while Blakeley H (Bwakewey Cubed (127)) and Kevin T (Shake N' Bake (125)) stayed in 2nd and 3rd, each winning for the 2nd time after winning a Bonus.  Steve, Byron, and Greg are our 61st, 62nd, and 63rd person to win money in our pool.

In the Bonus1 race, 25 were alive to begin the day with 13 hoping for a Cardinal win and 12 looking for a Wolverine win. With Louisville winning, the Big 10 ended up as the Winningest Conference with 14 wins. With the high scoring game, Greg J (BamaG (97th, 86 pts)) had the highest total points tiebreaker and won as soon as the total cleared 146 points.  It's his 1st win in 8 years (14 total entries).

Prize	Winner	Nickname	Money Won	Yrs in Pool (# Ent)	# Times Won (Total $)
1st	Steve N	The Rat Pack	$530	8 (9)	1 ($530)
2nd	Blakeley H #3	Bwakewey Cubed	$275	4 (10)	2 (Bns '11 $315)
3rd	Kevin T	Shake N' Bake	$185	8 (8)	2 (Bns '09 $225)
4th	Byron W	Flying Ace	$130	14 (14)	1 ($130)
5th	Paul T	Poolraider	$90	9 (12)	2 (2nd '05 $285)
6th	Van P	Lastminute	$65	11 (11)	3 (1st '07, Bns '10, $555)
Bonus	Greg J	BamaG	$40	8 (14)	1 ($40)

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   Tids & Bits -  Both teams were in our first pool in '95... 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)... for the 16th straight year, someone picked the correct champion (only shutouts: '97 (AZ) and '98 (KY))... all 3 teams new to our pool won at least one game (albeit James Madison's was in the First Four)... of the winners, Blakeley H, Paul T, and Greg J are the only ones who submitted more than one entry and Blakeley was the only one to win on a 2nd or 3rd (this case 3rd) entry (of the 38 people who have done 3 entries over the years, he's the only one to win on the 3rd (he's done it twice!)... despite the low percentage, 24 still submitted multiple entries (8 submitted the max 3!)... 37 of the 43 entries that have been with us for 10+ years played this year... the 158 pts was the 4th highest in the 19 years we've been doing the pool (average 143.8)... The Rat Pack also had the most wins (43) while Kona Coast Sliders (131st, 59) had the least (26)... if you picked all favorites, you would've finished 18th (only once ('96) would you have finished in the money if you picked all the favorites)... there were only 2 ties (at 85th and 105th)... the top 25 all picked Louisville...  Not Dead Freds (83rd, 90) was the lowest placed entry who picked Louisville... Shibai69 (7th, 123), who was eliminated after the Sweet 16, finished a point off from the money - I wonder what one game he wished he'd pick differently (maybe picking AZ instead of Belmont?)... if you look at the play-by-play, Michigan made six 3's from 26 feet or longer... my wife sitting away from the TV reacted the same way Pitino did when the loud fireworks and streamers went off just seconds after the game ended... 3 of the last 4 people to win the Bonus won top money... very inspiring to see LOU's Kevin Ware cut the nets after the game (they lowered the basket)... Congrats, brother, for winning 3rd place!... despite the #1 overall seed winning, the 94.1 pts/entry was our 5th lowest... the 131 entries lost a record total of 3,567 games (3,562 in '11)... the 10 of 131 entries still alive heading into the Final Four was our lowest percentage ever (7.6%) (9.6% in '11)... BamaG2 (93) won a 8-way tie for 69th place, Patton (105) won a 7-way tie for 30th place, and last year's champ Quinnsanity (81) won a 7-way tie for 112th... Flarkel (61st, 95) was the only one to guess 158 points correctly while Blind Angelina (121st, 78) was off by 63 pts... Kona Coast Sliders (59) was last by 11 pts tying or having the least amount of wins in every round but the 1st (2nd Round)...