Sunday, March 31, 2019 
Issue # 10.4.2 "Duke and Kentucky KO'd"
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HOME/DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CARSON, CA (smt)- #5MW-Auburn proved it could win without launching lots of threes (just 7 of 23) and knocked off their 3rd straight Blue Blood, #2MW-Kentucky, in overtime 77-71.  Although the rest of the team hit just 7 of 13 free throws, Jared Harper was 11-for-11 and hit all six in overtime and had 12 of the Tigers' 17 OT points.  Auburn made its first Final Four and knocked off legendary programs Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky in consecutive games.   Each team had a chance in the final seconds as regulation ended at 60-60. 

#2E-Michigan St complained that they shouldn't have been in the same region as #1E-Duke despite one of the higher 2 seeds.  But they faced each other and produced a great game, with no team taking more than a 4-point lead in the final 17 minutes.  In the end, Duke's RJ Barrett tried to take control from Zion Williamson and got the foul but missed the first of 2 free throws down 68-66 with 5.2 seconds left.  He tried to miss the second but actually made it meaning Duke now needed to foul four times (not being in the penalty yet).  After the first foul, with 4.7 seconds left, Duke misplayed the situation and Michigan St. ran away from the defenders and ran out the clock to reach their 10th Final Four, winning 68-67.

Agnes Schweitzhoffer (18th-Tied, 117 pts) was the only one to get both games correct to stay alive but Carseroni still remains in the lead (131) although he can't get any more points. He and four others can win the pool with The Gambler and Kds911 tied with 126 points (3rd) and each having a 5 in 8 chance to win the pool and guaranteed to win at least 4th place.  13 can finish in the top 6.  Interestingly, there are a lot of ties in the eight Final Four Scenarios which means the total points in final tiebreaker will be key.  No one picked Auburn to reach the final or win the championship so that would keep things the same.

The SEC picked up its 12th win and the Big Ten picked up its 13th to tie the ACC.  That means in 6 of the 8 Final Four Scenarios, someone will win the $40 Bonus.  But if Texas Tech wins the championship, no one will win the Bonus1 as no one picked both the Big Ten and SEC with 14 wins (over Michigan St) or the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC with 13 wins (over Auburn).  So the Bonus2 would be in effect (total points in final) and those details will be calculated if Texas Tech wins on Saturday.

Nwspring2 is 5th but can't win the pool (no higher than 3rd) while Sisyphus66 is tied for 33rd (114) and can still win the pool (Michigan St over Virginia in final). FortressHoops1 is tied for 6th but can't finish in the top 6 while Sisyphus66 is the worst-ranked entry.

   Tids & Bits -  the entries averaged just 0.23 wins today, 0.94 for the round... Just seven of 60 games have been one possession games (11 if you just include regulation) and 37 of 60 have been double-digit blowouts but none of the last 6 games... 126 went 0-2 today... four went 3-1 for the Elite 8 while 42 went o-for-the-Final-Four... 17 entries can win the Bonus1 and 133 have been eliminated from both the Bonus1 and Top 6 (if Bonus2 goes into effect, more entries will come back alive)...

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Well, officially everyone is out in my family...
Scott

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Well, officially everyone is out in my family...
Scott