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Friday, March 24, 2023 

FINAL TWO #1S FALL, TEXAS LONE TOP 8 TEAM
Samurai Jack retakes the lead with 97 pts; Just 31 entries still alive

STEVESTON, BC (smt) – #5S-San Diego St ended the game on a 32-16 run to erase an 11 point deficit to beat #1S-Alabama, 71-64, to reach their first Elite 8.  #5MW-Miami’s Nijel Pack hit 7 three-pointers to lead them to an easy 89-75 win over #1MW-Houston.  Miami is the only team to make back-to-back Elite 8s this year and this is just their second Elite 8.  This was the first time all four #1 seeds did not make the Elite 8 and the Cougars missed a chance to play the Final Four in their home city. 

#6S-Creighton ended #15S-Princeton’s Cinderella run by shooting 71% from inside the 3-point arc in winning 86-75 and making their first Elite 8.  #2MW-Texas’s bench outscored #3MW-Xavier’s 33-5 in making their first Elite 8 since 2008 (83-71 win).  Texas is the lone #1 or #2 seed left and the last team from Texas (started with a tournament high of 7), home of the Final Four.  

The top two predicted champions were eliminated today with 42 losing Houston and 37 Alabama.  Three also lost Xavier.  EMAW (2nd, 95 pts) is the only entry that still can get 3 Final Four teams correct while 80 will go 0-for-the-Final-Four.

Marshmallow Melter went 3-1 to move from a tie for 136th to a tie for 61st (78).  Marshmallow Melter and EricDaRed (101st-T, 74) are the only two to get SDSU correct.  A record 60 went 0-4 which almost matches the entire total from the previous 27 pools (65).  Samurai Jack retook the lead with 97 points with EMAW 2nd and Jah Lives-2 3rd (93).  For the Sweet 16, four went 4-4 while 20 went 0-8. 

With 128 possible outcomes, just 31 are still alive.  Only 6 can still win the pool with EMAW with the best chance at 43.8% thanks to a UConn over Alabama final and Kansas St joining them in the Final Four.  But Samurai Jack is the only entry to guarantee a finish in the top 8 and pick up his 4th win in 22 pools.  EMAW (93.8%) and Jah Lives-2 (86.7%) are both nearly in the money.

As for the $40 Bonus, the Big East, Big 12, and SEC each have 9 wins with the first two with a chance to get up to 14 wins.  82 can still win the Bonus while 66 have been eliminated from money and Bonus.

PopTop1 is tied for 5th (90) but can’t win the pool while Suznana is tied for 18th (84) and can still win the pool (Gonzaga champion).  Kds911-3 is 7th (89) but is eliminated while Wax Drip is tied for 144th (68) but can still get 4th place.  Leader  Samurai Jack is the highest entry without a champion (Alabama). 

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   Tids & Bits – Alabama was just 3/27 from three-point range… Miami (52%), SDSU (52%), and Creighton (58%) each shot better than 50% from the field… just 8 of 56 games were one possession games (3 point margin or less) while 29 were double-digit wins… just 1 overtime game and no buzzer beaters (yet)… UCLA has the largest margin of victory (33) while Kansas St scored 98 points… today, entries averaged just 0.76 wins for a Sweet 16 total of just 1.60 wins (out of 8)… 125 picked Texas, 12 Creighton, and 9 Miami… just one So Cal team alive (San Diego St)… That’s Right will remain at an all-time low of 34 points after missing Houston… the Big East and Big 12 each have 2 teams in the Elite 8 and each could get 14 wins (currently each have 9, same as SEC which has no teams left)… Alabama’s loss eliminated 17 entries and Houston’s loss eliminated another 21 and ten from winning the pool…

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Pretty easy to drive into Canada and had my trunk checked on the way back (no line though)…
Scott

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