Whether that divergence says something about the committee or something about our contestants, we decline to venture an opinion. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see how much our gang disagreed with the seeding:
Our top Eight:
| -----Team----- | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Champs |
| #1 Indiana | 95 | 82 | 28 |
| #1 Gonzaga | 78 | 43 | 14 |
| #2 Duke | 74 | 45 | 10 |
| #3 Florida | 74 | 41 | 12 |
| #3 Michigan State | 65 | 35 | 6 |
| #1 Kansas | 61 | 29 | 3 |
| #2 Miami | 58 | 58 | 7 |
| #4 Michigan | 51 | 21 | 5 |
So if our entrants ruled the world (how's that for a scary thought), #2 Duke and #3 Florida would have had #1 seeds, and #3 Michigan State and #4 Michigan would have been awarded #2s. On the other hand:
| -----Team----- | Elite 8 | Final 4 | Champs |
| #1 Louisville | 49 | 27 | 8 |
| #2 Georgetown | 39 | 21 | 3 |
| #4 Syracuse | 23 | 4 | 1 |
| ... | |||
| #2 Ohio State | 9 | 3 | 1 |
Which means we'd have awarded top overall seed Louisville a lousy #3 seed and given #2 Ohio State a lowly #5.
We've already mentioned how 18 of us have already lost their champions. But our overall favorite, Indiana (with 28 votes) remains and is the only team in the hunt with more than a dozen supporters. Of course, in this contest our top overall choice has only actually ended up as champion in 6 out of 23 years (26.1%), so I wouldn't go printing up those Hoosier t-shirts just yet. The complete tally for our choices of champions:
| -----Team----- | votes | -------------------who?--------------------- |
| Indiana | 28 | |
| Gonzaga | 14 | Urban's Angels, Booth, K Butscher, Hahn, M Josephs, M Kleiman, Mahalko, J Moscow, M Paston 1, K Ripley, L Schlegel, K Sullivan, Watson, B Wright |
| Florida | 12 | Alberts, Biebel, Harlan, D Josephs, Karlsruher, D Kornfeld, R Kornfeld, Leace, Paston 2, B Peloso, Sciarabba, Warner |
| Duke | 10 | Colleran, Crotty, J Donadio, D Kedson, Nocilla, Rubinson, R Schlegel, selig, R Simon, B Whiteside |
| Louisville | 8 | Barone, Baum, cbabs, Dye, E Leach, Rybaltowski, Sanders, Steinhardt |
| Miami | 7 | Brenner, J Butscher, Cristinzio, Eberly, Kaelin, Pogach, P Ripley |
| Michigan State | 6 | B Brenner, Brindisi, D'Zuro, Fitch, P Leach, G Wright |
| Michigan | 5 | Atkinson, T Cristinzio, Steitz, Serri, M Wanger |
| Kansas | 3 | Su Leach, M McAtee, C Whiteside |
| Georgetown | 3 | Bland, Broder, M Leach |
| Ohio State | 1 | Hymowitz |
| Syracuse | 1 | J Whiteside |
| UCLA | 1 | Haklar |
A grand total of 56 contestants got at least one Wild Card point, for choosing St. Louis (27), Minnesota (11), VCU (9), UNC (4), Iowa St (2), Creighton (1), Illinois (1), and Wichita St (1). Only one entrant was clever (or wild, if you will) enough to choose a Wild Card that garnered more than one point, and that was Sciarabba who has gained six points and counting from his selection of Wichita State.
For someone who lives in California, it must seem as if most of the country is part of the Midwest. Which might at least begin to explain how Rubinson managed to have five of his Elite Eight (Duke, Michigan State, Louisville, Oklahoma State and St. Louis) and three of his Final Four (Duke, Michigan State, and Louisville) in the Midwest Region. Five others matched Rubinson's Final Four feat (Brenner, 3 in the E; Warner and M Wanger, 3 in the S; Booth and Adams, 3 in the M), while thirteen confused contestants managed to pick four of their Elite Eight in one region (Bi Acchione (S); Fitch (M); McKillip (S); Brindisi (M); Serri (M); J Whiteside (E); J McAtee (S); K Sullivan (S); Rybaltowski (M); M McAtee (E); Booth (M); Sa Leach (E); T Cristinzio (S)).
No seed of 13 or lower has ever made the Elite Eight, so we can perhaps forgive our contestants for completely ignoring #13 LaSalle and #15 Florida Gulf Coast when choosing the Elite Eight and Final Four. Two entrants picked #12 Oregon into the Elite Eight (cbabs, Haklar). We mentioned earlier than only nine of us liked Ohio State into the Elite Eight (Brindisi, Huffnagle, Hymowitz, D Kedson, M Kline, M Leach, Moscow, Sciarabba, Selarnick) and just four were bold enough to pick the Buckeyes into the Final Four (Hymowitz, M Kline, Moscow). Arizona was even more popular, with 14 votes for the Eight and four for the Four (Barone, Sanders, Selig, Templeton). To round out the Sweet Sixteen, Marquette had the support of three (Haklar, Sa Leach, K Ripley) and one (Haklar).
Full breakdowns for the Elite Eight and Final Four, showing exactly who picked what, are available by clicking the links in this sentence. As always, current standings may be found by clicking the link on the right hand side of this page.
Next week: Tag Team tally and Rivalry posts. Enjoy the games.
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