To Dye for

Wildcard points are stacking up, but Dale Dye remains on top of the standings, with 214 points. E Leach has also kept his lofty 2nd place position (203 points), and it's a family affair, with Doug Dye jumping into a tie for third with L Schlegel, both with 201.

Looking forward, however, it looks like the Dye might be cast, and not in Doug and Dale's favor. Dale Dye, for example, only has four (4) Elite Eight teams still alive, and only one (1) possible Final Four team. Doug Dye's entry is similarly flawed, with a maximum of four (4) Elite Eight and two (2) Final Four teams. E Leach, on the other hand, has five (5) live Elite Eight teams and four (4!) live Final Four teams (although he can only get three of them, since he has both Duke and Gonzaga).

Here's a list of the top of the standings and the number of live Elite Eight and Final Four teams:

Dale Dye (214): 4 and 1
E Leach (203): 5 and 4
Doug Dye (201): 4 and 2
L Schlegel (201): 5 and 3
B Peloso (196): 5 and 3
Baumgarten (194): 5 and 3
Blane (194): 5 and 3
Feinblatt (194): 4 and 2
Harlan 2 (192): 6 and 3


In an astonishing achievement, Mahalko still has all eight (8) of his Elite Eight teams alive and all four (4) of his Final Four. Sadly for Mahalko, he can only get a maximum of six (6) of his Eight, due to some of his teams playing in the same subregion, but he still has a shot at all four Final Four teams. Even more sadly for Mahalko, he only has 180 points, 34 behind Dale Dye and with the same national champion (Kentucky), but technically he's still got a shot.

Not quite as boastworthy as Mahalko but still plenty impressive is Karlsruher, with seven (7) live Elite Eight teams and three (3) Final Four teams. OK, maybe not so impressive, since Karlsruher has three teams in the South Region and two in the Midwest Region, so he can only get a maximum of four (4) Elite Eight teams correct, same as Dale Dye. Also, Karlsruher has only 176 points and the same national champion as the others.

Speaking of the South, coming from the association that brought us a "Big 12" with ten teams and a "Big 10" and "Atlantic 10," both with 14 teams, we guess a "South Region" with three of its four remaining teams from Utah, California, and the State of Washington makes perfect sense.

After the dynamic duo of Mahalko and Karlsruher, 23 of us have six (6) live Elite Eight teams, 33 of us have five (5), and 19 (including both Dyes) have four (4). The somewhat less scintillating pair of A Cristinzio (three (3) Elite Eight teams) and Schiarabba (just two (2) of the Eight) don't figure to be moving up in the standings anytime soon.

Eleven of us still have four (4) live Final Four teams: Selig, T Joseph, M Josephs, Mahalko, L Donadio, M McAtee, Nocilla, Warner, Butscher, E Leach, and Paston; 43 of us have three (3) Final Four teams alive; 24 of us have just two (2) of the Four left, and only current leader Dale Dye is sitting with a measly one (1) active Final Four team.

Full standings may be seen here, or by clicking the Standings link on the right hand side of the page.