Champeeeeens

We've had 27 Pre-NCAA contests before this season, and in all 27 of them there was a team that got the most votes from our contestants for national champion (although one year there was a tie at the top). Of those 27 selections, a grand total of six (6) actually became national champion (in the year where two teams tied, which was last year, one of our two favorites lost in the first round to a #15 seed and the other lost in the Elite Eight, but we're only counting them as one muffed prediction). That's a 22% success rate for the math-challenged among us.

So for those of you who want to increase your odds of winning in Vegas, we suggest betting against Kansas, our top vote-getter for champion in this year's contest. Though with a mere 16 votes, we didn't have as much misplaced confidence as we usually do; no idea if that makes it better or worse for the Jayhawks.

Twenty-four of us (32%) lost their champion in the tournament's first weekend, including the 12 who voted for Villanova, the 6 who liked Louisville (Baumgarten 2, Fitch, D Josephs, Su Leach, Steinhardt, J Whiteside), and the 5 who dared with Duke (Bud Acchione, Biebel 3, D Kedson, Rubinson, Tester). Plus R Simon, who picked Virginia.

The full list of selected champions is as follows:

Kansas: 16
Villanova: 12
UCLA: 9
UNC: 9
Gonzaga: 9
Louisville: 6 (Baumgarten 2, Fitch, D Josephs, Su Leach, Steinhardt, J Whiteside)
Oregon: 5
Duke: 5 (Bud Acchione, Biebel 3, D Kedson, Rubinson, Tester)
Wisconsin: Booth
Virginia: R Simon
Kentucky: M Pogach
Baylor: M Peloso

Kansas plays Purdue on Thursday night, in a potential upset special.