Eight, Four, and other integers

With 75 contestants and eight Elite Eight picks apiece, there were 600 Elite Eight selections made in this year's contest. A whopping 179 of those selections (29.8%) didn't make it through the tournament's first weekend. Three of our top ten choices have already bitten the proverbial dust (Villanova, chosen as Elite by 67 entrants, Louisville, taken by 49, and Duke, picked by 27).

Booth was among several who had the bad karma to choose all three of the fallen giants (Nova, Ville, and Duke) in her Elite Eight, but she also inspired awe by going with Creighton, Wichita State, and Wisconsin as three of the last eight teams standing. At least Wisconsin is still breathing. Rubinson should perhaps be commended for being the only entrant to favor 11th seeded, and still alive, Xavier into the Elite Eight. Myers and Packman win the prize for choosing a team (California) into the Elite Eight that lost to Cal-State-Bakersfield in the first round of the NIT.

Full list of Elite Eight choices (by team) is as follows:

Kansas (70)
Villanova (67)
North Carolina (64)
Gonzaga (53)
Oregon (50)
Louisville(49)
UCLA (43)
Arizona (37)
Kentucky (36)
Duke (27)
Baylor (20)
West Virginia (16)
Florida (11)
Florida State (10)
Wisconsin (9)
Butler (8)
Virginia (8)
SMU (4: L Leach, Mad Leach, M Rybaltowski, Serri)
Cincinnati (3: J McAtee, Quint, Templeton)
Purdue (3: M Josephs, Mad Leach, J Whiteside)
Wichita State (2: Booth, L Schlegel)
California (2: Myers, Packman)
Creighton (Booth)
Michigan State (Bud Acchione)
Xavier (Rubinson)
Northwestern (R Simon)
Notre Dame (Serri)
Oklahoma State (Warner)
St. Mary's (J McAtee)
Maryland (Avila)

Ten contestants still have seven Elite Eight teams still playing: Marshall, Bill Acchione, P Ripley, Doug Dye, Blane, Brenner, B Whiteside, J Broder, standings leader R Wanger and M Pogach (who has six alive Elite Eight teams plus Michigan as his wildcard). 35 entrants have six active Elite Eight teams, and 24 have five. At the bottom of the continuum, four entrants have just four possible Elite Eight contenders: M Rybaltowski, Bud Acchione, R Simon, Templeton; and Serri joints Booth with only three.

Of the 300 Final Four selections made in our contest, 77 proved worthless (25.7%), with the vast majority of those assigned to Villanova (42), Louisville (18), and Duke (11). Gutsy picks that are working out so far include Baylor (Sam Leach, Su Leach, Myers, M Peloso, M Pogach), West Virginia (Beibel 2, Biebel 3, Marshall, Rubinson), Wisconsin (Booth, Myers), Florida (Mash Leach, B Peloso), and Butler (Feinblatt, P Ripley).

Full list of Elite Four choices (by team) is as follows:

Kansas (54)
North Carolina (46)
Villanova (42)
Oregon (27)
Gonzaga (26)
UCLA (25)
Louisville(18)
Arizona (17)
Kentucky (13)
Duke (11)
Baylor (5: Sam Leach, Su Leach, Myers, M Peloso, M Pogach)
West Virginia (4: Beibel 2, Biebel 3, Marshall, Rubinson)
Florida (2: Mash Leach, B Peloso)
Florida State (2: Sam Leach, Sciarabba)
Wisconsin (2: Booth, Myers)
Butler (2: Feinblatt, P Ripley)
Virginia (2: R Simon, R Wanger)
Wichita State (Booth)
Cincinnati (Quint)

After being great at choosing conference champions and lousy at guessing at-large selections, Avila is making pool-picking great again by having all four of his Final Four selections still in play. Joining him were 11 other entrants with all four of their Final Four selections in the running: P Ripley, Brenner, T Cristinzio, M Josephs, C Whiteside, M Pogach, L Leach, Feinblatt, Packman, M McAtee, Grossman). In what might (or might not, we didn't really check) be a pool first, M Pogach has five possible Final Four teams, including his wildcard choice of Michigan.

Two-thirds of our contestants (50, to the division-averse) still have three Final Four teams left, while twelve hapless entrants have just two. Booth, who had the bad luck to pick Villanova, Louisville, and Duke as Final Four participants, is clinging to the hope that 8-seed Wisconsin will bring her enough glory to climb out of last place.