• The Crime – I didn’t see it when it happened, but I heard about it.  The I saw it on replay.  What should have been the biggest upset of the tournament so far, and should have generated a huge bonus for a few contestants, didn’t happen because of a blown call.  Vanderbilt, and the folks who picked them, were robbed.  Down by one with less than 5 seconds to play, Georgetown’s Jeff Green caught the ball and bobbled it in the post.  After clearly pivoting on his right foot, he switched pivot feet to his left and made the spinning bank shot that turned out to be the game winner.  Replay clearly shows the he traveled, and in my opinion, replay shouldn’t have been needed.  I recognized it the first time I watched it in real time speed.  Now, I don’t have an axe to grind.  I picked Georgetown.  It’s just plain wrong to lose a game by one point in the final seconds on an easy blown call.  I mean, that’s not even controversial, folks.  He walked.  Period.
• The Punishment – With the game slipping away from USC, after having lead by significant double-digits in the second half, head coach Tim Floyd made the Boneheaded Play of the Day by tossing whatever papers he had in his hand at the official.  This earned him a technical foul and sealed USC’s fate. 
• Familiar Theme, Unfamiliar Result – I feel like I keep watching the same game over and over and over again.  The lower-seeded underdog jumps out to an early lead, and then continues to punish the favorite with sharp shooting, heady play, and great hustle.  You name the game and the team: Butler, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, UNLV – the list is a lot longer.  In years past, at least some of these underdogs get the job done, toppling the favored seed from its lofty perch.  Not this year.  Every game has a familiar ending, some by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin, and others by a margin that belies the closeness of the game.  This year’s Elite Eight consists of 7 of the top 8 seeds in the tournament, and the lone invader is a 3 seed.  You have to go back 14 years just to find the last time all four number ones advanced to the Elite Eight.  I’m not the resident March Madness historian, but I’d be willing to guess that this has never happened before. 

So we’re all set for the clash of the titans, three 1 vs. 2 matchups and one 1 vs. 3.  The NCAA committee must be wetting themselves with glee, they did such a good job.  For us, what this scenario has done is made the contest incredibly close.  There is a lot of movement in the standings from game to game, because very few points separate large groups of contestants.  This is because with hardly any upsets this year, there have been very few bonus points.  There were four opportuntities for a Scategories bonus tonight, and NOT ONE came to pass.

But that does not mean that no interesting possibilities remain.  Folks who picked UCLA, Oregon, or Memphis to win it all stand to score A LOT of points if they do.  So keep your eye on the standings, and don’t rip up your brackets just yet.  The contest is not over.

Round 3 Awards

• The Crazy 8’s award goes to the 11 contestants who picked all 8 of the Elite Eight teams correctly with their Original Picks: Andrew Barndt, Austin Stickney, Bob Weber, Chris Jones, Christopher Bechtold, Heather Di Iulio, Jason Dailey, Jim Shaffer, Scott Renier, Sir Baller III, and Zach Coffin.  As amazing as this may sound, it does not guarantee a good standing in the contest.  Sir Baller III (please enter your REAL NAME next year…PLEASE) is 18th.  Jim Shaffer is 149th.
• The Who Are You and Where Did You Come From award goes to Neil Harrison who snuck into 3rd place while no one was looking, especially not me.
• The Old Grudges Die Hard award goes to my lovely wife, Heather Little.  It has been a running joke for many years how she always finishes ahead of my good friend, Brad “Ahmagwana Kickbooty” Schafer.  For most of this year’s contest, she has trailed him by a wide margin.  Don’t look now, Brad, but she’s exactly one point and six positions behind you.
• The Biggest Winner award for round 3 goes to the precocious Austin Stickney who climbed from 50th to 22nd.
• The Biggest Loser award for round 3 goes to Rob Turner who dropped like a rock from 19th to 75th.
• The GI-Jane award goes to Brooke “Carrrr-ne Asada” Johnson, who leads our contest by three points going into the final three rounds.  Remember, no woman has ever won the contest.

It’s time for the weekend and the regional championships, which will determine the Final Four.  Don’t underestimate the power of that single bonus point for a 2 winning over a 1.  If you look at the standings you will see that sometimes as many as a half dozen contestants are tied in terms of points, and their position is determined by winning percentage and bonus points.  So if you picked even a minor upset, root, pray, stand on your head – do whatever you do – because a win by the likes of Oregon, Memphis, Georgetown, or UCLA could make a big difference