Congratulations to Angelia Dye, who edged out Fuller by 1 to have the most points after the Sweet Sixteen and correctly picked all of the Elite Eight. She is joined by 26 others who picked all eight of the Elite Eight correctly: Naismith, Keith Melvin, Roberto, Naismith 2, Chandler Ray, Zsims13, greg conte, BCN, Turtle 1, Tori Oldham, P Raley, GAR1, Drew Thomas, Skinnah's Winnahs, Fuller, Sfuller91, CoalMtnCal, Josh Senese, josh senese 2, Jacob Plunkett 2, BLT 95, Mo, Austin Hansard 2, GloboGymPurpleCobras and Baracket Obama. Approximately 90 more picked 7 of 8 in a year that saw no true Cinderella advance past the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in a long, long time. I was happy to see that Sis' AI-aided brackets Eyeore Rocks (Grok 3))And Tigger Too (Deep Seek) finished at the bottom along with her usual misguided picks (Winnie the Pooh) and it just goes to show you that AI can only do what one trains it to do and you should click on this link to learn more about how this fiasco occurred. Congratulations are also in order for CoalMtnCal, who bested Fuller by 1 to be the points leader after Week Two and with each of those gentleman having a 12.5% chance to win the big money – along with six others – heading into the Final Four.

For the first time ever, there are eight participants with a chance to win the first prize money depending on the National Championship scenario: Skinnah's Winnahs, Dbass2025, Mimi, JWD, DrewStinksMore, Fuller, Richard John Lyness and CoalMtnCal. While I know almost all of them personally and would be happy to see any one of the eight win this thing, I actually am rooting for JWD because if he wins, I win big in Coach Johnny Tallant's Basketball Auction Pool. I bought Auburn for $70.00 and Houston for $97.00 and I do not make any real money unless at least one of them makes it to the Final Game. If it goes the way JWD predicted, I win as well, and a JWD victory also has the added benefit that it just might shut him up for good, as he continues to crow about his 30 of 32 performance in the Round of 64 one year long ago but always laments that he never has won the Pool. If you click on the Combinations link above, you will see a listing of people in the hunt for first through fifth place prize money under each possible National Championship scenario. Good luck to all of the potential winners.

There are 14 or so stragglers who have yet to pay their entry fees and the Tournament will be over on Monday night. These slackers know who they are and need to get their entry fees to me before Monday or they really are going on the Wall of Shame that I will be creating this year (if you go to the About menu item, above, you will see that I have created a number of additional pages this year, with a few more to come). I have sent out an additional reminder email to all of these deadbeats and am letting them know that there is no cause for concern if the "check is in the mail" or will be here by Monday.

Enjoy the Final Four and good luck if you have a chance to finish in the money.