Well, here we are one week later, and March Madness is...still a fun distraction from everything else.  In some ways, there is predictability here (#1 seeds all advancing as no one expected and AV--really the basketball guru Alena Vasilyeva--continues to lead our pool).  In other ways, there has been much excitement (Davidson missing a final shot that would have sent them to the Final Four as a #10 seed, donations coming in from people I don't even know who are in our pool, and my momentary evening in third place before blowing both games on Sunday).

Here's what we can say headed into the Final Four next weekend (or what I think I see at 3am).  If AV's Memphis team beats UCLA, she is looking sweet to win it all (though Dr. Robinson could force a tiebreaker if UNC beats Memphis in the final).  Most folks picked UCLA to win it all, with several expecting them to beat Kansas in the final (if that happens, then Dr. Theiss, Corey Liberman's mom, and defending champion Katie Lever are looking good to finish in the money); however if UCLA beats Carolina in the final, Mary Nagy is positioned to sneak into that top spot. I'm not sure anyone else can win it all, though a few could sneak into second or third place depending on how the ball bounces.

So, the following FINAL FOUR questions remain:

1. Who will win the pool and who will win March Madness (a week into April)?
2. Has Leon Laureij discovered that picking randomly may work in experiments, but not in March Madness?
3. Who is hosting the watch party for the championship game next week?
4. Is the newly-appointed Dr. Corey Liberman really going to lose to several members of his family and Katie Lever (again) this year?

Let's also hope the RU Women can beat UConn once again to get back to the Final Four in their tourney! Good luck to them and all those still in contention in our pool. 

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Corey Liberman IP:68.36.193.194 | 2008-03-31 22:35:10 Well, well, well...we FINALLY know who the AV is...for those of you who know the "Scarlet Pimpernel," Alena is definitely the female version of Sir Percy :-) Now...to answer Dr. Scott's questions: 1) I think that Mary Nagy is going to pull this one out when UCLA wins it all...although this will provide SO MANY bragging rights for Mary (and those of us who know her well know that she might very well take advantage of this), I think that she is going to pull it out at the wire. 2) Leon, Leon, Leon...what can we say...random assignment does work well in the world of research (and, to be quite honest, usually works in the world of this, too...my mother doesn't know a thing about NCAA sports and is beating me right now) but has not worked well for purposes of this pool. The good thing is that you will win your money back for coming in last place and can make fun of all of the others who lost their donations. 3) This is quite interesting...I would host but I live too far and it would be a hassle for just about everyone. From what I hear, if you pick against your alma mater, you must host this event? Any names come to mind...perhaps with the initials JR??? :-) 4) Although I really thought that I made some good picks this year, I am going to finish in the bottom of the pack again. I am coming to terms with my bracket abilities (or lack thereof) and am somewhat embarrassed that I am about to be defeated by Leon "The Lion" Laureij, Mary "The March Madness Monster" Nagy, and Alena "The Almighty Anonymous" Vasilyeva. Good luck to all in the final four :-)

Mary Nagy - ...Come on...momma needs a new IP:172.18.166.145 | 2008-04-01 11:55:56 ...although a new pair of shoes would be nice, too. To respond to Corey, I affectionately accept the title of Mary the "March Madness Monster" Nagy. Craig and others: Although I am doing better than Leon (poor, poor Leon), there are others who might benefit from my method of selecting teams. So I won't bore your readers, I'll simply address the top four: 1. UCLA over Memphis: I've never been to California, but I imagine it has a lot to offer. I have been to Tennessee, had a good time, but 'The West is the Best' in this match-up...plus the guy on ESPN said it was a good idea. 2. North Carolina over Kansas: The Jayhawk mascot is scary, simple as that. 3. Finally, UCLA over NC: Again, the ESPN guy, but more than that, the Tar Heel is a silly mascot, and the shade of blue that represents UNC doesn't do very much to strike fear in the hearts of competitors. UCLA goes all the way. I hope my wisdom will help some of you out there with your future picks! :) Mary

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