My Dog Spott Is Likely Better Than You At Bracket Picking: And A Wonderful Vintage Pic Of All-Time Greats

Ken Cooper's PSU Track March Madness Pool has gotten pretty interesting.  My dog Spott Moskowitz moved up nicely in the last two rounds and is tied for 35th place (out of 149).  He has nowhere to go but down now, however, but as long as he gets his "brown things" from a bag for breakfast, he is OK with that.

Things are coming together.  Only 3 times since 1979 has a #1 seed not advanced to the Final Four.  Thanks to UNC, there is not a 4^th time this year.

Congrats to Emily Oliver (bride of Penn State steepler Steve Oliver), Buddy Ancharski (dad of Penn State grad Frank Ancharski), Doug Walter (1989 All-American in 1500) and ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt who were the 4 with 3 of the Final Four.  Very impressive.

No one had Syracuse in the Great 8 or the Final 4.  And remember, only 4 people had them in the Sweet 16.

Emily Oliver is your new leader, followed by Buddy Ancharski, me and Todd Kletter.  I can’t believe my hopes ride with 10^th seeded Syracuse.

Congrats to 5 yr old Avery Cooper who locked in her second DFL title in 3 years.  However, her 39 points is better than average (35) and the highest since 2009 when her dad (me) had 49 for the DFL title.  I am very proud.

The avg. of 1.15 is down slightly from the average over the past 17 years of 1.31 proving this was a tricky Final Four.

Of the Final Four – 88 had Carolina, 61 had Oklahoma, 23 had Villanova and 0 had the Orangemen.

Scenario Analysis

Nova over UNC (Overall = Buddy Ancharski; Pay-In = Marshall Cannon)

Nova over Syracuse (Overall = Buddy Ancharski; Pay-In = Marshall Cannon)

Oklahoma over UNC (Overall = Missie Stewart; Pay-In = Matt Bisko)

Oklahoma over Syracuse (Overall = Missie Stewart; Pay-In = Matt Bisko)

UNC over Nova (Overall = Anne Walter; Pay-In = Mike Castillo)

UNC over Oklahoma (Overall = Scott Van Pelt; Pay-In = Mike Castillo)

Syracuse over Nova  (Overall = Emily Oliver; Pay-In = Ken Cooper/Todd Kletter)

Syracuse over Oklahoma (Overall = Missie Stewart; Pay-In = Ken Cooper/Todd Kletter)

Division Leaders

Celebrity – Scott Van Pelt

Hoops – Mike Morse

Kid (8^th grade & Younger) – Ryan Oliver

Kid (High School) – Ryan Caldwell

Non-Penn Staters – Buddy Ancharski

Penn State (non T&F) – Emily Oliver

Penn State Spouse – Missie Stewart

PSU T & F (Distance) – Ken Cooper

PSU T & F (Mid-Dist) – Todd Kletter

PSU T & F (Sprint) – Nick Verhoeven

PSU T & F (Field/Multi) – JudyLynn Weaver

T & F Alum (non PSU) – Michelle Lilienthal (Wisconsin)