FINAL FOUR PREVIEW

Polar Bear, Pawwwl, Vanadeum Battle At The Bottom

Tournament Scenarios Posted

It’s been a wild ride for theRabbit family – father Make it Count is currently #1, son Rabbit is #2, and mother rabbit The Breeze is #3. But, unfortunately for these three bunnies, there will be no Grand Prize T-shirts in their Easter baskets this year.

We still have three more games to go next weekend, and no matter what happens, one of the following players will catch them to win the Championship:

BrutalBrutis wins it all if either Gonzaga or UCLA beats Houston. Basically, she needs Houston to win and then lose. A win would make BrutalBrutis the first ever two-time Chippens Champion, a spectacular feat of human achievement up there with breaking the 3-minute mile (yes, the 3-minute mile). Other former champs have made it back to the Final Four with a chance to win a second title, but all have faded in the home stretch.

Brutis won her title in 2010, and you can see her proudly wearing her Grand Prize T-Shirt in the Hall of Champions. She followed up her championship season with a 5th place finish in 2011, and she finished 6th in 2005. Lately, though, success has eluded her. She’s finished 89th or worse in six of her last seven tries. Her worst possible finish this year is 12th, and it’s good to see her back in dominating form.

Politicalgrrl is in the opposite position as Brutis. She wins it all if either Gonzaga or UCLA beats Baylor. So she needs Baylor to win and then lose. Now in her eighth season of competition, Politicalgrrl wrote to me recently and said it has been a “dream” of hers to win this tournament ever since she first filled out a bracket lo so many years ago.

She’s come close before. In 2015, she would have won it all if Wisconsin beat Michigan State in the finals. Instead, Wisconsin lost to Duke and Politicalgrrl finished in 12th place, still a respectable finish but not the top spot she wants.

Wait . . . what’s happening (I. Howe) has also had a shot at the title heading into the Final Four but threw up an air ball. In 2016, Howe was in first place midway through the Elite 8. He was the only player in the tourney to pick Oklahoma and had a clear path to victory. Unfortunately for him, Oklahoma lost to Villanova in the Final Four and crushed his dreams.

This year, he is just one of two players who picked Houston. If Houston wins it all, so does Ian.

The final two players with a shot are veterans Jprose24 and Robjd3, who are staging somewhat of a 2014 rematch, a year in which they battled each other to top-10 finishes.

Jprose24 of Clearwater, Florida is in her seventh season, and although she’s always competitive, she’s still trying to rekindle the magic of her rookie campaign in 2014. That year, she finished 7th and was the only player in the tournament who correctly picked 7th seed UConn into the Final Four.

This year she needs Baylor to beat Gonzaga in the title game to bring home her own title.

Robjd3 is now in his 10th year, with his best year also 2014. That year, he finished one spot behind Jprose24 in 8th place. In fact, he briefly took the lead when 8th seed Kentucky advanced to the Final Four. Rob was just one of two players who had the Wildcats advancing that far.

This year he needs Baylor to defeat UCLA to claim the crown.

Many more players can finish in the top three and claim a prize, and, if you donated, don’t forget about the Enhanced Extra Booty that is still at stake.

Pride is at stake as well. We like the stock! can move from 102nd place all the way to 11th with a Houston win.

There’s also a fierce battle going on for 110th place. That spot is currently occupied by Polar Bear, who at this point is no doubt wishing he would not have selected an all Big Ten Final Four.

In order to keep 110th place, Polar Bear needs Baylor to lose or Pawwwl will pass him. If that happens, Polar Bear will fall to 111th place and Vanadeum will tumble from 111th all the way to 112th. It doesn’t sound like much, but every spot counts!

You can now see exactly where you will finish in each of the remaining eight scenarios by going to Tournament Scenarios. This report shows you what the standings will look like if Gonzaga beats Baylor, if Gonzaga beats Houston, if Houston beats UCLA, etc.

Good luck and enjoy the games!