Cuse Country

Last week before the tournament tipped off we announced a bracket contest called “Pick With Your Heart” in which all entrants were required to pick Syracuse as their national champ. We received over 100 entries, and the competition is fierce.

Currently in first place with 60 points is Chris Smith, who picked 39 of 48 games correctly, including 28 of 32 in the first round, and the entire Midwest bracket other than UNI-Kansas. In second place is Ray Biggs, with 55 points and 35 correct answers. Ray’s bracket has more potential points remaining than Chris’s, so it’s still anybody’s game. In third with 54 points is Ben Dewan, then there is a logjam of folks with 53 points.

There are other people in the competition who guessed just as many correct games as these three players, however they made the fatal mistake of picking Georgetown to win in the first round and so lost out on their 10-point bonus — as well as the actual one point they would have earned for GU actually losing in the first round. Many of them were given a five-point bonus for picking the Hoyas to lose in round 2, but that still puts them a couple of points behind the leaders. And shows that they are not so good at math. However, there are plenty more games to play and these standings will undoubtedly shift as time goes on.

(For what it’s worth, my bracket is currently in the top ten, but destined to drop like a rock from here on out. Two of my Final Four are already eliminated; my entire South Region is done.)

So, what are these folks playing for, you may ask? We’ve got a fine collection of fabulous prizes lined up, however I am still in the process of finalizing some of the acquisitions. So you’ll have to wait a couple of days to see what sort of fabulous prizes you might be getting. There will be stuff for the top several finishers, so even if you are not in the #1 spot, keep the faith. Check back here on Wednesday for a full list of prizes.