All of the Final Four teams are set, and all of our brackets are pretty well busted. At the beginning of this 65-team trek, RedEye had a panel of celebrity experts–Whizzer the Prognosticating Pooch, Ask Amy and Janet Wright–make their picks for each stage of the NCAA tournament.
At the very least, we’ve proved that a cartoon dog, an advice columnist and a psychic are no better at forecasting college basketball games than the average fan. At best, they’re better than Billy Packer.
Here’s an update on panelists’ progress and where they went wrong.
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How we score: Our scoring system is of the 1-2-4-8-16-32 variety, with one point per game for the first round. Points then double for each subsequent round.
Missed teams are denoted in red.
Whizzer
SECOND ROUND
St. Louis: Kentucky, UAB, Providence, Kansas, Utah, Georgia Tech, Michigan St., Gonzaga
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Texas Tech, Florida, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Oklahoma St.
Atlanta: Duke, Arizona, Illinois, Cincinnati, North Carolina, Texas, Louisville, Mississippi St.
Phoenix: Stanford, Southern Illinois,
Syracuse, Maryland, Western Michigan, N.C. State, DePaul, Connecticut
SWEET 16
St. Louis: Kentucky, Kansas, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga
East Rutherford: Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State
Atlanta: Duke, Illinois, Texas, Mississippi St.
Phoenix: Stanford, Maryland, N.C. State, Connecticut
CRUCIAL MISTAKE: Whizzer knew he had no business picking the Red Raiders over St. Joe’s, but Bobby Knight was sitting right next to him. At the veterinarian’s office. Something about rabies.
ELITE EIGHT
St. Louis: Kentucky, Gonzaga
East Rutherford: Texas Tech, Oklahoma St.
Atlanta: Duke, Mississippi State
Phoenix: Stanford, Connecticut
CRUCIAL MISTAKE: Choosing the overrated Stanford Cardinal really hurts about now, but what dog can resist a giant tree?
FINAL FOUR
Gonzaga, Oklahoma St., Duke, Connecticut
Winner: Gonzaga over UConn
TOTAL POINTS: 77
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Ask Amy
SECOND ROUND
St. Louis: Kentucky, Washington,
Providence, UIC, Utah, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Valparaiso
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Texas Tech, Manhattan, Wake Forest, Richmond, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Oklahoma State
Atlanta: Duke, Seton Hall, Murray State, East Tennessee State, Air Force, Princeton, Louisville, Mississippi State
Phoenix: Stanford, Southern Illinois, BYU, Maryland, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State, Dayton, Connecticut
SWEET 16
St. Louis: Kentucky, Providence, Georgia Tech, Valparaiso
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State
Atlanta: Duke, Murray State, Air Force, Mississippi St.
Phoenix: Stanford, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Connecticut
CRUCIAL MISTAKE: Whizzer says Valpo sounds too much like Alpo, the Spam of dog foods.
ELITE EIGHT
St. Louis: Kentucky, Georgia Tech
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Pittsburgh
Atlanta: Duke, Mississippi State
Phoenix: Maryland, Connecticut
CRUCIAL MISTAKE: Placing too much stock in Pittsburgh has repercussions reaching into the Final Four.
Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Duke, Connecticut Winner: Kentucky over UConn
TOTAL POINTS: 64
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Janet the psychic
St. Louis: Kentucky, UAB, Pacific, UIC, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Gonzaga
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Charlotte, Florida, Wake Forest, Richmond, Central Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma State
Atlanta: Duke, Seton Hall, Murray State, Cincinnati, North Carolina, Texas, Xavier, Monmouth
Phoenix: Stanford, Alabama, Syracuse, Maryland, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State, Dayton, Connecticut
St. Louis: Kentucky, Pacific, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Florida, Richmond, South Carolina
Atlanta: Duke, Cincinnati, Texas, Xavier
Phoenix: Stanford, Syracuse, N.C. State, Dayton
CRUCIAL MISTAKE: Pacific? They couldn’t even make the conference named after them, the Pacific-10. Nice choice of Dayton over UConn. Did your crystal ball pick up the foosball championship by mistake?
ELITE EIGHT
St. Louis: Kentucky, Georgia Tech
East Rutherford: St. Joseph’s, Richmond
Atlanta: Duke, Texas
Phoenix: Syracuse, N.C. State
CRUCIAL MISTAKE: Ironically, picking the Richmond Spiders to go this far wound up biting her in the end. OK, not so ironic.
Kentucky, St. Joseph’s, Duke, Syracuse
Winner: St. Joseph’s over Syracuse
TOTAL POINTS: 54
FINAL TALLY: The psychic’s bringing up the rear. Who knew?
CRUCIAL PICK: Janet was on the right track with Alabama; she just didn’t take them far enough.
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Edited by Phillip Thompson (plthompson@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
