final four

This is by far the most power-packed Final Four I can remember being alive for. There is really no underdog; those are all legitimate top-5 teams. The Bruins were ranked #1 and had a one-seed locked up until they lost in the first round of the Pac-1o tourney, and Georgetown finished the season ranked higher than North Carolina and probably should have been the one-seed in the East. Florida and Ohio State have looked rather weak so far, but hopefully they'll be back in form once someone reminds them they're in the Final Four. Whoever takes it all will have to win two very tough games. Should be a great weekend of basketball coming up!

As for the office pool, there was a lot of movement in the ranks this weekend but I'm still in it. I slipped a spot or two overall, but because our scoring system puts an unusually high emphasis on the Final Four picks there are six of us with a shot at the championship. Ohio State has to beat Florida for me to win; anything else is a wash. In other words, I have a 1-in-8 shot. And the teams are all good so who knows how the last three games will actually play out. But hey, I've made it this far. And I'm the highest-ranked engineer in the pool so I can dish it out all I want and not have to take any back.