Oh my....what a Championship game that was tonight. The biggest lead of the night was 6 points, and it was very early in the game. It came down to the final shot of the game with Duke winning over Butler, 61-59. The Blue Devils win their first championship since 2001 when they won in Minneapolis over Arizona.

With that, our TOP TEN pick sheets have been finalized. Congratulations goes out to Justin Mangold, he is the 2010 Office Pool Contest winner! Justin correctly picked 71% pick of the games, incidentally, the best in the pool. Congratulations Justin.


Top Ten Pick Sheets for the 2010 contest....

1. Justin Mangold - 160 points
2. Zach Phillips - 158 points
3. Bill 2 - 152 points
4. Al May - 145 points
5. Jonathan Howell - 145 points
6. BadWater214 - 144 points
7. Graham Gamel - 144 points
8. jencanten - 144 points
9. John Godfrey - 143 points
10. Jennifer Cuddihy 1 - 142 points

Well, it's been a very fun and entertaining tournament to watch this year. Sadly, there are only four teams left with three games to play. #5 Michigan State will face #5 Butler and #1 Duke will face #2 Wake Forest, with the winners of course meeting up in the Championship round.

With that, only eight tournament scenarios remain which will determine the winner for the 2010 Office Pool contest. To my surprise, one of my pick sheets is near the top of the standings in a few of the remaining scenarios. My test picks, which I do to make sure everything is setup correctly before I send out the email blast inviting everyone to fill out their pick sheet.

1. If Michigan State beats West Virginia
2. If West Virginia beats Michigan State
3. If Michigan State beats Duke
4. If Duke beats Michigan State
5. If Butler beats West Virginia
6. If West Virginia beats Butler
7. If Butler beats Duke
8. If Duke beats Butler

KEY: Not played - [number of entries selected] - Advanced - Eliminated

MIDWEST Region

5 - Michigan State [16]

6 - Tennessee [3]

WEST Region

2 - Kansas State [144]

5 - Butler [10]

EAST Region

1 - Kentucky [342]

2 - West Virginia [132]

SOUTH Region

1 - Duke [268]

3 - Baylor [72]

KEY: Not played - [number of entries selected] - Advanced - Eliminated MIDWEST Region

5 - Michigan State [16]

6 - Tennessee [3]

WEST Region

2 - Kansas State [144]

5 - Butler [10]

EAST Region

1 - Kentucky [342]

2 - West Virginia [132]

SOUTH Region

1 - Duke [268]

3 - Baylor [72]

KEY: Not played - [number of entries selected] - Advanced - Eliminated

MIDWEST Region

2 - Ohio State [318]	6 - Tennessee [25]
5 - Michigan State [22]	9 - Northern Iowa [1]

WEST Region

1 - Syracuse [456]	5 - Butler [34]
2 - Kansas State [318]	6 - Xavier [32]

EAST Region

1 - Kentucky [466]	12 - Cornell [12]
2 - West Virginia [369]	11 - Washington [13]

SOUTH Region

1 - Duke [401]	4 - Purdue [37]
3 - Baylor [183]	10 - Saint Marys (Ca.) [6]

First it was Northern Iowa handing Kansas Jayhawks their exit papers. Kansas was the first number one seed to be eliminated from the 2010 tournament. Tonight, Butler Bulldogs extend their winning streak to 23 games and dislodge the Syracuse Orange, the second number one seed to have an early exit. Bulldogs, moving on to found four and will play on Saturday. 34 submitted pick sheets correctly picked this game correct.

The next number one seed, Cornell versus Kentucky. With Cornell winning the Ivy League Conference the past three years, this gives them tons of experience going into tonights game. Could Kentucky be the third number one seed to have an early exit?

The Pool: a March Madness Sketch

KEY: Not played - [number of entries selected] - Advanced - Eliminated

MIDWEST Region		NCAA® March Madness on Demand®
1 - Kansas [543]	9 - Northern Iowa [4]	Watch Now
2 - Ohio State [492]	10 - Georgia Tech [21]	Watch Now
4 - Maryland [245]	5 - Michigan State [281]	Watch Now
6 - Tennessee [97]	14 - Ohio [3]	Watch Now

WEST Region		NCAA® March Madness on Demand®
1 - Syracuse [508]	8 - Gonzaga [4]	Watch Now
2 - Kansas State [458]	7 - BYU [71]	Watch Now
3 - Pittsburgh [366]	6 - Xavier [143]	Watch Now
5 - Butler [242]	13 - Murry State [43]	Watch Now

EAST Region		NCAA® March Madness on Demand®
1 - Kentucky [530]	12 - Wake Forest [2]	Watch Now
2 - West Virginia [504]	10 - Missouri [20]	Watch Now
3 - New Mexico [330]	11 - Washington [51]	Watch Now
4 - Wisconsin [297]	12 - Cornell [66]	Watch Now

SOUTH Region		NCAA® March Madness on Demand®
1 - Duke [483]	8 - California [5]	Watch Now
2 - Villanova [478]	10 - Saint Marys (Ca.) [17]	Watch Now
3 - Baylor [406]	11 - Old Dominion [19]	Watch Now
4 - Purdue [173]	5 - Texas A&M [275]	Watch Now

KEY: Not played - [number of entries selected] - Advanced - Eliminated

MIDWEST Region

1 - Kansas [543]	9 - Northern Iowa [4]
2 - Ohio State [492]	10 - Georgia Tech [21]
4 - Maryland [245]	5 - Michigan State [281]
6 - Tennessee [97]	14 - Ohio [3]

WEST Region

1 - Syracuse [508]	8 - Gonzaga [31]
2 - Kansas State [458]	7 - BYU [71]
3 - Pittsburgh [366]	6 - Xavier [143]
5 - Butler [242]	13 - Murry State [43]

EAST Region

1 - Kentucky [530]	12 - Wake Forest [2]
2 - West Virginia [504]	10 - Missouri [20]
3 - New Mexico [330]	11 - Washington [51]
4 - Wisconsin [297]	12 - Cornell [66]

SOUTH Region

1 - Duke [483]	8 - California [5]
2 - Villanova [478]	10 - Saint Marys (Ca.) [17]
3 - Baylor [406]	11 - Old Dominion [19]
4 - Purdue [173]	5 - Texas A&M [275]

In all, there was ten lower ranked seeds advancing into the round two games. The biggest shocker was 14 seed, Ohio Bobcats knocking off number three seed Georgetown. I'm sure that hurt a lot of brackets, and always not a good thing on the first day of the tournament. The good news is, nearly everyone had Georgetown winning. The question is, how many rounds did you have them winning determines how bad their loss hurt your bracket.

With 564 entries submitted into this office pool, only four of those bracket sheets had Georgetown winning in the Championship round. 16 bracket sheets selected Ohio Bobcats as the winning team. One question enters my mind, how many of those 16 entries thought this was the Ohio State Buckeyes team from the Big Ten? Or are the Ohio Bobcats just that good?

Bring on the round two games....

A quick look at what teams advanced, per region, and what teams were eliminated.

KEY: Not played - Advanced - Eliminated

MIDWEST Region

1 - Kansas	16 - Lehigh
2 - Ohio State	15 - UC Santa Barbra
3 - Georgetown	14 - Ohio
4 - Maryland	13 - Houston
5 - Michigan State	12 - New Mexico State
6 - Tennessee	11 - San Diego State
7 - Oklahoma State	10 - Georgia Tech
8 - UNLV	9 - Northern Iowa

WEST Region

1 - Syracuse	16 - Vermont
2 - Kansas State	15 - North Texas
3 - Pittsburgh	14 - Oakland
4 - Vanderbilt	13 - Murry State
5 - Butler	12 - UTEP
6 - Xavier	11 - Minnesota
7 - BYU	10 - Florida
8 - Gonzaga	9 - Florida State

EAST Region

1 - Kentucky	16 - East Tennessee State
2 - West Virginia	15 - Morgan State
3 - New Mexico	14 - Montana
4 - Wisconsin	13 - Wofford
5 - Temple	12 - Cornell
6 - Marquette	11 - Washington
7 - Clemson	10 - Missouri
8 - Texas	9 - Wake Forest

SOUTH Region

1 - Duke	16 - Play-In-Game
2 - Villanova	15 - Robert Morris
3 - Baylor	14 - Sam Houston State
4 - Purdue	13 - Siena
5 - Texas A&M	12 - Utah State
6 - Notre Dame	11 - Old Dominion
7 - Richmond	10 - Saint Marys
8 - California	9 - Louisville

Make sure you hit the SUBMIT PICKS button at the bottom of the page or your picks will not be entered into the pool.

Deadline: Tip-Off, March 18 @ 12:30 PM [EST]
Entry Fee: $0.00

NOTE: When entering multiple times, please place a number after your name to make it unique [or it will over write you last submitted picks] For example: Timmy 1, Timmy 2, Timmy 3

If you would like to pre-register for this years office pool contest, you can do so on the registration page. An email will be sent out once the pairings are announced.

Your email address is used by this office pool and will never be shared or sold.

Returning for our 14th year, OfficePool64.com is currently updating the site for the current year. I've redesigned the website with a new layout and colors. I'll be purging the outdated links to update them with the 2010 links throughout the week, just in time for Selection Sunday on March 14.

Key Tournament Dates courtesy of NCAA Sports

Pre-Tournament Events
March 14 - Selection Sunday @ 5:00 CST on CBS
March 16 - Opening Round game [play in game]

First Weekend Of Games
March 18-19: Round One Games
March 20-21: Round Two Games

Second Weekend Of Games
March 25-26: Round Three Games
March 27-28: Round Four Games

Final Weekend Of Games
April 3: Round Five, Semi-Finals
April 5: Round Six, Championship Game

Conference	Winners-Dates [record]
ACC	March 11-14
American East	Vermont Catamounts [25-9]
Atlantic Sun	E. Tennessee State Buccaneers [20-14]
Atlantic 10	March 9, 12-14
Big East	West Virginia Mountaineers [27-6]
Big Sky	Montana Grizzlies [22-9]
Big South	Winthrop Eagles [19-13]
Big Ten	March 11-14
Big 12	Kansas Jayhawks [32-2]
Big West	Santa Barbara Gauchos [20-9]
Colonial	Old Dominion Monarchs [26-8]
Conference USA	Houston Cougars [19-15]
Horizon	Butler Bulldogs[28-4]
Ivy League	Cornell Big Red [27-4]
MAAC	Sienna Saints [27-6]
MAC	Ohio Bobcats [21-14]
MEAC	Morgan State Bears [27-9]
Missouri Valley	Northern Iowa Panthers [28-4]
Mountain West	March 10-13
Northeast	Robert Morris Colonials [23-11]
Ohio Valley	Murry State Racers [30-4]
Pac-10	Washington Huskies [24-9]
Patriot	Lehigh Mountain Hawks [22-10]
SEC	March 11-14
Southern	Wofford Terriers [26-8]
Southland	San Diego State Aztecs [25-8]
Summit	Oakland Golden Grizzlies [26-8]
Sun Belt	North Texas Mean Green [24-8]
SWAC	Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions [17-15]
WAC	New Mexico State Aggies [22-11]
West Coast	St Mary's Gaels [26-5]