North Carolina v Duke

 It’s a good day to be John M. or Mike W.  One of those two guys is going to win this pool.  If it’s Kansas, Mike W. is going to win.  If it’s anyone else, John M. is going to win.  When I saw this, I kind of thought maybe John M submitted two brackets that were more or less the same with the only difference being who he had winning this Duke / North Carolina game, but that’s not the case.  His brackets are totally different, but both good enough to still be alive to win.  A big part of that is that John M. #3 is the only person to have picked North Carolina to win the whole thing.  That can cover up a lot of missed picks.

Here is an updated (and truncated) matrix:

Name	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place
Mike W. - Kansas	50.0000%	25.0000%	St. Peter's	St. Peter's
Ryan W. - Kansas	St. Peter's	25.0000%	Miami-Florida	50.0000%
Craig G. - Kansas	St. Peter's	25.0000%	25.0000%	St. Peter's
Kristin G. - Gonzaga	Arkansas	Arkansas	25.0000%	Miami-Florida
Dustin B. - Kansas	Arkansas	Arkansas	Arkansas	25.0000%
John M. #2 - Duke	25.0000%	UCLA	Villanova	Miami-Florida
Kristina H. - Duke	Villanova	25.0000%	Miami-Florida	Houston
Matt H. - Duke	Arizona	Villanova	25.0000%	Villanova
Stefon K. - Kansas	Initial	Gonzaga	25.0000%	Purdue
Brent S. #1 - Duke	Arizona	Arizona	Purdue	25.0000%
John M. #3 - North Carolina	25.0000%	Miami-Florida	Houston	Houston

Here are the eliminations for the Duke / North Carolina game:

If Duke wins:

Result	Pick
Craig G. is eliminated from 3rd place contention.	Duke
Dustin B. is eliminated from 4th place contention.	Purdue
John M. #3 is eliminated from 1st place contention.	North Carolina
Kristin G. is eliminated from 3rd place contention.	Gonzaga
Mike W. is eliminated from 2nd place contention.	Duke
Ryan W. is eliminated from 2nd place contention.	Baylor

If North Carolina wins:

Result	Pick
Brent S. #1 is eliminated from 4th place contention.	Duke
Craig G. is eliminated from 2nd place contention.	Duke
John M. #2 is eliminated from 1st place contention.	Duke
Kristina H. is eliminated from 2nd place contention.	Duke
Matt H. is eliminated from 3rd place contention.	Duke
Stefon K. is eliminated from 3rd place contention.	Duke

I’m pretty excited about this game.  I’ve been following college basketball since Villanova beat Georgetown in 1985.  I’ve probably watched more North Carolina and Duke games than any other pairing.  It’s amazing to me that they’ve never played in the NCAA tournament before.  Add in that it could be Coach K’s last game, that Coach K is 50-49 all time against North Carolina, that UNC killed Duke in Coach K’s last home game ever.  There’s so much drama leading up to this game.  I hope it cam live up to the hype.  Sit back and enjoy!!!!