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Natethegreat, Sneaky Peat Tied At The Top

 

Faith In Big 10 Pays Off For Bone

 

Huskerobb Riding Atlantic Wave

 

The Don Is Rising

 

In a day that featured major upsets and left no player unscathed, two players managed to put together enough big wins to emerge at the top of the rubble. Natethegreat (Nathan Corwin-Shah), a fifth-grader at Washington Elementary in Bloomington, Ill., and Sneaky Peat (Lee Schmidgall), of Chippewa Falls, Wisc., finally shook off Badger Hoopa to take control of the leaderboard when Minnesota defeated UCLA in the dayÕs final contest. GG20 is once again one spot back based on the first tiebreaker; he briefly held the lead when Illinois took out Colorado.  

 

Natethegreat easily had the dayÕs biggest win. He was the only player to pick Florida Gulf Coast to upset Georgetown. With that win, he gained two points on the rest of the field and made up for losing two of the eveningÕs big swing games, Temple/NC State and Iowa State/Notre Dame. Natethegreat will need more big wins going forward because he was one of only two players (along with The Bryman) to pick New Mexico as the champion. New Mexico lost on Thursday.

 

Like almost everyone else, Sneaky Peat lost FridayÕs three major upsets (Wisconsin, Kansas State, and Georgetown), but he otherwise ran the table, picking up big wins with Temple, Iowa State, and Minnesota to move up seven spots on the day. Sneaky Peat had Kansas State beating Gonzaga, so if the Zags keep winning that will hurt him, but otherwise his bracket is still in very good shape. HeÕs getting his Five Year Ring this year, and with a 5th place, 14th place, and 26th place already to his credit, he looks like a serious contender for the record books. Last year, under the handle ÒTurd Ferguson,Ó he broke the heart of Bucephalus in dramatic fashion. There could be more drama in store this year.   

 

With that Minnesota win, every Big 10 team survived the first round except for Wisconsin. Before the tournament, Bone (Eric Sturgeon) expressed hope that the Big Ten would perform well this year. Although almost everybody liked Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Indiana, 37 players picked against Illinois and a majority of players, 57, picked against Minnesota. Bone had them all, and his faith in the league helped him move up an impressive 36 spots today to 11th place.

 

SaturdayÕs first game, VCU v. Michigan, will be a test to see how far that faith can take him. Thirty players, including four in the top six places, have VCU taking out the Wolverines. As an upset pick worth five points, a VCU win could really shake up the standings.

 

One of those players in the top six with VCU is huskerobb (Robb Perkins of Lincoln, Neb.). Perkins was the only player to pick La Salle over Kansas State. HeÕs now tied for fourth place with B Mac after moving up four spots on the day. Perkins seems to have an affinity for the Atlantic 10 Conference. As a land-locked Nebraskan with his Huskers finishing the season—well, not good—one wonders if heÕs dreaming of an ocean getaway.

 

Finally, look out for The Don Christol (Rises and Fires). He rose 55 spots Friday to 18th place, making him the dayÕs biggest mover. A VCU win would propel him into the top 10.