Da Bowz Marks Her Territory

Hot-T Leads WHAC Pack

Iowa State / UNC Big Tilt For Two Losing Ladies

Da Bowz (Courtney DiFiori) scampered to the top of the standings late Friday night when UConn upset Villanova, finally taking the Propheteer from his perch. Da Bowz named herself after her dog, Bowser, a lovable (if somewhat slobbery) French bulldog. DiFiori thus becomes the second person, along with her sister (Da Izz), to be named in honor of their dogs and lead the standings. Could Emma’s Mama (PJ Schroeder), a third player to honor her dog, be next?

Da Bowz benefitted from being one of only three players to correctly pick both of Friday’s big upsets, Dayton over Syracuse and UConn over Villanova. Hot-T (Tara Peterson) and ChiTriathlete (Adam Dickens) were the other two. The two big wins moved Hot-T into second place, just two points behind Bowz, and they boosted Dickens 38 spots into 47th, possibly saving the 10-year veteran’s tournament.

Hot-T is a member of the Challenge’s “WHAC Pack” along with Penney Lane (Angela Penney) and Yma Nevob (Amy Boven). The WHAC Pack is so named because they all work together at West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo, Mich. Hot-T told me before the tournament that she was highly anticipating this year’s contest. She’s the only member of the WHAC Pack who has not won a championship. Penney won in 2006 and Boven won in 2011. Penney is currently in 12th place, and Boven has valiantly moved up five spots to 116th. Boven’s poor showing thus far isn’t entirely surprising, however. I heard that after she filled out her bracket she was asking around work why Western Michigan wasn’t on her sheet. She desperately wanted to pick her hometown Broncos. After a thorough investigation, it was revealed that she had filled in a 2013 bracket.

Boven isn’t out of it yet, though. In fact, there’s even still hope for PoliticalGrrl (Steph Hilton) and KLoco (Kait O’Hare), currently in 120th and 121st place, respectively. Those two will be closely watching the Iowa State / North Carolina game. KLoco is one of just five players with the Tar Heels in the Final Four, and PoliticalGrrl is one of just two players with Iowa State in the finals and the only player to select them to win it all. There couldn’t be more at stake: The winner will be back on the path to Chippens glory, while the loser will, well … let’s just say make at least 120 other people relieved that they probably won’t finish last.

Standings will be updated frequently today, and there should be a lot of movement on the leaderboard with several close games on today’s slate. Good luck!