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DaphneÕs BFF Winner By Association 

 

Well El Bee!

 

The Girls Are On Fire

 

Deefeecult Day for Se–or Wences

 

They say itÕs not what you know, but who you know. What could be truer in this instance? DaphneÕs BFF (Alyssa Koster), who all day lingered around the top of the standings like the smell of a dirty diaper in a hot room, finally took the top spot with GeorgetownÕs victory in the last game of the day. Koster is a three-month-old from Avon, Ohio. Her mother, Christina Koster, did not enter a bracket this year. Yet Christina did take credit for AlyssaÕs success, texting Chippens headquarters, ÒIÕm in second place!Ó after NC State beat LSU. Alyssa/Christina have five upsets picked in FridayÕs game, so theyÕll need another eventful day to keep their spot on top.   

 

El bee (Lauren McCall) briefly buzzed to the top of the standings late Thursday night, helped by LSUÕs epic choke and a failed upset bid by Wofford. She fell to second place, where she currently sits, after Georgetown finished off Eastern Washington.

 

The top of the standings is unfamiliar territory for McCall, who finished 112th (out of 112) in 2013 and 88th last year. But perhaps the math teacher and mom of two has finally found her sweet spot. If the Cornell grad hopes to stick at the top, sheÕll need a big upset by Robert Morris over Duke tomorrow. SheÕs the only player to pick the Colonials over the Blue Devils, so a loss would really sting.

 

The Girls on Fire!!! (Valerie/Daphne/Izzy Corwin) is/are tied with el bee in second place with 15 points. Corwin was in first place after Day One last year as well, but then finished 54th. But perhaps this year, with her four-month-old daughter and her loyal dog as reinforcements, sheÕll be able to keep her spot among the leaders.

 

Keeping with the girls on fire theme, seven women trail the ladies in second place by just one point. Among them are hv porter (four career top 25 finishes), DaBoss (3rd last year), PJ (Chippens legend), Jess C. #BBN (7th last year), Amada (2011 champ), and Alexander the Great (see this yearÕs Tournament Preview). The 7th is NerdJordan. Now in her 5th year, JordanÕs best finish is 39th place in 2013, but no nerd can stay down for long. She has a strong bracket remaining with Kentucky as her champ.

 

And now we turn our spotlight to the bottom of the standings. If you were able to scroll down far enough, you might have seen poor Seor Wences complete one of the most disastrous first days in Chippens history. Wences (Charles Corwin), all alone in 109th place with just five points, crowed for the past week that this yearÕs tourney would be easy for him, but ÒdeefeecultÓ for everyone else, just as the real Seor Wences used to say. No doubt Wences is singing a different tune as he ponders how to make a comeback Friday.

 

Finally, congrats to BabyJay, DaBoss, and Poor Stache for picking the dayÕs first and biggest upset, UAB over Iowa State.

 

FRIDAY STANDINGS UPDATES: Due to some interstate travel I have scheduled this Friday, updates to the standings after the first wave of games may be delayed until the early evening. If this happens, the best way to gauge how youÕre doing in the tournament is to use the Tournament Results page, which shows you which players picked which team in every game. Just click on the little pencil icon.