Ja Makin’, Jake Lead After Two

Pole Position

Tigers vs. Terps For New #1

Defending Champ Should Have Taken Liberty

Uncle Leo To Gopher Glory

Scott Sederstrom (Det. Jake Peralta) and Brian Brennan (Ja Makin’ Me Crazy) each moved up one spot from yesterday to share the lead after Day Two.

Brennan and Sederstrom have identical first-round brackets and finished the round of 32 with an impressive 28 wins, only two off the all-time record of 30 (set by Bucephalus and H to the Izzo in 2017). KLoco, yesterday’s leader, also finished with 28 wins, but didn’t pick up as many upset points as Brennan and Sederstrom. She’s now in fourth place.

Polish Wonders (Eric Myszka) edged out KLoco for third place. Myszka, in his 13th season, is tied in points with the top two players at 37, but sits in third due to the first tie-breaker, pick percentage.

The Polish Wonder picked a lot of close-seed upsets in the first round, and the strategy paid off. He outpaced the field with 10 underdog points, going 3-1 in the 8/9 games and 3-1 in the 10/7 games. He only missed two possible upset points through the first 32 games.

Myszka recently relocated to California from Chicago with Mrs. Mouse (2016 Champ), and he credits his success thus far to the abundant SoCal sunshine.

Of course, the California sun is like a sputtering tea candle compared to the glorious, megawatt rays at the top of the Chippens standings. But the current lead three players should bask while they can, because as soon as Saturday’s first game ends (LSU vs. Maryland), they will be in someone else’s shadow.

The top three all picked Belmont to take the first Sweet 16 slot, but Belmont lost on Thursday to Maryland. KLoco, Señor Wences, and HotRod, each just one point behind the top three, still have a team alive in that game. KLoco has Maryland while Wences and HotRod have LSU.

Luckily for El Señor the game starts early. He only lasted until 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, when his bracket already seemed to be in tatters after Marquette got blown out and St. Mary’s was on its way to losing as well. “I can’t take any more,” he said, and then went to bed.

But like Don Quixote on trusty Rocinante, the Ingenious Gentleman, El Señor, charged ahead 46 spots on Friday thanks to wins by Liberty and the UC Irvine Anteaters and now has a chance to seize the lead.

Señor Wences had more luck in that regard than the defending champ, Give me Liberty or give me Mississippi State (Brandon Christol). Christol picked Mississippi State. If he’d had a little more faith in Liberty, he, too, would be only one point off the lead.

Far, far from the lead is poor Uncle Leo, currently in 130th place. The former lifeguard sank 34 spots on Friday to rock bottom. But a life preserver could be in reach for the mustachioed Texan. He’s one of just five players who picked Minnesota to upset Michigan State on Saturday. It’s a big gamble but you should never lose sight of wily Uncle Leo: He’s always one to surface when and where you least expect it.