With 3 games to go, it is finally possible to envision the potential results of what has been a truly Mad March in our TM Rotary March Madness Bracket Challenge. Lets start with the good news, over $1,100 has been raised for the Rotary Foundation, and it's been a lot of fun. Now for the bad news, most of your brackets are completely out of contention (in fact, most were pretty much done after the first round). There are a few ways things could shake out, depending on the results of the final three games.
Duke and North Carolina will face off, and Villanova and Kansas will face off. The winner of those two games will face each other in the National Championship.
Our current front runner is Will (Megan's son, I think). Will has Kansas as his pick, and if Kansas wins through, he will end with 1,210 points. In that scenario, Maureen will be right behind him with 1,200. However, Ellen has Kansas in the final against Duke, which means if Duke beats North Carolina and then Kansas beats Duke in the National Championship, Ellen will end with 1,330 points which will put her in first, bumping Will and Maureen to second and third. However, if Kansas wins the Championship against North Carolina, she will only have 1,170 which should be good for third behind Will and Maureen. Stan Lind also has Kansas, but it appears if Kansas does win, he is destined for 4th. Jeff and Stan Smith also have Kansas as their selection, however, it doesn't appear picking the winner will suffice to bring them back from their current ranks, 26th and 37th respectively.
Duke is always a popular selection (in states where Duke didn't beat their home team last time the Badgers went to the National Championship). Regardless, there's still a few Duke picks, and a Duke win would shake things up. Karl has Duke beating Kansas, which would put him at 1,300 points and a shoe in for first place (even if Villanova beats Kansas). If Villanova beats Kansas and Duke wins it all, Stan Smith's currently ranked 44th bracket would boost up to 910 points, which would be good for second place. However, if Kansas beats Villanova, and Duke wins it all, Ellen would come in second with 1,050 points, putting Stan in third.
You might be wondering what would happen if Villanova takes home the Championship. The apparent winner would be Stan Smith with 1,070 points. Nancy would have 1,040, which may be good enough for second, followed by her boo (that's a Millennial term meaning Russ in this instance) who would bump up from 30th place to third place with 980 points.
Nobody thought North Carolina would make it this far... literally. None of the contending brackets have North Carolina in the Championship. This means the winner would be determined based on who won the Kansas vs. Villanova game. If it was Kansas, first place would be Will with 890 points, second place would be Maureen with 880 points, and third place would be Sam with 860 points. If it was Villanova, first place would be Maureen's currently ranked 11th bracket with 760 points, Stan with 750 points would be in second place, and third place would be Karl with 740 points.
Just a quick disclaimer. These results are based on a review of 55 brackets, and it can be difficult to be certain the results outlined are correct (especially with the North Carolina vs. Villanova scenario, that one was a doozy). I certainly could have missed somethings, and if that's the case, I apologize in advance to whoever thought they won, but later found out there was an error.