Elite 8

Gotta bring this update to you in Sparty Forest Green (or whatever they call it up there in East Lansing).  It is a reasonable surprise that they have arrived at the Elite 8 given how poorly this team shoots FTs, but man can they rebound and bang when they have to have the ball.  Now Sparty can ride Izzo's great history of short turnaround success (20-4) in the NCAA to hopefully another Final Four berth.  That said, Louisville might be the one in the back of the mind of Kentucky fans, as it was Pitino's Cardinals that gave UK one of their best games of the year back in December.

On to the CURRENT STANDINGS

The Brothers Iantosca have maintained their hold on the top 2 places, with each picking 7 of the Elite 8 (no one BTW picked all 8 teams this year).  Here's a shot of all three of the Iantosca brothers:

Scott (Wiltjer's Warriors!) is in the middle with 2nd place Mark (Release the Kraken) on the left (to Scott's right).  David, the black sheep of this year's Hopski, is on the right and languishing with two entries in 99th and 134th.  David at least pays on time though and is the best baller of the bunch!

Moving back into the top 3 is ABK (Anyone But Kentucky) and Marc Powell (anarchist living in Carmel, IN).  Marc is threatening to make a return this year to the Hopski staff with his Entry Name analysis.  Watch this space next week.

The big surge in the Sweet 16 round came from none other than My Other Bracket is on My Personal Server (Ron Genty, whose photo WILL skip past the censors IF he finishes in the top 3 of the pool), jumping 24 spots and into the Top 10 at ninth.  His son, Secret Server's Son (Clayton Genty) also made a huge jump of 36 spots and into the 16th slot.  Quite a run from the family Genty this year!

We have a new toilet bowl leader, as Lubed & Ready (Don Lubreski, ex-Warsaw expat and rebounder extraordinaire now gone Stateside) managed to nab just two of the Elite 8 and fell 16 places into the 163rd spot!  Wisconsin is his last team alive, so a Wisconsin loss tonight vs Arizona will seal the Toilet Bowl for Don!

From the Tournament Summary Report , here are the Elite 8 teams with # of entries picking them into the Final Four:

Kentucky	149
Arizona	76
Duke	72
Wisconsin	71
Villanova	63
Virginia	60
Gonzaga	49
Iowa St	32
Michigan St	13
Louisville	11
Oklahoma	11
Notre Dame	10

There's really not a lot of surprises here, even Michigan State and Louisville were seen as strong contenders for the Final Four by the Hopski Pool given the perceived weakness of the East Region.

If you want to "spoil the surprise" and know who you should be rooting for, all entries best and worst possible finish positions are listed in the PLAYER SCENARIOS REPORT 

TWENTY ENTRIES still have a chance to win the 2015 Hopski (unfortunately, the Commish's best finish is just 2nd - blocked by Bieber Celebrity Roast?  The End MUST Be Near).

The Hopski 2nd Chance Dance has 8 entries that picked a perfect Elite 8.  Click here for 2ND CHANCE DANCE CURRENT STANDINGS

Enjoy the Elite 8 games.  Next update will likely be on Monday.  Adios, The Commish