It's Kirby vs. Dupuis in NIT Pool
Gary Kirby is one Florida loss away from winning his second consecutive Irish Trojan NIT Pool.
Kirby, a.k.a. "gahrie," got the entire Final Four right -- something only he and Katrina Lewonczyk can claim -- and he now has 228 out of a possible 252 points. That puts him 15 ahead of Josh Krause, 16 ahead of Mark Gardner, 22 ahead of Brian Dupuis and 23 ahead of Ginny Zak.
Only Dupuis, a LSU alum, still has a chance to win, however. Both he and Kirby, who attended USC in the 1980s, predicted a Florida-Ohio State title game, a rematch of last year's NCAA championship game. But whereas Kirby (along with everyone else near the top of the current leaderboard) picked the Buckeyes to win, Dupuis picked his Tigers' conference rivals, the Gators.
So if Florida follows up its two consecutive NCAA championships with an NIT championship, Dupuis -- winner of the Irish Trojan college football bowl pick 'em contest in 2005-06 -- will win the pool. If anyone else wins the title, Kirby will repeat as NIT Pool champ.
Complete standings here and after the jump.
4th annual NIT pool
1. Gary Kirby - 228
2. Joshua Krause - 213
3. Mark Gardner - 212
4. Brian Dupuis - 206
5. Ginny Zak - 205
6. Patrick Roach - 198
6. Derek McDonald - 198
8. Katrina Lewonczyk - 190
--. *AGGREGATE PICKS BRACKET* - 190
9. Larry Caplin - 189
10. Jeff Burch - 188
10. Pat Caplin - 188
12. David Mathues - 186
13. Dan Port - 183
14. Ted Zak - 181
15. Diane Krause - 177
--. *ALL FAVORITES BRACKET* - 176
16. Matt Thomsen - 173
17. Joey Perucki - 171
18. Randy Styles - 170
19. Steve Ivey - 169
20. Chris Bravo - 168
21. Joe Hiegel - 166
22. Jennifer Elam - 164
23. Scott Schmidt - 163
23. Cam McLachlan - 163
23. Matt Wiser - 163
26. Scott Robertson - 162
26. Michael Rosenkrantz - 162
28. Brian Nicholson - 159
29. Mike Quinn - 158
30. Don LaPlante - 156
30. Josh Rubin - 156
30. Jeff Morrison - 156
33. Wilson Loftis - 152
33. Weston Cross - 152
35. Gerry deSimas - 151
36. Jay Johnson - 150
37. Rick Boeckler - 149
37. Andrew Long - 149
37. Kevin Hauschulz - 149
40. Sean Sullivan - 148
41. Greg Plank - 146
42. Danny Pilz - 145
43. David Kreutz - 143
44. Mike Dagen - 142
45. Matt Scarborough - 141
46. Kevin Curran - 139
47. Kay Torg - 137
47. Sandy Berman - 137
49. Becky Loy - 134
50. Ian Auzenne - 132
50. Joshua Carpenter - 132
52. Dave Whelan - 131
53. Matt Higgins - 129
53. Jeremy Gist - 129
55. Scott Paine - 127
56. Tom Keck - 126
57. Chuck Wessell - 124
58. M.T. Swanson - 123
59. Brandon Minich - 122
60. Brian Newbold - 106
I was bragging about my NIT prowess at work yesterday, and one of my beloved colleagues came up with this:
"So what Kirby, that's like being the world's tallest midget".
Posted by: gahrie | Mar 27, 2008 8:55:22 AM
Heh.
Posted by: Brendan Loy | Mar 27, 2008 9:30:59 AM
How about a rematch of Ohio State and Florida in the NIT title game? We're two wins (one by each program) from that happening.
THAT would be awesome. (Got that from Deadspin, by the way.)
Posted by: B. Minich | Mar 27, 2008 2:27:23 PM
"Got that from Deadspin"? Puh!! See above, in this very post:
...a Florida-Ohio State title game, a rematch of last year's NCAA championship game...
:)
Posted by: Brendan Loy | Mar 27, 2008 3:05:42 PM