Lombardi Handicappers' Madness 2005: Sign-Up Open!

[reismark]

Two down, two to go.

[Ming]

Your picks are amazing reismark... I bow to your expertise this year so far

[reismark]

You know what the scary thing is though, Ming?

I had Nevada, Boston College, Pacific, and Mississippi State all winning in the first round in my initial bracket and then stupidly changed them all at the last second after reading some of SI's misguided bracket advice. Swear on my life. Last time I ever do that, of course

I'm just lovin' the ride right now.

GO ILLINI!

[Ming]

Originally posted by reismark
I had Nevada, Boston College, Pacific, and Mississippi State all winning in the first round in my initial bracket and then stupidly changed them all at the last second after reading some of SI's misguided bracket advice. Swear on my life. Last time I ever do that, of course

You could have been near perfect so far

GO ILLINI!

[reismark]

And just so the Cardinals of Louisville don't feel left out, here's a little something for the tournament committee that gave them a #4 seed and the morons who had the nerve to agree with that assessment:

http://photos.imageevent.com/scallops25/graphics/stfu.jpg

[Ming]

Illinois steals Final 4 berth from Arizona's dropped jaws
By Rick Gano, The Associated Press
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Illinois made an astounding final push for the Final Four with a rally that was as electrifying as it was improbable.

"Just amazing," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.

Trailing by 15 with just four minutes to play Saturday night, the Illini then showed why they have been No. 1 for most of the season.

"We just kept fighting. We never gave up," Deron Williams said "It looked like the game was over."

But it wasn't.

With Williams and Luther Head leading the way, Illinois went on a dazzling 20-5 run, tying it on Williams' three-pointer, and then held on in overtime to send Arizona to a crushing 90-89 defeat Saturday night in the Chicago Regional Finals. (Related item: Game report)

"We've got to keep going, keep playing. I'm trying to tell my teammates out on the floor 'This game's not over,' " Williams said. " 'There's still some time, we can still get it down, chip away.' We ended up getting the momentum, the crowd into it and we were able to take the game over."

The Illini (36-1), who've been able to drive to their two tournament sites in Indianapolis and suburban Chicago, so far, can keep on busing to the school's first Final Four appearance since 1989.

In St. Louis, they will play Louisville (33-4), which rallied from a 20-point deficit Saturday to beat West Virginia 93-85 in overtime and take the Albuquerque Regional.

The last time two regional final games went into overtime in the same year was 1992 when Michigan beat Ohio State and Duke eliminated Kentucky.

Arizona (30-7) went up 75-60 with four minutes to go after an 18-6 spurt that momentarily silenced a large, orange-clad partisan crowd.

The Illini stoked up their defense, incited the crowd and turned the game around.

"It's heart man, it's just heart," Illinois' Dee Brown said. "The whole time I was saying 'If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.' And I guess it was meant to be that we go to the Final Four."

Head hit a pair of three-pointers, Brown made a basket in the lane, Head scored after a steal, Williams drove for a basket and then made a steal and fed Brown for another basket with 45 seconds left.

After Jack Ingram deflected an inbound pass, Williams hit a three-pointer to tie it with 38 seconds to go.

"Guys left and right on their team were hitting big buckets, left and right, left and right. Whether it was a big guy or a guard," Arizona's Mustafa Shakur said.

"It was just an unbelievable thing to lose a game that way."

Even Weber, who was drawing up the defense to spark the comeback, couldn't keep track of all that happened.

"It was just crazy," he said. "We picked up the pace, did a little 2-2-1 zone, denied. Jack made a steal, Dee made a steal and I'm not sure how Deron got the last three," Weber said.

After Williams tied it at 80 in regulation, Salim Stoudamire, the hero of Arizona's semifinal win over Oklahoma State with a last-second game-winner, dribbled the clock down and then passed the ball to Jawann McClellan. He missed, but Stoudamire came up with a loose ball, only to have his shot blocked by Head.

"The defense collapsed on me so I wasn't going to force it so I kicked it out to Jawann," said Stoudamire, who managed just nine points under heavy defense from Williams.

Williams hit two more three-pointers in overtime but Illinois' victory wasn't secured until Arizona's Hassan Adams, who'd scored five points to get the Wildcats within a point, missed a rushed shot just before the final buzzer.

Adams couldn't get the ball inside to Channing Frye or drive, so he took the shot. But it wasn't close.

"It's extremely hard. ... My disappointment is for the team," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "I'm disappointed we didn't reach one of our goals. I wish we could have closed it out."

Williams, a junior who might leave for the NBA, finished with 22 points, hitting five three-pointers, and had 10 assists. Head, playing with a sore hamstring, added 20.

"We just played very hard down the stretch," Brown said. "Deron Williams, the best guard in America, came through, made a lot of great plays. In the huddle we just said we aren't going to lose this game."

Stoudamire had a miserable game, making just 2 of 13 shots — 1-of-7 on three-pointers — his chance of going to the Final Four for the first time as a senior erased.

"It was just an off night on my part. I didn't knock the shots down," he said.

"I didn't quit though. I tried to do other things on the floor and it just so happens that we came up short."

Frye was a force all night and finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots. His three-pointer with 6:03 left in regulation was the last field goal the Wildcats scored in regulation.

Adams scored 21 on 9-of-13 shooting.

[reismark]

Well, you can't win 'em all, I guess.

[Ming]

I had Kentucky in ALL of my pools... but I have no problem with the down and weak Big 10 having TWO teams in the Final Four... The east coast media bias can shove it

[Brtndr4u]

I'm here for my slice of "humble Pie" with a side of "Crow"

I thought I really knew it this year, but too many bracket busters did me in.

Ruined a good year I had going so far.Maybe I could recoup with some Baseball parlays.

[Ned]

I have not entered the pool as I don't follow college basketball. As an Illinois native though, I tuned in to watch the Illini game against Arizona the other day. The Illini were getting hammered. I couldn't take it anymore. So at the 4 minute mark, I turned the game off, thinking at the time that I would kick myself if Illinois came back.

Well, when I found out that Illinois did come back, I was stunned. OMFG! This was almost as bad as the Heidi game, which I was watching when they cut away. Arggggh!

[Ming]

Well... even if UNC wins, reismark wins, because he has a huge lead.

If the Illini win, HTower comes in second, Deity Dude third, and I finish fourth.

If UNC wins, Berz slips into second place, HTower takes third, and Deity Dude fourth.

GO ILLINI!

[JohnT]

Homer.

[Ming]

Originally posted by JohnT
Homer.

and... Your Point...

GO ILLINI!

[Ming]

Tip off in just about 20 minutes... the first time the number one and two in the nation have faced off in the championship games since the 70's.

GO ILLINI!

[Berzerker]

1 reismark 216 46 216 46 Illinois
2 Berzerker 200 43 200 43 North Carolina
3 H Tower 195 43 195 43 Illinois
4 deity dude 186 44 186 44 Illinois
5 Ming 185 42 185 42 Illinois
6 Jonny11788 185 41 185 41 North Carolina
7 rah 184 44 184 44 Illinois
8 gjramsey 176 41 176 41 Illinois
9 Imran Siddiqui 167 40 167 40 Illinois
10 -Jrabbit 157 42 157 42 Illinois
11 jdd2007 156 38 156 38 Illinois
12 ColdWizard 155 37 155 37 Syracuse
13 Brtndr4u 153 39 153 39 Duke
14 JohnT 137 39 137 39 Syracuse
15 Scott Gailey 133 36 133 36 Illinois
16 Darsnan 121 37 121 37 Duke
17 Adam Smith 0 0 0 0
17 Barry Goldenberg 0 0 0 0
17 deity dame 0 0 0 0
17 deity lad 0 0 0 0
17 Guynemer 0 0 0 0
17 ixnay 0 0 0 0
17 Peacemaker 0 0 0 0
17 Stuie 0 0 0 0
17 Zopperoni 0

Congrats Reismark!!!