FBL Update: Regional Finals

The field of 60-whatever has been whittled down to the final four, and what an intriguing final four it is.  Not a single number one seed has made it for only the second time since 1980 (2006 being the other year), and the first time ever that not even a number 2 seed has made it to college basketball's showcase event. 

Credit goes to John Paul Chase for making this bold prediction...as his bracket remains alilve with UConn. 

Speaking of UConn...you think they might be scared of who's on the opposite side of that bracket?  Remember 2006?  We do here at Caputo's Corner.  AK may attribute this to nothing more than a fluke, and perhaps it was, but history does have a tendency to repeat itself, right, AK?  Besides, if it truly were a fluke, why does a CAA team always get at least 1 tournament invitation this year?  This year, they happened to get 3, and the team that needed to win 5 games to reach the final four did.  Pretty impressive.  Then you have Butler, the horizon league champ who is here for the 2nd straight year!  They are the only squad who will definitely have that "been there done that," all business mentality.  The other 3 teams will probably be star-struck, and that is to their advantage.  Finally, there is Kentucky, the one squad I called correctly (so much for my glorious run...).  Calipari and Calhoun represent the old guard in the first national semifinal wheras Brad Stevens and Shaka Smart represent the new guard.  Old School vs. New School: the classic battle.

In FBL, despite my national champion going down in flames, I still remain in the lead by 3 points, but it is far more tenuous now as John Paul has UConn as I said.  He is the only team so far who can catch me.  Basically it comes down to this.  If UConn beats Kentucky in the national semifinal, it does not matter how the rest of it goes. John Paul is your 2011 FBL champion.  If Kentucky beats UConn, the fix was in all along. 

The only other teams who stand a chance to improve their final positions are AK and Patrick Small, who both have UConn advancing to the championship game.  If that happens, your top 3 will be:

1) John Paul Chase
2) AK
3) Patrick Small

If Kentucky beats UConn, your top 3 will be:

1) Nick Caputo
2) John Paul Chase
3) Patrick Deegan

There you have it, VCU and Butler have truly busted the bracket.  The national semifinals begin on Saturday.  Stay tuned for more STEM content (if I get around to posting it) this week on Caputo's Corner