MARQUETTE GIVES VALE THE LEAD

#3-seed Marquette’s 77-74 victory over #2 Pittsburgh gave 15-year-old Rockville High School freshman Justin Vale sole possession of the lead in The Living Room Times’s eighth annual NCAA men’s pool through 52 games.

Vale, of Vernon, Connecticut, went 4-for-4 Thursday, successfully picking the Golden Eagles and the day’s other three winners, all of whom were the higher-seeded teams: #1 Kentucky over #5 Wisconsin, #1 Arizona over #5 Notre Dame, and #2 Kansas over #3 Duke. Vale now has 257 points out of a possible 312.

Michigan resident Larry Caplin, formerly tied with Vale for first, dropped to second place when the buzzer sounded on Marquette’s win. Caplin, a 59-year-old uncle of Becky Zak, had picked Pittsburgh to win. He got the day’s other three games right, however, and is now ten points back with 247 points.

Dan Port, a USC junior, and Ryan McBride, a Northeastern University senior, are tied for third place with 244 points. UConn junior Kristen Everson and Southern New Hampshire University senior Matt Kagan are tied for fifth with 242.

Wisconsin is threatening to shake up the Living Room Times eighth annual men’s NCAA pool leaderboard in a big way.

The #1-seed Kentucky Wildcats are leading the #5 Badgers by just one point, 38-37, with 15:54 left in the game. If Wisconsin pulls the upset, defending champion Tom Greca, presently in 13th place, and Bonnie Stone, presently 19th, will soar in the standings; they were the only contestants to predict the Badgers would reach the Elite Eight.

Meanwhile, the 17 contestants who picked Kentucky to win the national championship and 12 others who predicted they will reach the Final Four would find their chances of winning the pool severely hurt if the Wildcats make an early exit.

UPDATE: Well, so much for the Badgers. Kentucky wins. Sanity prevails.

Pentagon: 12 Marines missing, 14 wounded in fighting around Nasiriya.

American Connection Flight 5554
Departing: St. Louis, MO
Arriving: South Bend, IN
Arrival Time: 7:09 PM Gate: N/A
Baggage Claim: N/A

This flight departed: 4:36 PM

Richard Perle, head of board that advises U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, resigns.

Becky’s flight from L.A. to St. Louis has arrived. Presumably she is now in the airport, getting ready for her flight to South Bend, which is due to depart at 4:36 Central time (2:36 Pacific time, 17 minutes from now).

I signed up for a thingy whereby this website should automatically post an update 30 minutes before Becky’s next flight is scheduled to land. I’m not sure if it will post another one when it actually does land.

L.T. Smash, the soldier-blogger in the Persian Gulf, spoke to his team of fellow soldiers today:

“For most of you, this will be the only time in your life you will be involved in an armed conflict. Treat this mission as if it were the last thing you will ever do in your military career. Don’t hold anything back. The troops on the front lines are counting on you. The people back home are counting on you. The oppressed people of Iraq are counting on you. The success of this mission depends on you.”

Becky’s flight is 57 miles northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the moment, travelling 599 miles per hour at an altitude of 37,000 feet. It is due to arrive in St. Louis in roughly 1 1/2 hours. (She will then board a connecting flight to South Bend.) Click here to track her current flight yourself.

PITT-MARQUETTE GAME WILL BREAK TIE,
GIVE EITHER CAPLIN OR VALE THE LEAD

This much is certain: the Pittsburgh-Marquette game will break the tie between Justin Vale and Larry Caplin.

Vale, a 15-year-old freshman at Rockville High School in Vernon, Connecticut, and Caplin, a 59-year-old Michigan resident and uncle of Becky Zak, have been tied for the lead ever since Friday evening, with the brief exception of a roughly two-hour period on Saturday when Vale had the lead to himself. But only one of them will be in first place at the end of the day today.

Vale picked #3-seed Marquette to win the Sweet 16 showdown between the Golden Eagles and the Panthers, while Caplin picked #2 Pittsburgh. The co-leaders agree in their predictions for the day’s other three games — choosing Kentucky, Arizona, and Kansas — and no one else on the leaderboard has the potential to overtake both of them today. So, one way or the other, Pittsburgh-Marquette will break the tie between the current co-leaders in The Living Room Times’s eighth annual NCAA men’s pool, and determine who will have sole possession of the lead through 52 games.

Of course, other games will impact the leaderboard as well. An upset victory by Wisconsin over Kentucky would vault defending champion Tom Greca, currently in 13th place, into fifth, just nine points out of the lead halfway through the day’s action. Add victories by Pittsburgh and Kansas, and Greca could be in second place by the end of the day. (On the other hand, even if Wisconsin and Kansas win, a Marquette victory would mathematically eliminate Greca from winning the pool.)

A victory by Duke over Kansas would bring Cam McLachlan, currently 13 points behind the leaders, within three points of first place. Jeff Cultrera, Mike Wiser, and Ted Zak, currently 15 points behind, would move to within five. By contrast, a Kansas victory would drop those players down the leaderboard considerably, and would mathematically eliminate Cultrera.

An Arizona victory would drop Dan Port from third place, three points behind the leaders, to a three-way tie for fifth place, 13 points back. A Notre Dame victory would save Port from that fall and would vault Matt Thomsen, currently tied for 22nd place, into a tie for 14th. Thomsen is the only pool contestant remotely near the top of the leaderboard to pick Notre Dame.

Here is a look at today’s schedule, and the picks made by the top 13 pool contestants:

4:10 PM Pacific time: #1 Kentucky vs. #5 Wisconsin
4:27 PM Pacific time: #1 Arizona vs. #5 Notre Dame
6:40 PM Pacific time: #2 Pittsburgh vs. #3 Marquette
6:57 PM Pacific time: #2 Duke vs. #3 Kansas

Justin Vale (217): Kentucky, Arizona, Marquette, Kansas
Larry Caplin (217): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Kansas
Dan Port (214): Kentucky, Illinois*, Marquette, Kansas
Kristen Everson (212): Kentucky, Arizona, Indiana**, Kansas
Josh Rubin (205): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Kansas
Cam McLachlan (204): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Duke
Ryan McBride (204): Kentucky, Arizona, Marquette, Kansas
Mike Wiser (202): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Duke
Ted Zak (202): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Duke
Kevin Hauschulz (202): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Kansas
Jeff Cultrera (202): Kentucky, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Duke
Matt Kagan (202): Kentucky, Arizona, Marquette, Kansas
Tom Greca (198): Wisconsin, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Kansas

*Illinois was eliminated in the second round. Port needs to root for Notre Dame over Arizona, since few contestants picked the Irish but many picked the Wildcats.
**Indiana was eliminated in the second round. No matter who wins the Pittsburgh-Marquette game, Everson will lose some ground on the leaderboard.

Just left on SuperShuttle for her flight to Notre Dame. I’m already lonely. :(

Well, at least I have Toby. (Live TobyCam)