TUCSON, AZ (smt)- The Kansas-Memphis game nearly single-handedly saved a rather boring tournament where double-digit wins were the norm and all #1 seeds made the Final Four.  Memphis hid their Achilles' heel well for 5.975 games but eventually the truth caught up to them and their four consecutive missed free throws were their downfall (spectacularly).  Kansas' coach Bill Self shed his own best coach never to win the big one title and helped Kansas get their own monkey off their back with their first title in 20 years.  So which team takes the monkey now?  UCLA, who if they make the Final Four next year and fail to win the championship will be be compared to the 4-time loser Buffalo Bills?  And will Darren Collison and freshman Kevin Love return?  With 7 freshmen already leaving school early with 4 others possibly right behind them, I don't like it.  I don't blame the kids for taking the money, but sometimes having these "super" freshmen skew the competition too much, much like what happened when the Olympics starting using professional basketball players.  I like familiarity so it would be nice to see some college stars for 2-3 years (except for Tyler Hansbrough, who I'm already tired of hearing about).

Congrats to my son's grandpa Cliff T ($440), MLSBob Bob G ($220), Iron Chef San Gabriel Doug H ($150), and one of many Dunigan reps Robby D ($40 Bonus) for winning their first prize in our humble tourney.  Congrats to my co-worker's-friend-of-a-friend Don C ($100) and co-worker Jeff H ($60) for making return trips to the winner's circle.  Jeff should be especially thankful as we added the 5th place prize this year.  Cliff's our 13th different HWCI NCAA Pool Champion.  A total of 41 people have won money in our pool.  Jeff's third win ties David F for second place (behind Scott T's five wins but none since 2003).

What it was... 

BEST HAIR:  Arkansas' Stephen Hill though Stanford's Robin Lopez (with bonus points if dating Michelle Wie) is up there.

BUZZER BEATER:  Yes, for just the second time in 5 years, a true buzzer beater as Western Kentucky's Ty Rogers hit a long 26-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to send fan favorite Drake home early.

FAN FAVORITE:  No longer is it Gonzaga.  Nor was it the most likely successor Drake.  It was 10th seed Davidson who fought its way til the last buzzer in the Elite 8.

SIZE DOESN'T MATTER:  Memphis' loss now makes it 0-4 for teams who have won 37 or more games.

PRECURSOR TO 2008-9?:  Kansas only hit 3 three-pointers vs Memphis (2 in the last 2 minutes of regulation) and just 5 vs their big win vs. UNC.  Memphis just hit 4 in their win vs. UCLA.  With the line being moved back one foot this fall, the two finalists have shown they can win without the long bomb (unlike Oregon who missed 18 in a row and Duke who missed 15 straight).

NO GAME:  How is it that in San Antonio, home of this year's Final Four, the NCAA game on the radio was pre-empted by... hockey?  And how here in LA, the NCAA game on the radio was pre-empted by... Clippers basketball (that's debatable if they are playing real bball)?  I can't catch a break.

BACK-AND-FORTH:  The Tigers and Jayhawks switched momentum so many times in the last few minutes of regulation, I was dizzy (with excitement).  Memphis missed the front end of a one-and-one, go Kansas!  Memphis misses layup, Kansas comes down and layup attempt is blocked, go Memphis!  Memphis misses two free throws, go Kansas!  Memphis gets rebound on missed free throw, go Memphis!  Memphis misses first free throw, go Kansas!  Memphis makes second free throw, go Memphis!  Kansas hits game-tying 3-pointer, go Kansas (which carried into overtime).  Whew.

COMEBACK I:  Kansas' rally from 9 points down in just over 2 minutes is the stuff dreams are made of.  I was commenting (somewhat hollowly) at the restaurant to a co-worker that despite the 35 second clock it always seems like it is easy for a team to come back.  Ding.

COMEBACK II:  BELUCKY2 had just a 1 in 32 chance to finish in first (as did his final 1st place competitor FLIP FIGHTERS) and accomplished that, moving from a tie for 36th place to 1st in five games... COBI'S DAD had just a 1 in 32 chance to win money and also did that going from a tie for 71st (!) place to 2nd (thanks to Bob G for catching this) in just five games.

ENDING ON A STREAK:  BELUCKY2 won his last 10 games (a record to end the tourney) while QUICKPICK MCGRAW lost his last 7 games.

GUTSY PICKS:  QUEENB was the only one to pick Western Kentucky to make the Sweet 16 while LUSTIFULLY N LONDON! was the only one to pick Davidson to make the Elite 8 and was a Stephen Curry basket away (he passed up the final shot) from his pick of the Wildcats in the Final Four.

LAZY PICKS:  For those who just pick all #1 seeds to make the Final Four, this was the first year it came true (12 entries had this).  For the 38 who picked the top two consensus UCLA-UNC final, sorry.

FOILED:  The heavy favorites were UCLA (44 to win it all) and UNC (30) but it was the tied for third picks (Memphis & Kansas with 7 each) who made the Final which still kept the pool interesting until the final buzzer (literally, as Kansas' last two free throws pushed Jeff from 4th place to 5th (losing the tiebreaker)).