How Is Your Bracket Doing?

None of us had Wichita State in the Final Four.

So, we are two games away from knowing which teams are headed to Atlanta for the Final Four.

Veronica, who has won our "March Madness" contest in two of the past four years, will not be winning for a third time. Olivia, Lauren and "Zahn" also have their championship pics out of the tournament. Julia and I are pinning our hopes on Louisville, while Emily has gone with Duke.

Here is how things shook out through Saturday's games:

Veronica
Elite Eight: Louisville, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Harvard, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Butler
Final Four: Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Butler
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Olivia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Davidson
Final Four: Memphis, Ole Miss, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas
Winner: Ole Miss

Julia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Elite Eight: Colorado St., Duke, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota, Syracuse, Butler
Final Four: Duke, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Syracuse
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota
Winner: Minnesota

Emily
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami
Final Four: Duke, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Miami
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown
Winner: Duke

Dad
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Elite Eight: Colorado St., St. Louis, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, Syracuse, Miami.
Final Four: St. Louis, Gonzaga, Kansas, Miami
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

March Madness Is Back!

Bridget helped Veronica fill out her bracket. Julia seems to think hers is all correct.

Emily looks frazzled. She really wasn't.

It's that time of year again. Our annual tradition of filling out brackets for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It's an annual rite of spring that has brought about many surprises over the years.

It all started back in 2008. On March 20, 2008, to be precise. Veronica, as a two-year-old, took home top honors that year. Bracket time in 2009 was equally as fun, as I could barely get the defending champion's attention. 

And here's an entry from 2010. I don't seem to know who won that year, but judging by the Final Four picks, I had three teams still in the hunt.

So this time around, there was plenty of discussion and Olivia even filled out two brackets (the other one under the name "Zahn"). So we'll see how things work out in the end. So you can follow along, here are the summary picks for everyone. (Jon and Bridget also filled out brackets but I didn't know if they wanted their picks shared on here.)

Veronica
Elite Eight: Louisville, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Harvard, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Butler
Final Four: Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Butler
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Olivia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Davidson
Final Four: Memphis, Ole Miss, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas
Winner: Ole Miss

Julia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Elite Eight: Colorado St., Duke, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota, Syracuse, Butler
Final Four: Duke, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Syracuse
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota
Winner: Minnesota

Emily
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami
Final Four: Duke, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Miami
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown
Winner: Duke

Dad
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Elite Eight: Colorado St., St. Louis, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, Syracuse, Miami.
Final Four: St. Louis, Gonzaga, Kansas, Miami
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Julia didn't like me peeking at her picks.

Olivia was doing some research of her own.

Brackets And Basketball

The girls are having a "ball" with their brackets this year.
The YD tradition of filling out NCAA Tournament brackets began March 20, 2008. Since then, it has blossomed into a heated (but fun) competition that has the girls watching a lot of hoops and checking their picks.

On opening weekend, the girls huddled several times to go through the winners and losers. Correct picks (Sean would say, "If you picked Northern Iowa, circle Northern Iowa.") were cheered loudly. Losses ("If you picked Kansas, cross out Kansas.") were greeted with groans and boos

Before we get to the standings heading into Sweet 16 games, here's how things shook out in the end last year. And here is how the brackets shaped up last year after first-round games. If you don't want to follow the links, here's all you need to know: Veronica won last year – at the age of three-and-a-half. Oh, and did we mention she also won the first year, too?

So who's leading after the first and second-round games? Veronica, of course. A year older, a year wiser. She picked upsets such as St. Mary's, Cornell and Old Dominion on the way to a family best 25-of-32 correct choices in the first round.

Here's a look at how everyone did in first-round games:

Veronica: 25/32
Julia: 22/32
Lauren: 21/32
Sean: 20/32
Olivia: 18/32
Emily: 18/32

So, by using the point system we put into place last year, here are the standings heading into this week's Sweet 16 contests:

Veronica: 43
Sean: 38
Julia: 36
Lauren: 33
Olivia: 32
Emily: 30

How does it look for Veronica in the long term? Well, two of her Final Four teams are already out. Here are everyone's picks for the Final Four:

Veronica: Tennessee, Brigham Young, Wisconsin, Baylor.
Sean: Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Duke.
Julia: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Duke.
Lauren: U.C. Santa Barbara, Minnesota, Temple, St. Mary's.
Olivia: Michigan State, Vermont, Kentucky, Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Emily: Kansas, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Duke.