First of all, I would like to say that Louisville really set the tone of how messed up my bracket was going to be when they absolutely blew it against Minnesota. So thanks Cardinals for ultimately making me the laughing-stock of the Viva staff.

Back when we decided to set up this bracket for all you Red Raider fanatics out there, we had no idea just how large this would become. Right now we have over 170 participants and 154 of you are better gamblers/guessers/voodoo-practicing-people than I am! So from Viva the Matadors we wanted to pass on a HUGE thank you to YOU, our readers and our friends for signing up and being a part of this train wreck of a Tech site.

After two rounds of absolute madness (but not really) we’re left with a lot of high-seeded contenders for the first time since... what... 1985? In 1985 Route 66 was removed from the highway system, Nintendo was released in the United States, Michael Jordan recieved the Rookie of the Year Award, “Careless Whisperer” by Wham! was Billboard No. 1 and the king of Queen brilliantly captured the hearts of millions one last time.

What this all boils down to is that if you were thinking this was your year to bust the brackets with trendy upsets, then you didn’t cash out. Chalk it up to the chalk but we’re days away from a 1-2-3-4 seeded Sweet Sixteen and there’s one lone leader of this pack:

No. 1: Drawcm with “Mattsbracket”

Who could have predicted that Oklahoma would have trolled Ole Miss? Who knew that Ja Morant of Murray State would be that good without watching them all year? Who put their faith in Oregon to stay hot against a good Wisconsin team? Drawcm has so far played us all for fools and currently leads the bracket with 560 points. There are notable mistakes such as Syracuse’s loss to Baylor, Iowa State’s shortcoming against Ohio State and an eventual “what the hell are you doing Kansas State?!” as they fell to UC Irving - but they remain minor human errors.

Going forward Drawcm needs Texas Tech to put up another defensive clinic on a team that is statistically more efficient than Buffalo was, while continuously putting up points against a team that ranks right after Tech’s in defensive efficiency. It will also be interesting to see if Michigan State can keep momentum rolling against a hot LSU team led by Tremont Waters. Purdue versus Tennessee is the only other game that could give Drawcm some beads of sweat.

No. 2(s): Brent’s Raiders & TMerch23

Following closely - and I mean closely - behind Drawcm are Brent’s Raiders and TMerch23. Both are tied with 550 points, although TMerch23 more accurately predicted Round of 64 games (like Minnesota, jerk) and Brent’s Raiders evened the score with a better Round of 32. The Sweet Sixteen will sift these two away from each other fairly easily, however, as virtually none of their picks are identical. If I had to pick, and take this with a grain of salt because I suck at this, I would say Brent’s Raiders will pull away because I trust North Carolina over Auburn and Tennessee over Purdue; TMerch23 picked the opposite. Interestingly, both Brent’s Raiders and TMerchJ.23 chose Iowa State to face off against Kentucky and advance to the Elite Eight. Sorry about that.

No. 3 and beyond

But the second place is not safe! Right on the coat tails of Brent’s Raiders and TMerch23 are J. Jason Jonas and espnfan3095801433 (I hate your name) with 540 points each. YOU BOTH CHOSE LOUISVILLE TO WIN AND IT SHOWS. The large group that trails them, we’ll call it the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for a variety of reasons, is made up of these beautiful bracketeers: RaiderRed 2013, matthewh1616, Brent’s Raiders (with another bracket, still picked Louisville lmao), Tamara4878, and will_thomas. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is all tied up at 530 points, only a mere thirty points out of first place. Drawcm, Brent’s Raiders (the original bracket that counts), and TMerch23 all could easily overlook the GPGP but I wouldn’t act surprised if they get engulfed in the madness through these next few games. Beware the GPGP.

The top-twenty(ish) looks a lot like this:

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1. Mattsbracket,” Drawcm

T-2. “Brent’s Raiders 3,” Brent’s Raiders

T-2. “TMerch 23 5,” TMerch23

T-4. “J. Jason Jonas 5,” J. Jason Jonas

T-4. “Beard’s Bracket Busters,” espnfan3095801433 (probably a Russian bot)

T-6. “1MLM,” RaiderRed 2013

T-6. “Matts 1,” matthewh1616

T-6. “Brent’s Raiders 2,” Brent’s Raiders

T-6. “Tamara4878 1,” Tamara4878

T-6. “Ball Out,” will_thomas

T-11. “Zionasty,” espn94736517 (probably a Russian bot)

T-11. “Chris Beard COY,” Austin907

T-11. “First Bracket,” espn6525738

T-11. “Stephen3443 8,” Stephen3443

T-11. “Wreck Em,” AndrewMaloney30

T-11. “The GOAT,” Mike644487

T-17. “espn49494306 1,” CobyMoteDesigns

T-17. “eddy gibson 1,” eddy gibson

T-17. “B.Doran27 1,” B.Doran27

T-17. “Correct Bracket Selections,” iPeaMyPants (*almost* correct bracket selections)

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First place loser(s): Jwalk23 & Natalie1Clark1

Negating one obvious coin flip bracket from matthewh1616 titled “Heads or Tails?,” both Jwalk23 and Natalie1Clark1 are sitting at the bottom of the table with 270 points. The greatest transgression in Jwalk23’s bracket was their decision to pick Lousiville over Minnesota, a mistake that Natalie1Clark1 wouldn’t replicate. It’s for that very reason that I would pick Natalie1Clark1’s bracket to move out of the last place tie, but their decision to place Texas Tech as the NCAA Tournament champion may backfire on them. Jwalk23 safely picked Duke to win it all, and barring any real excitement of Duke losing, may very well end up launching ahead of Natalie1Clark1 if Tech fails to overcome Michigan this weekend.

BONUS PICK, MY FAVORITE BRACKET NAME(s):

It’s a tie between “busted in the 1st,” by espn22717393 and “hookers and waffles,” by espnfan5801867516. Fantastic names picked by either fans ashamed of their comedic prowess or Russian-bots. Either way, smashing!

The hunt has only begun! We’ll check back after the Elite Eight games on Saturday/Sunday to see how things in the VTM Bracket Madness shake up. Good luck to all and wrrrreeeeeck em, Tech!