Bandit Challenge ends abruptly!

With the fall of UCLA and UNC last night, the Challenge ended a bit early since no one picked Memphis or Kansas to win. So Aunt Laurie wins it all!

And that's good, because she's had a rough week. She's a staffer for Yuki, a great Dalmatian puppy...Laurie works at UCLA, yet is a Tar Heel. Yuki, right, was jumping up and down stairs early in the week and broke her toe, and now has to spend 2 weeks in confinement. (Yuki tells us she's eaten all of her toys and is now eyeing her staffer's new leather pumps.)

As for the results, Laurie's real surge came in the early rounds where it was smart to pick underdogs -- we gave more points to lower seeds since, as lowdogs, we're committed to the underdog. We're not sure if Yuki helped with Laurie's picks or not, so we'll give the cheers for both of them.

And the rest of you: Staffer Dad and Buddy Gale finished just behind Aunt Laurie. Uncle Brad pulled himself out of the cellar but still managed to finish tied with Sturm, who picked her winners based on which coach was hotter and if she'd look good wearing the team colors.

Career sports person Troy and one-time sports person Amanda did ok. They were probably one decent pick away from doing really, really well. Staffer Mom came out looking really bad, in general. (and she's pretty bummed out about the Heels....we gave her an extra lick this morning.)

We do give major kudos to FosterMom Ellen for making picks so great she managed to finish mid-pack even though she picked Georgia to go all the way. And it's the first time ever Bandit's finished bottom of the pack in any bracket pool, which says we've finally found some humans who seem to know what they are doing.

Overall Standings
Group Standings
Rank Team Name Score Correct Best Score Best Correct Champion
1 Aunt Laurie/Yuki's mom 222 39 222 39 North Carolina (138)
2 Staffer Dad 220 43 220 43 UCLA (143)
3 Buddy Gale 211 43 211 43 North Carolina (151)
4 FosterMom Ellen 209 41 209 41 Georgia (137)
5 Amanda Anthony 208 39 208 39 Louisville (120)
6 Troy Johnson 193 39 193 39 North Carolina (154)
7 Staffer Mom 185 39 185 39 North Carolina (159)
8 Uncle Brad 172 35 172 35 North Carolina (154)
8 Jennifer Sturm 172 34 172 34 Drake (159)
10 Bandit 158 31 158 31 UCLA (148)

Thanks to all who made the first lowdogworld.blogspot.com Bandit Challenge so much fun!
Let's play again next year!!!