The second annual Westchase Tournament Madness NCAA Men’s Basketball Pool Contest is over. Out of 78 online brackets received, your very own Commish was crowned Bracketologist Supreme!

While some may say it’s bad form to win your own hosted contest, The Commish has a valid reason for actually trying to win this year: self-preservation. You see, in an attempt to get more participation from female residents of Westchase, The Commish threw down a challenge that if any female could best him in the standings, then he would cook dinner for those lucky few.

Blind to how this proposal would sit with The Commish’s wife, The Commish conspired with WOW Editor Chris Barrett and published the challenge without consulting with his wife first. Needless to say, when the WOW came out March 1 and The Commish’s wife read the article, she was not pleased. I reassured my dearly betrothed that no mere woman was going to beat me this year, to which she replied, “They better not, Buster!”

So you see, The Commish had no choice but to vanquish all playahs, and uphold the sanctity of his matrimonial bliss (That, and he really can’t cook at all – those unlucky few who might have beaten him would have found out the hard way).

But in all seriousness, kudos go out to the top ten finishers: (1) Casey Wilkening-Kansas, (2) Scott Buckingham-Kansas, (3) Monty Williamson-Kansas, (4) Linda Fisher-UCLA, (5) Mindy Murray-UCLA, (6) Kelli Williamson-Kansas, (7) James Moore-UNC, (8) Jeff Gaines-UCLA, (9) Olivia Wilkening-UNC, and (10) Charlie Gauzza-UNC.

The top players with the highest correct-pick percentage included (1) Mindy Murray – 76.6, (2) Linda Fisher – 75, (3t) Scott Buckingham – 73.4, (3t) Charlie Gauzza – 73.4, (3t) Monty Williamson – 73.4, and (6) Olivia Wilkening – 71.9.

Special thanks go out to Kelly Bayliss, the general manager at Tijuana Flats, for donating an awesome gift basket that included a variety of hot sauces, a custom fitted Tijuana Flats baseball cap, a gift certificate worth $20, and an unusual contraption called a Lime Bomber, which slams lime wedges into an ice cold bottle of your favorite brew.

For complete details and in-depth analysis of this year’s tournament madness results, visit http://www.nwtampa.com/hoops/. Click on the reports link and then choose statistical analysis.

See you next year!