The Michigan Daily THE DAILY GRIND *Picking March winners. An inexact science I begin to realize that things are get- ting out of hand when I raise my voice t my housemates. "Get outta here! If Samford beats Syracuse, I'll transfer there. 'Cuse is almost all seniors." And while I ee ready to stake my life sav- ings, or variouss parts of my anatomy, that the Orangemen will have no problem ANDY with the Bulldogs, in the LATACK next breath I Counter argue vehemently Latack that Winthrop - aBig South Conference heavyweight 9- will knock off heavily-favored Oklahoma in the first round. From selection Sunday until the games commence on Thursday, my die- hard housemates and I have nightly meetings to discuss these pressing issues while we predict the winners of the NCAA Tournament pools we enter. The gatherings last a few hours at a time and take place late at night, when Oost sane people have chosen to sleep rather than decide if Butler's current 15- game winning streak gives them any sort of momentum against Florida. We do the same thing every year, breaking down the matchups until we know more about a team's strengths and weaknesses than they do. I stare at some of the games until I'm cross-eyed, thinking I'll find the key to the game if I just look hard enough at the statistics. "Aha! Pepe Sanchez's assist-to- turnover ratio is .045 higher than Jason Williams'. And you gotta be strong at the point guard position to win it all in today's game, so Temple it is..." I'd like to think my hard work pays off, but every year there is incontrovert- ible evidence to the contrary. Any veteran of NCAA pools knows what I'm talking about. While you watch your-carefully chosen Final Four pick get upset in the first game of the first day, some office pool lightweight gets 30 of the 32 first-round games cor- rect, including foreseeing the first-ever defeat of a one seed by a 16 seed. The worst part is that these people often make their picks based on a cute gimmick that has no business determin- ing the outcome of a college basketball game, yet still defies all laws of proba- bility with its deadeye accuracy. Like who would win in a fight between the mascots. I've actually known people who use that as a basis for picking. And they've done better than me. Why, just two years ago, I was in a pool in which the second-place finisher picked all of his winners by selecting the team with the least number of letters in its name. Needless to say, he was the only entrant to pick upstart Utah in the championship game (although his champion, TCU, didn't make it out of the first round). It's rather humiliating. But I'm to blame for my occasional lack of success as well, because I never learn from the mistakes I make in tourneys past. Bracket in hand and eyes squinting with some misguided analysis, I say the same things every year, setting the same traps for myself. Despite the individual bracket make- up that varies year by year, my picks always have haunting similarities: The Big Ten always goes undefeat- ed in first round games, with an unlike- ly handful advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. My pro-Big Ten bias has, at times, convinced me that an all-Big Ten Final Four is not out of the question. It's a little out of control. UCLA never bows out before the Sweet Sixteen. For some reason, I always feel that I am in on a huge secret with this constantly athletic and flashy Pac-10 team. Nobody ever sees them play because they are on the West Coast - myself included, as I discover when they underachieve and lose in the first round like last year. ® Arizona somehow overcomes its uncanny affinity for first-round upsets and makes it at least two rounds further than anyone else in the pool has them going. I rode my hometown boys all the way in 1997, and I take it personally when anyone brings up the 50 straight first-round exits they suffered before that. I pick them out of principle. And so on. I can study statistics all I want, but my picks always end up influ- enced by personal biases I have for or against teams. But that's what makes it fun. With my luck, the year I give in and pick UCLA to lose in the first round is the year the Bruins will play the way I always think they will. Besides, UCLA has less letters than most teams, so they're a lock to reach the Final Four. -Andy Latack finished seventh out of over 300,000 people in espn.com s Tournament Challenge hisfieshman year He' always looked for a way to get that fact in print. E-mail him at latack@umich. edu. DANCE Continued from Page 10A young that down the stretch they might not have the mental stamina to pull it out against the Orangemen. MIDWEST REGION Season's over: No. I I Ball State. The Cardinals drew one of the nation's hottest teams in UCLA. Most of the nation saw the Bruins nationally tele- vised, overtime victory at Stanford. UCLA coach Steve Lavin has locked all the proper pieces into place and is ready to roll in the tournament. Ball State, a quality Mid-American Conference team, ran into the wrong team. Upset city: No. 3 Maryland elimi- nated by No. 6 UCLA on Saturday. - Thursday, March 16, 2000 - 13A Maryland is overhyped for the talent it actually has on the roster. UCLA is well-versed in being a No. 6 seed that upsets a No. 3 seed in the second round. Ask Michigan. Fighting chance: No. 10 Creighton shoots 41.8 percent from 3-point range, a statistic that gives it an excellent chance of beating a Chris Porter-less Auburn. Auburn's Scott Pohlman is hot and cold from long distance, and a cold day for him could mean one for Auburn as well. Creighton's run would be one game at most, however. Marcus Fizer and No. 2 Iowa State would swat the Jays back to earth in round two. Favorites: No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Iowa State, No. 4 Syracuse, No. 6 UCLA. The Syracuse-Kentucky game is about as much of a toss-up as there is. i i-- I I -.. EUjbPre-Med Club SYMPOSIUM "Medicine in the New Millennium" Saturday, March 18th, 2000 Michigan Union 1oam-4pm The Symposium offers a wide range of presentations including Medical School admissions, how to have a great interview, and what it takes to be a physician today. Information and Registration Available at: Career Planning and Placement 3200 Student Activities Building (734) 764-7460 Cost: $6 for Pre Med Members and $7 for Non Pre Med Members Register NOW, There is Limited Space ATTENTION UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WORLDWIDE CENTER.COM PURSUE JOB AND INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES THAT SPAN THE GLOBE Thmwrd' 5 rCente r.com ~Ca p The world's largest campus job fair I C V. I ( )2,59 '4 4 q, 0,17 1 pt tpinn IinI nrkt..n fnmnA t PCni i.. I