And Then There Were 11....

First off, the leaderboard is still in the same place, but in case you can't check back two posts (like my father, Tom Crone) here is THE LINK.

Also, my pick for tonight will be The Louisville Cardinals. That's right, I am running the very real risk of potentially jinxing my favorite team and alma mater. All in the pursuit of stupid, stupid money. Do you see what you've made me do Suicide Pool!? DO YOU SEE!!?? Take a good hard look at what you've turned me into....I'm hideous!

With that said, wow, what a long, beautiful, strange drive it's been. Am I right? It seems like just yesterday there were 120 of us laughing and dancing. We seemed so young, so beautiful, so innocent. But then, the games began. They rounded us up from each of the 12 districts and forced us into a battle where there could be only one survivor. There we were, born to be kings, we were the princes of the universe. We had no rivals, no man could be our equal. Whoa, sorry, I fell into some sort of Hunger Games/Highlander time loop there.

Anyway, how about them Dayton Flyers? If you have lost in this Suicide Pool, you were likely sent home by the Flyers. SIXTY of you were silly enough to take a stand against these scrappy young bucks from the rust belt. How dare you. And yet, thank you for your contributions. You fought gallantly, and though you may not have made it to the Colosseum to battle lions on the grand stage, your contributions are still appreciated and enjoyed by those of us that still remain.

I knew I couldn't pick against Dayton after reading, THIS, following that link will take you to either the most beautiful, saddest, or creepiest tale you have ever read. Honestly, I have no idea which category it should fall under. But, Dayton clearly has ghosts on their side, willing them to victory. There was a documentary done on this very phenomenon in 1997.

At 11 live entries we've reached a point where we can start to handicap the field that's left. Somewhat surprisingly, no one has two live entries left, so that advantage doesn't exist.Without further ado, the odds:

2/1 Nick Kahl - How can he not be favored? A man that has had success in the Suicide Pool in the past. He also has a big lead in the tie breaker, and has virtually the entire remaining field left to choose from. Plus, he has the advantage of an unborn spawn that is willing him towards success from inside the womb. The psychic powers of unborn children have been well documented.

4/1 Charlie Brutcher & Jon Ryan Neace - Both seem to be in a great position. However, I think they're both UK fans, which means they have extremely questionable taste and likely limited basketball knowledge. Despite their good standing currently, this could come back to bite them.

5/1 Ryan Sandlin - In a similar position to the pair above him, but while they used San Diego State a couple rounds ago, Ryan used Louisville. This leaves him at a slight disadvantage to the others.

8/1 Ben Collins & Ben Kraft - Sure, they're both in a solid position. Both have a real shot at winning. But, I have insider info that suggests neither may be putting in the countless hours of research it's going to take to win this thing. Collins, instead of focusing solely on the suicide pool, seems to be doing things like "working," and "exercising," and "finishing up nursing school." I'm not sure this lack of commitment to what's important will pay off for him. Similarly, Ben Kraft is off gallivanting around California on a vacation instead of sitting in a depressing basement on a computer watching replays of games from three months ago to potentially gain an edge on the field. Lack of commitment makes me question the resolve of these two.

13/1 Chris Stinnett & Steven Fiscus - Ummmmm....well.....I don't really know these guys, which means I can't really make any jokes about them. So, 13/1. Let's move on.

25/1 Zach Payne - He could be higher, really, he could. But, he has Jose Canseco and Marc Summers both sending their minions after him, so, can he really focus on basketball?

50/1 Tom Crone - The patriarch is reeling. Right now he could be sitting pretty with 2 live entries....instead he picked Baylor with one of his entries last night. Baylor. That puts you near the bottom of the list.

2,763,918/1 David Crone - Let's face it. I'm not going to win. Honestly, I'm shocked I've gotten this far. My live entry is my referral entry, and last night I was actually pulling for SDSU so that I would lose, but take second in the Refeerral Pool and walk away with $100. That's right, that's how much I believe in my chances of getting any further. Now, on top of that, I've taken Louisville and I'm probably jinxing the team I love. I've become a sad shell of humanity. Leave me alone. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!