Leaderboard tightens in bracketology contest

    The leaderboard in this year’s Imperial Republican bracketology contest for the NCAA basketball tournament tightened up going into Final Four this weekend.
    Nick Banuelas of Wauneta and Brian Carman of Imperial continue to hold the top two spots but any of the top 10 contestants could still mathematically win it all.
    The biggest mover of the week was Chad Leibbrandt of Imperial. In the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games, Leibbrandt picked up 7 points to put him in a tie for second place with Carman and just a point off of Banuelas.
    Loyola-Chicago continued their Cinderella ride to the Final Four. They got their  second buzzer beater in a row, escaping Nevada 69-68.
    In the finals of the South Regional, they dominated Kansas State, 78-62, to punch their Final Four ticket.
    In the West Regional, Big 10 representative Michigan advanced to the Final. They opened with a 99-72 win over Texas A&M and they survived a close one against Florida State 58-54.
    In the East Regional, No. 1 seeded Villanova earned another Final Four appearance with commanding wins over West Virginia and Texas Tech.
    By Sunday afternoon, all eyes were on the Midwest Regional being played in Omaha.
    No. 1 seeded Kansas and No. 2 Duke won their openers with Kansas outlasting Clemson 80-76 and Duke staying alive with a 69-65 win over Syracuse.
    Those wins set up one of the most anticipated matchups of the tournament.
    Duke missed a shot at the buzzer for the win, sending the game into overtime. There, Kansas prevailed 85-81 to return to their first Final Four since 2012.
     This year’s sponsors of the March Madness 2018 Bracketology contest include:
    The Imperial Republican, 509 Broadway; AACE Wash Systems; Adams Bank & Trust, Adams Lumber Co.; Beverage Barn; Crop Production Services; Einspahr Constructon; Frenchman Valley Coop.;
    Grosch Irrigation; Harchelroad Motors, Inc.;  Home Decor; Imperial Beef; Imperial Country Ford; Imperial Yost Farm Supply; Law Office of Ashley Spahn: Markee Ag Services; Pinnacle Bank; Pivot Electric; Pizza Hut; Platinum T-Shirts & Embroidery; Rob See Co;
    Schultz Construction—Nick Schultz; Southwest Title Co.; Trinidad Benham; Waypoint Bank and Western Insurors—Jeffrey T. Wallin.    
    This week’s standings, compared to the standings after the first week of the contest, are as follows:

To view more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition. https://etypeservices.com/Imperial%20RepublicanID359/