The overwhelming favorites in both the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, Kentucky and Baylor, won their respective national championships Monday and Tuesday — and in the process clinched Living Room Times pool championships for Tim Donahue of Elizabethtown, KY and Michael Holtsberg of Broomall, PA.
Donahue, a Louisville alum and huge fan of Rick Pitino’s Cardinals, clinched the 17th annual Living Room Times men’s NCAA pool when Louisville’s archrival, Kentucky, followed up its win over the Cardinals by capturing the national title over Kansas. Donahue, who predicted a perfect Final Four and title game, finishes with 378 of a maximum possible 477 points — the third-highest winning point total in LRT men’s pool history, trailing only Arash Markazi’s 409 in 2007 and Alex Whitfield’s 392 in 2008.
Brian Kiolbasa, the 2005 champ who holds the fifth-highest point total ever (362), finished second with 355 points. Adam Feldman (347 points), Chris Bossman (342) and Rachel Wetherill (332) came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Abby Newbold, who would have won the pool if Kansas had upset Kentucky, finished sixth with 328 points. Joshua Guiher (327), Michael Holtsberg (326), Zach Bloxham (324) and Jeremy Kidd (323) round out the Top 10. Full standings here.
Meanwhile, in the 15th annual Living Room Times women’s pool, Michael Holtsberg is your champion for the second time in four years, having won the 2009 women’s pool as well. And this time, he won in record-setting fashion — or at least record-tying.
Holtsberg’s 421 points (also out of a possible 477) tie him with Rick Boeckler in 2003 for the most points ever in any Living Room Times pool. His bracket contains just 9 errors in the tournament’s 63 games: he missed 5 first-round games, 2 second-round games, and 2 Sweet 16 games. His picks for the rest of the tournament were perfect.
Holtsberg, a Penn alum, ties Boeckler in another category as well, as they are both among the six two-time LRT pool winners over the pools’ 17 years of existence. The double champions are Jenn Castelhano (2001 women’s, 2002 men’s), Todd Stigliano (2001 women’s, 2005 women’s), Boeckler (2003 women’s, 2006 women’s), Matt Kagan (2004 men’s, 2004 women’s), Gary Kirby (2007 NIT, 2008 NIT) and now Holtsberg (2009 women’s, 2012 women’s).
Finishing second behind Holtsberg was Carol LaPlante was 414 points, followed by Alex Talcott (411) and Jeff Morrison and Randy Styles (406). Mike Bonfanti (403) was sixth, Ken Stern (402) was seventh, Colin Pedicini and Derek McDonald tied for eighth (392), and Lauren Fowler (386) rounds out the top ten. Joe Hiegel, who would have won the pool if Notre Dame had prevailed Tuesday night, instead finishes eleventh with 385 points. Complete standings here.
Holtsberg, incidentally, was the only contestant to finish in the top 10 of both the men’s and women’s NCAA pools this year. (Pedicini and Stern were also in the NIT pool top 10.)