Butler gives Lindberg the lead

Dane Lindberg, the son of two Butler alumni, who entered the 16th annual Living Room Times Men’s NCAA Pool via the above tweet (and a follow-up Facebook thread), retook the lead Saturday when #8-seed Butler shocked the world by beating #2 Florida and advancing to its second consecutive Final Four.

For Butler and its fans, the win not only clinched a stunning return to college basketball’s biggest stage for an archetypal mid-major program out of the Horizon League (where the Bulldogs went 13-5 this season), it also avenged memorable losses to Florida in 2000 and 2007 (the latter of which I witnessed in person, wearing the same t-shirt — bought before the game — that I wore today).

For Lindberg, the win means he now has 239 points out of a possible 364 in the LRT pool, and will win the pool if the Bulldogs win the national championship or lose the title game to Kentucky.

Lindberg, a friend and USC classmate of mine who now lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Kristen Kotyk, did not enter last year’s pool, but he wrote on Facebook (in the process of entering this year’s pool) that “I meant to tell you to put me down for Butler taking it all last year, and was bummed I had no way to prove it.” So he decided to do the same thing in 2011. And he almost did something even more remarkable: he tweeted Saturday that “Kristen wanted me to put in for VCU too, but I thought Butler to win was crazy enough.” Had he picked the Rams to reach the Final Four, Lindberg would have 263 points and a 25-point lead right now, and would be in position to clinch the pool Sunday if VCU and Kentucky win.

Instead, Lindberg has just a 1-point edge over Robert Carlos (@uscarlos) and just a 6-point advantage over Deanna Gabriel (@deannagabriel), who sit in second and third place with with 238 and 233 points, respectively. Carlos will win the pool if Kansas plays Kentucky in the title game, or if UConn loses the title game to either Kansas or VCU. Gabriel will win if VCU beats North Carolina in the title game.

Others still alive to win are Sergio Lopez, presently in 8th place with 223 points (wins if UNC beats Butler or VCU in title game); Charles Fenwick, 14th with 216 (wins if Kansas beats UNC in title game); Pat McGriff, 16th with 215 (wins if UConn wins the championship); Ross Lancaster, presently 23rd with 212 (wins if it’s a Kentucky-VCU title game); and Scott Paine, 38th with 205 (wins if UNC beats Kansas in title game).

Vicki Cheeseman is 4th with 228 points, but is mathematically eliminated from winning; the same goes for Darrell Kindle, Eric Schmoldt and 2005 champ Brian Kiolbasa, tied for 5th with 225 points. Even Jen Deschenes, presently in 16th place, is mathematically eliminated despite being the only contestant to pick both UConn and Butler to reach the Final Four. (Deschenes was just 21-11 in the first round.)

Complete standings here. I’ll update the women’s pool tomorrow — sorry for the delay there.