4/12/25

For just the second time ever, all four #1 seeds made the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament and the Florida Gators survived the gauntlet to win their third national championship in program history. Once again, the Gators were a common pick in Professor DW’s Bracket Challenge as the top 10 was full of Gator fans., emphasizing earlier round games once again.

Things were tight at the top as Chad Jackson and RJ Wilson tied with a total of 1,710 points. However, Chad never entered the contact form which made him ineligible for the prizes. RJ Wilson won anyway as his tiebreaker total point guess was 140 points while Chad’s was 164. In the title game between Florida and Houston, the Gators won 65-63 for a total of 128 points which earned RJ the win anyway. RJ’s 1,710 points would have won last year as the winner Skip Smith finished with 1,540 points in 2024.

Looking back at RJ’s bracket, he had 7 of the 8 correct teams in the Elite Eight and had all four correct Final Four teams. RJ also nailed all three Final Four games to really make a late charge. RJ picked a lot of the higher seeds which was the correct strategy this year as the worst seed to make the Elite Eight was the #3 seeded Texas Tech. 

The only other team picked to win the National Championship out of the top 10 finishers were the runner-ups in the Houston Cougars. Had Houston won late against Florida, Rad Palmer would have taken home the win and the grand prize. It was a tough road for the Florida Gators throughout the entirety of the NCAA Tournament. Out of their six games played, Florida only won one of those games by double digits and that was their first round game against #16 seed Norfolk State. The Gators went on to eliminate the reigning back-to-back champions UConn, before downing Maryland, Texas Tech, Auburn, and Houston en route to the title.

All winners will be receiving emails on how to collect their winnings. Thank you all for playing along in the second bracket challenge and we hope to see you all back in 2026 for the next edition of Professor DW’s Bracket Challenge. Also, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next Professor DW contest coming up in May.

Leaderboard (National Champions in Parentheses)
RJ Wilson 1710 Points (Florida) ($250)
Chad Jackson 1710 Points (Florida) (Ineligible, Did not fill out contact form)
Eric Williams 1640 Points (Florida) ($100)
Mark Westley 1630 Points (Florida) ($25)
Jeff Johnson (Chehalis) 1610 Points (Florida) ($25)
Macy Bundy 1570 Points (Florida) ($25)
Cliff Glaze 1400 Points (Houston) (Ineligible, Did not fill out contact form)
Max Schuster 1350 Points (Florida) (Ineligible, Did not fill out contact form)
Rad Palmer 1340 Points (Houston) ($25)
Cait Crawford 1320 Points (Florida) (Ineligible, Did not fill out contact form)
Trent Twamley 1310 Points (Houston) ($25)
Travis Miller 1300 Points (Florida) (Ineligible, Did not fill out contact form)
Lori Cappelletti 1290 Points (Houston) ($25)
Alex Cornwell 1240 Points (Florida) ($25)
Christopher Barnes 1170 Points (Duke) ($25)

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