The Daily: Ole Miss!, Trono Family Reunion, Nation Wide Shamrock

And so it begins!

Ole Miss comes from 17 down to knock off BYU in the play-in First Four game.  Last year, Tennessee parlayed a play-in first round victory to a spot in the Elite 8, before falling to Derek Trono's Michigan Wolverines.  Is Ole Miss this year's unheralded SEC squad that'll go deep in the tourney???

Speaking of Derek, he got his picks in shortly after his Aunt Lisa.....and a day ahead of his Aunt Julie....and Uncle Paul and Brother Luke are lurking out there somewhere.   Aunt Lisa entered from Virginia, while Aunt Julie emailed from her luxury suite at TD Garden.  Rice's "scouts" are nation wide!  Don't be surprised to see kids from Boston or Virginia wearing the green & white next season!

But speaking of nation wide, how about The Shamrock!  My dad entered from North Carolina.  Now, granted, he tried to slip both Kentucky and Wisconsin past me, but he entered! And, any minute now, I expect to receive picks from Tom Lewis of Indy Cornrows fame.  The Shamrock is everywhere!

Good news, bad news for Tom.

The Good:  5 Indiana schools made the tourney.  The Bad: all 5 ended up in the same region! Not exactly the best Shamrock strategy.

My money -- Tom's entry includes Purdue, if only to keep himself in the good graces of Suzanne Lewis, my favorite Boilermaker and to whom I'm forever grateful for introducing me to Harrys Chocolate Shop, the Mid-West's official bar of The Shamrock 15.