The Villanova Wildcats are your 2018 national champions, which means that Willie Geist is your 2018 TVNewser Bracket Challenge champion! The Sunday Today host and Morning Joe co-host finishes this year’s challenge with 121 points, six points clear of second place finisher CNN Early Start co-host Dave Briggs, and 9 points clear of TVNewser co-editor A.J. Katz, who finished in third.
“Every kid who ever dribbled a basketball in the backyard has dreamed of hitting the big shot to win the TV Newser bracket,” Geist told TVNewser. “As I stand here covered in confetti, and the sweet sweat from a Donte DiVincenzo hug, I can tell you the reality exceeds the dream. I accept your cash prize with gratitude and humility… and preferably in non-sequential 50-dollar bills.”
Senior field producer Jessica Golden and markets reporter Dominic Chu, both of CNBC, rounded out the top 5. The top 10 finishers included PBS NewsHour anchor and senior correspondent Hari Sreenivasan, CNBC senior executive producer of Squawk on the Street and Squawk Alley Todd Bonin, CNBC Squawk Box co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin, Fox News on-air correspondent Peter Doocy, and PBS svp and general manager Michael Rancillo. Each of the top 10 finishers chose Villanova to win it all.
As mentioned, this Villanova squad delivered the school’s second college basketball title in the past three years (third overall) with yet another blowout victory in the NCAA Tournament – 79-62 over the Michigan Wolverines last night in San Antonio. ‘Nova won all six games in this year’s tournament by double digits, joining Michigan State (2000), Duke (2001) and North Carolina (2009) as the only other teams to accomplish that feat.
Michigan kept the game close for the first half of the first half, but the Wildcats pulled away thanks to a legendary performance from sharp-shooting sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo (aka. “Big Ragu”) who was hitting three pointers from all over the floor, and was named Final Four most outstanding player.
Many thanks to each of the 47 TV newsers who participated in this year’s challenge. This was our most successful Challenge yet. See you in 2019!
STANDINGS | ||||||
RANK | TEAM NAME | SCORE | CORRECT | BEST SCORE | BEST CORRECT | CHAMPION |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Willie Geist | 121 | 40 | 121 | 40 | Villanova (148) |
2 | Dave Briggs | 115 | 39 | 115 | 39 | Villanova (136) |
3 | A.J. Katz | 112 | 37 | 112 | 37 | Villanova (158) |
4 | Jessica Golden | 107 | 33 | 107 | 33 | Villanova (136) |
5 | Dominic Chu | 107 | 39 | 107 | 39 | Villanova (129) |
6 | Hari Sreenivasan | 106 | 37 | 106 | 37 | Villanova (135) |
6 | Todd Bonin | 106 | 36 | 106 | 36 | Villanova (135) |
8 | Andrew Ross Sorkin | 106 | 37 | 106 | 37 | Villanova (133) |
9 | Peter Doocy | 106 | 32 | 106 | 32 | Villanova (151) |
10 | Michael Rancilio | 106 | 37 | 106 | 37 | Villanova (158) |
11 | Hallie Jackson | 104 | 38 | 104 | 38 | Villanova (163) |
12 | Robin Meade | 103 | 37 | 103 | 37 | Michigan (132) |
13 | Kevin Corke | 102 | 36 | 102 | 36 | Villanova (147) |
14 | Brian Sullivan | 101 | 33 | 101 | 33 | Villanova (161) |
15 | David Westin | 98 | 35 | 98 | 35 | Michigan (137) |
16 | Liz Claman | 98 | 35 | 98 | 35 | Villanova (120) |
17 | Matt Rosoff | 88 | 28 | 88 | 28 | Villanova (165) |
18 | Todd Piro | 82 | 36 | 82 | 36 | Virginia (157) |
19 | Kasie Hunt | 79 | 36 | 79 | 36 | Michigan (155) |
20 | Matt Quayle | 78 | 34 | 78 | 34 | Virginia (145) |
21 | Blake Burman | 76 | 35 | 76 | 35 | Michigan (150) |
22 | Lynn Smith | 76 | 34 | 76 | 34 | Virginia (117) |
23 | Craig Melvin | 71 | 33 | 71 | 33 | Virginia (143) |
24 | Dylan Dreyer | 71 | 35 | 71 | 35 | Nevada (191) |
25 | Bob van Dillen | 70 | 34 | 70 | 34 | N. Carolina (132) |
26 | Peter Alexander | 68 | 37 | 68 | 37 | Virginia (145) |
27 | Janelle Rodriguez | 68 | 36 | 68 | 36 | Kansas (103) |
28 | Brian Steel | 67 | 31 | 67 | 31 | N. Carolina (144) |
29 | Lisa Desjardins | 66 | 31 | 66 | 31 | Kansas (102) |
30 | Coy Wire | 65 | 35 | 65 | 35 | Kansas (137) |
31 | Mike Bettes | 65 | 33 | 65 | 33 | Virginia (153) |
32 | Sara Eisen | 62 | 36 | 62 | 36 | Virginia (136) |
33 | Jeffrey McCracken | 61 | 33 | 61 | 33 | Michigan St. (152) |
34 | Tyler Mathisen | 61 | 36 | 61 | 36 | Virginia (128) |
35 | Harris Faulkner | 59 | 33 | 59 | 33 | Kansas (150) |
36 | Ana Cabrera | 58 | 35 | 58 | 35 | Duke (144) |
37 | Judy Woodruff | 58 | 33 | 58 | 33 | Duke (136) |
38 | Becky Quick | 57 | 31 | 57 | 31 | Xavier (142) |
39 | Tom Keene | 57 | 34 | 57 | 34 | Purdue (136) |
40 | Joe Kernen | 54 | 32 | 54 | 32 | Xavier (137) |
41 | Jason Kelly | 53 | 32 | 53 | 32 | Virginia (136) |
42 | Sandy Cannold | 53 | 32 | 53 | 32 | Michigan St. (152) |
43 | Anne Tironi | 49 | 30 | 49 | 30 | Michigan St. (156) |
44 | Scarlet Fu | 49 | 31 | 49 | 31 | Kansas (164) |
45 | Alex Wilson | 43 | 32 | 43 | 32 | Virginia (159) |
46 | Melody Taylor | 41 | 29 | 41 | 29 | N. Carolina (146) |
47 | Gerri Willis | 27 | 23 | 27 | 23 | N. Carolina (160) |