LOTS OF CHALK ERASED OVER THE WEEKEND.

They toss the basketballs up for a reason.  "The 2024 men's Final Four is scheduled Saturday, April 6, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. No. 4 seed Alabama and No. 1 seed Connecticut are set to square off at 8:49 p.m. ET, with No. 1 Purdue will face No. 11 seed North Carolina State at 6:09 p.m. ET."

There are limits to backward induction, undoubtedly.  That reference "chalk" makes to the old days of horse racing, though, gets me wondering if any office pools are organized as pari-mutuels.  Think about what happens if either Purdue or Connecticut win the tournament.  The larger the pool, the more likely there will be identical brackets submitted.  On the other hand, Alabama seems to have surprised some of the punters, even with that Four; and North Carolina State, whilst a program with a serious pedigree, in as an eleven, has to have been passed over in favor of Duke.  Should either of those teams win it all, does anyone having that as their winner as a singleton entry simply get a preannounced top prize?  Or do any pool operators recalculate the top prizes based on the number of surviving entries still in contention?