UK fan has Cats in NCAA final and 47 of 48 picks correct
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A Nelson County man is getting some national attention going into Thursday night's NCAA tournament games. That's because he's on top of the Yahoo Sports leader board with a perfect Sweet 16 and only one missed game in the first round. He tells us he's been entering brackets for years, but says this is the closest he's ever been.
His only miss was picking Minnesota over Middle Tennessee State and he only chose the Golden Gophers because they were once coached by someone he admired, former University of Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith.
When people first heard Jeff Goodman had 47 of 48 picks in the NCAA tourney, it made sense. Jeff Goodman covers college basketball for ESPN. Nope, not that one.
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We're talking about Jeff "Goody" Goodman, a Flynn Brothers Asphalt Foreman and a Cats fan.
"If I had picked Middle Tennessee, I probably would have took off for a week, to tell you the truth," Goodman said.
His wife Ruthanna told us, he didn't even know who Middle Tennessee State was! Goodman will take his near-perfect bracket, hopefully to the bank.
Actually, he'll take it to Park Community Credit Union, where his wife entered him into the company's bracket contest through Yahoo Sports.
"I pulled it (bracket) up on my laptop at home and handed him the laptop and he couldn't read the screen," Ruthanna said.
He explained, "I didn't have my glasses with me and she thought I was crazy."
That's because Goodman was yelling out picks like Wisconsin over number one seed Villanova, not to mention picking South Carolina.
"Having Duke out as early as he did, that seemed a little odd," she said.
Goodman remembered his frugal wife's reticence.
"She told me, well, I just think this is a waste of money and I said, it don't matter, just go ahead and put it in anyway," Goodman said.
She laughed, "It wasn't a lot of money, it's $2 a bracket."
Every dollar matters to Ruthanna because she's a financial planner. She says they couldn't believe how many games he was getting right.
So how did her husband pick the winners? Goodman says he went with his first impulse. Like his feeling that Michigan would beat the Cards.
"After the plane accident and all that, " Goodman said, "I figured Michigan would be riding on a high."
He was right. While Goodman says it's 60 percent luck, he did watch a lot of games this season. His bracket has his Kentucky Wildcats in the final game, but just losing to West Virginia. If he's right, this won't be his last test of luck.
"A lot of people are telling me I need to go start buying lottery tickets," Goodman said.
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If he's wrong about West Virginia, his wife who's also a Big Blue fan will be just fine with it, saying "Of course, go Cats!"
Goodman does have Kentucky winning it all in his second bracket that has 46 correct picks.
He says he's pretty confident in his West Virginia winning bracket ,but he doesn't want to jinx it. His wife's office pool is worth about $300 and no one is even close to him.
Goodman said he knew he was doing something right when his 17-year-old daughter told him Thursday morning, he was trending on Twitter, even though he admits, he has no idea what that means.
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