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After two tumultuous weeks of high stakes (and high points) tournaments, Week Four returns us to a more routine 13-16 games-per-week schedule, less fluctuation in point differences between players, and slower movement on the Leaderboard, particularly at the top and at the bottom.

Almost everyone picked up between 12-18 points, almost everyone won between 8-12 games, almost everyone lost between 4-7 games. Here are our standouts:

• Gunz had a routine 9-5 week but led the field with +23 points thanks to a 5-0 record against other players last week, including Duke's win over then #2 Michigan State.
  
• Boaris picked up a mediocre +15 points, but his teams went 13-3, best record of the week. Unfortunately those three losses were all against other players.
  
• Slake B's teams took a nose dive this week, going 5-9 overall, 2-7 against other players, for a total +9 for the week.

Our Leaderboard has divided into three tiers, with a big cluster in the middle one. Lets look closer:

Top Tier (82+)

Gunz (102) and Boaris (82) have risen far enough above the rest of the pack so as to ensure their #1-#2 positions for an additional week barring major surprises. Mad Mader could argue that he deserves to be in this Top Tier in 3rd Place but a weak 9-6 record last week for +13 didn't help his case, and only 4 points separate him from 5 other players on the leader board.

Cluster Tier (66-74)

7 players have between 66-74 points, a slim 8 point difference that could put 9th place into 3rd with a solid Wednesday or Saturday performance. Mad Mader (74) sits on top, but close behind are McGrumps (71) who had a solid 11-4 outing last week and The CEO (71) who picked up 20 points of 12-4 record. Following closely behind is Mooseye (70) and Jutdog (69) who had respectable weeks. Babblemur (67) rose out of the Basement Tier off 21 points thanks to USC's upset over Texas, and Jaybird (66) pretty much fell from the top of the cluster to the bottom with a low +12 week.

For these 7 players a solid week could lift anyone of them to the top of the cluster, maybe even gain some ground on the Top Tier.

Basement Tier (45-58)

An extra room was added onto the Basement to accommodate Slake B (58), whose slide from 2nd place two weeks ago has him just one point up on Some Guy in Illinois (57) and clinging to 10th place. SGII has been trying to pound his way up the Leaderboard, and although he went 8-7 last week he gained 18 points by going 5-4 against other players. Illinois knocked off North Carolina and Gonzaga, and Washington beat Long Beach St and Texas Tech. Another +18 week could move SGII out of the Basement.

Akaoni (51) however has to contend with a scrappy and tenacious Musashisan (45), who has been ensuring wins due to his teams playing each other so often. Musa picked up 14 points last week to Akaoni's 13 points, slowly narrowing the gap and raising the floor. These four Basement Dwellers need exceptional weeks to climb out of the Basement. Musa has 4 games against other players this coming week, Akaoni has 4, SGII has 5 and Slake 2, winning these would help but NOT losing the other games is essential.

Week Five Preview

Nothing interesting happening this week. Well, fine -

• Michigan State (Musa) vs. Syracuse (Mad Mader) on Tuesday should be a quality game to watch;
  
• Memphis (McGrumps) vs. Kansas (Mooseye) on Tuesday should be another quality matchup;
• On Wednesday the CEO plays with himself in a double header: Gonzaga (CEO) vs. Wash St (CEO), and Missouri (CEO) vs. Vandy (CEO);
• Georgetown (Gunz) vs. Temple (Jaybird) pits two hot teams this year;
  
• Butler (Akaoni) vs. Xavier (Slake) in a Basement Buster game on Thursday;
• Dayton (Akaoni) vs. Old Dominion (Jut) will be another great mid-major clash.
  

That's it I'm done

Standings after Week Four:

• Current with all Dec 5 Games
• 1. Gunz 102 (46-14)
• 2. Boaris 82 (45-13)
• 3. Mad Mader 74 (43-15)
• 4. McGrumps 71 (45-15)
• 5. The CEO 71 (41-18)
• 6. Mooseye 70 (40-18)
• 7. Jutdog 69 (39-20)
• 8. Babblemur 67 (38-18)
• 9. Jaybird 66 (41-17)
• 10. Slake B 58 (34-26)
• 11. Some Guy in Illinois 57 (35-23)
• 12. Akaoni 51 (41-15)
• 13. Musashisan 45 (35-22)