In a rare case of symmetry between tournament and pool, a resident of the Chapel Hill area, whose wife attends UNC, will battle a Michigan State student for the championship of the 14th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool when the Tar Heels play the Spartans for the national title Monday night.

If North Carolina wins, Jason Strutz, who lives in Carrboro, North Carolina and is married to UNC Ph.D. student Kelly Strutz, will win the pool. Jason Strutz is an illustrator and the designer of this year's pool logo, and if he wins, his prize will be a championship t-shirt or similar CafePress item displaying the logo that he designed.

If Michigan State wins, Mike Wiser, a Ph.D. student at MSU -- who, by his own admission, knows nothing about basketball (though he almost won the 2001 women's pool) -- will win the pool. It would be Wiser's second victory in a BrendanLoy.com contest; he won the 2004 Electoral College Contest with his perfect electoral map.

Strutz's wife Kelly is the sister of Brendan and Becky Loy's good friend Kristy LaPlante. Wiser is a 2003 USC alum, a friend and classmate of the Loys, and a longtime blog and LRT pool regular.

Strutz is currently in first place with 342 points out of a possible 452 points. Wiser is three back with 339 points, which ties him for second place with Lauren Barkmeier. Neil Waechter and Jennifer Elam are tied for fourth with 332 points.

Nick Genco is sixth with 329 points; Ian Marenna and Sören Hammerschmidt are tied for seventh with 328; Matt Scarborough is ninth with 327; and SI writer Arash Markazi is tenth with 326.

Philadelphia resident and Villanova fan Marty West, who would have won the pool if the Wildcats had won the title, fell all the way to 18th and was mathematically eliminated by their loss to UNC.

Strutz and Wiser are two of seven contestants out of 199 in the pool who predicted a UNC-MSU title game. The others are Pat Caplin (T-12th), Esteban Coca (20th), Jessica Osborne (T-33rd), Kelly Strutz (T-119th) and Janice Colvin (T-158th). Osborne, Coca and the Strutzes predict a Tar Heels victory; Caplin, Colvin and Wiser predict a Spartan triumph. Caplin would jump from 12th to second place if MSU wins.