Miami is the trendy pick in the Flagpole office pool.

Pete McCommons laughed maniacally as he handed me his NCAA Tournament brack for our office pool. (Of course, no money is at stake. Why, gambling is illegal! The prizes are a handful of kazoos left over from some Music Tapes show and an unclaimed bottle of sriracha in the fridge.)

It took me a minute or two to figure out why Pete was laughing so hard: He picked my beloved Ole Miss Rebel Black Bear Land Sharks to go all the way. It definitely increases the odds that I'll walk away with those valuable prizes.

Here are Flagpole staffers' Final Four picks.

Pete McCommons, editor/publisher: Ole Miss over Duke, North Carolina over Illinois, Ole Miss over North Carolina.

Larry Tenner, production director*: Duke over Kansas State, Virginia Commonwealth over Temple, VCU over Duke.

Gabe Vodicka, music editor: Louisville over Gonzaga, Miami over Georgetown, Miami over Louisville.

Sydney Slotkin, assistant office manager**: Louisville over Kansas State, Indiana over Michigan, Louisville over Indiana.

Blake Aued, city editor: Louisville over Ohio State, Indiana over Florida, Indiana over Louisville.

*Larry employed the tried-and-true coin flip method, but his picks are actually plausible (except maybe Temple).

**Sydney swears she made her picks herself (they're pretty good!) after reading our tournament preview.