Looking for the road to riches?

Try the 17-hour drive on Interstate 90 West to Ames, Iowa.

That’s where you’ll find Aaron Birkland, a very typical college student who finds himself in a very atypical situation this weekend. Birkland, a senior at Iowa State, currently leads the nation in ESPN.com’s Men’s Tournament Challenge, having correctly predicted a Final Four of Maryland, Kansas, Oklahoma and, yes, Indiana.

Should the Terrapins defeat the Sooners in the national title game, Birkland will win the contest’s grand prize of $10,000. And you thought Gary Williams would be sweating this weekend.

‘This really came out of nowhere,’ Birkland said. ‘In the past, I’ve always done pretty poorly. Actually, I’ve been horrible. It’s never even been close. I’d have to say this was a stroke of luck more than anything.’

If luck explains Birkland’s perfect Final Four prognostication — statistically, a 1-in-37,000 chance — then the Boston Red Sox management should get this kid on speed dial.

Nearly a million people entered the Internet contest this year, but only Birkland nailed the Laettner turnaround on seven-of-eight Elite Eight teams and on the upsets of Florida, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.

Even more impressive, the finance and economics dual major from Ringsted, Iowa, successfully predicted the upset of Indiana over Duke in the Sweet 16.

‘That was the game where I realized that I had a serious chance in this thing,’ Birkland said. ‘That pick was just a gut feeling. I went by my gut on all of it. I just filled out my bracket in four or five minutes, but you always want to have one decent upset in there, and Duke-Indiana seemed like a pretty good one.’

Birkland plans to travel home for Easter and watch the Saturday evening semifinal games with a couple of his high-school friends. But suddenly, the unassuming Birkland may have trouble brewing.

Monday afternoon, one of his ISU buddies e-mailed the major media outlets in Des Moines, Iowa, letting them know that Birkland needed just one lucky bounce for the Bank shot. Within five hours, reporters from the Des Moines Register and the city’s NBC affiliate paid visits to his dorm room.

That evening, he appeared on television in a two-minute segment during which he was asked to predict more than basketball. An interviewer sought Birkland’s opinion on the love life of Britney Spears and the possible toupee of a local news personality.

‘All this attention is pretty new for me,’ Birkland said. ‘I’m just a humble little guy. This certainly wasn’t something I was expecting. It’s something that just happens to you.’

Even though he isn’t used to the attention, he appreciates it. After all, he admitted winning $10,000 would help him pay off a sizable student loan. And better yet, he’d have a chance to exchange his current car for a brand new Mustang.

There’s one other reward included in the grand-prize package: a five-gallon Gatorade cooler (retail value: $32.49), presumably so he can douse himself in Lemon-Lime after time expires in a Terrapin win.

But for now, Birkland doesn’t want to talk about it.

‘I don’t need to jinx myself,’ he said.

Birkland would rather sit on his fingernails and watch. He’d be a fool to change anything now. This is how he watched every tournament game from Wyoming to Wilmington. It’s how he’ll be watching Saturday when he sees if his one-in-a-million chance survives the semifinals.

And it’s how he’ll be watching Monday when he discovers if, just once, the Road to the Final Four has an exit ramp for the road to riches.

No. 5 Indiana (+6.5) vs. No. 2 Oklahoma

CBS, Saturday, 6:07 p.m.

Birkland: ‘Oklahoma should win this one. Indiana may be running out of steam, considering how hard they’ve worked to get here. OU is looking way too good for Indiana at this point. They have some guys down low who might even be able to push (Jared) Jeffries around a little bit.’

Pick: Oklahoma, 82-72

Greg Bishop, racer tied for first place: ‘Mike Davis has effectively stepped out of Bob Knight’s shadow, but I chalk it up to that horrible movie, ‘Season on the Brink.’ This is where it ends. The Sooners, who should have been a No. 1 seed, have more talent, longer shorts and the sentimental vote.’

Pick: Oklahoma, 71-62

Louis Goldstein, the other racer tied for first: ‘Oklahoma is one of the most physical teams in the country, having held both Maryland and Kansas to under 60 points earlier this year. Indiana, meanwhile, struggles to score, averaging just over 70 points. And there is no way Indiana will shoot 15 for 19 from three-point land again.’

Pick: Oklahoma, 75-61

No. 1 Maryland (+1.5) vs. No. 1 Kansas

CBS, Saturday, 8:47 p.m.

Birkland: ‘Maryland was here last year and that experience will help them quite a bit. Nick Collison and Drew Gooden are practically unstoppable, but if any team can compete with them down low, it’s Maryland. They have a set of big men that are pretty much comparable.’

Pick: Maryland, 94-90

Bishop: ‘Sitting in the wasteland called Dayton, Ohio, at the NCAA Tournament last season, I predicted Kansas would win the national championship this year. And I’m not wavering. The Terps looked impressive in Syracuse and have the size and talent to hang with Kansas, but the Jayhawks will break Roy Williams’ choking curse this year.’

Pick: Kansas, 95-90

Goldstein: ‘This is one of the best matchups in the last 10 years. Both teams have dominant frontcourt players and equally talented shooters on the perimeter. This game may very well come down to which big man, Lonny Baxter or Gooden, gets in foul trouble. The guess here is Gooden.’

Pick: Maryland, 95-90

Championship Game

CBS, Monday, 9 p.m.

Birkland: ‘I’m just gonna stick with what I’ve said since the very beginning. There’s no sense in changing it at this point.’

Pick: Maryland, 80-78

Bishop: ‘A rematch of the Big 12 championship game, where Oklahoma had the Jayhawks’ number. But not this time. Not on this big of a stage. Teams that win their conference championships often have trouble in the NCAAs, but the Sooners bucked that trend until now. Here’s where it plays in.’

Pick: Kansas, 89-75

Goldstein: ‘Maryland and Oklahoma have already met once this year, and the Sooners gave the Terps a 72-56 beating. There is no reason why it won’t happen again. Oklahoma has been my pick all along, and they are my pick here.’

Pick: Oklahoma, 71-61

Published on March 27, 2002 at 12:00 pm