Markham Carroll's March title came the hard way: 11 straight winners before Connecticut on Day 9, a share of 1st, and 248.5. That alone would headline most seasons.
Carroll also finished 15th in the College Football Playoff for 237, 42nd in Golf for 210, and tied for 47th in the NFL Playoffs for 204. The March crown was the best of a four-card upper tier, not a lonely outlier.
Every other contest finished 141st or worse. That missing middle explains how so much elite work resolves at 86th and 1371.5: when Carroll was right he was dangerous, and when he was not, there was almost no cushion.