“I’m definitely shocked,” said Linder, a freshman majoring in air traffic control at Jacksonville University in Florida.
“I have no clue what I would buy if I won,” he added. “I just know I probably wouldn’t stop screaming for about 10 minutes. I’ve been having trouble sleeping all week because it’s all I can think about when I go to bed.”
Linder, who filled out three brackets for the contest, actually has two of the nine entries tied for first place. His two still in contention had some variances in the early rounds, but both of them have Kentucky beating Kansas in the championship game.
Of course, for that to happen, Linder’s Buckeyes would have to lose Saturday night.
“I’m going to watch the Louisville-Kentucky game, but not Ohio State,” he said. “I feel like every time I watch them I jinx them. I’m just going to follow the score on my phone.”
Linder lived in Vandalia until he was 5, when his mother, a Department of Defense employee, accepted a transfer to Germany. He graduated from Ramstein American High School last year and left Germany to enroll at JU. He said his plan is to return to Ohio, where most of his family members still live, to pursue a master’s degree at either Ohio State or the University of Cincinnati.
As excited as Linder is, there is a catch. ESPN altered its rules this year to award the grand prize to a random person among the top 1 percent of entries. That means even if he finishes with the top score, Linder only will have a 1 in 65,000 shot at the $10,000 gift card.
“I was talking to another guy who is tied for first and we agreed it’s very frustrating and doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “I feel like they’re robbing that from us. But the whole reason I entered was just for fun, so I’m not going to be too hurt if I don’t win anything.”
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