You can skip the NCAA men's basketball Final Four this weekend. Connecticut will win the championship. That is, of course, if you trust the prediction from a team of rats at the Science Museum of Virginia. They played their own Division I championship yesterday; the official men's championship is Monday.
Last year, the first time the museum held the championship, the rats got it right. In the semifinals, Memphis Rat beat UCLA Rat, and Kansas Rat beat North Carolina Rat. Then Kansas Rat downed Memphis Rat in the championship.
The rats score by performing "body dunks" — pushing the ball through the hoop, and then following with their whole bodies.
"When I heard the first two scores," museum spokeswoman Nancy Tait said about last year's human Final Four, "I was like, ‘OK, two out of three isn't bad,' because I couldn't have imagined that the championship game was going to go as the rats had predicted it."
In yesterday's semifinals:
*Venus (the rat representing Connecticut) beat Luna (Michigan), 40-29.
*Comet (North Carolina) hammered Twitch (Villanova), 35-25.
In the final, Venus eliminated Comet, 28-24.
"We'll see if the rats get it right again," Tait told the children and adults gathered to see the games.
Laura Kramer, coach and gallery education assistant director, said she began training the rats last summer.
"We work in stages. Every time they get a step correctly, they get food for that, so they learn touch ball, pick up ball, carry ball, move ball through the court and make a basket," she said.
That takes about three to four months, Kramer said. The rats play twice a day every day for museum visitors, she said.
"So they're well-practiced to play basketball," she said.
The rats for yesterday's game were chosen for their strength and hoops ability.
Kramer placed the four rats on the "court" — a clear glass box with two hoops — and threw in an orange Wiffle golf ball to start the game. Venus picked up the ball with its mouth and ran across the court — no dribbling — and dunked its body through the hoop with the ball and scurried to the side to receive a cereal treat from Kramer.
As Venus dropped the ball to chew her treat, Luna grabbed it, raced to the other side and dunked to score her first point and then scuttled back to get her treat.
Venus quickly emerged as the more aggressive player, stealing the ball by out-tugging Luna. She often was distracted as she paused to scratch an itch. The crowd got behind Venus.
"Go, Venus!" they cheered.
For the final game, Venus and Comet played a competitive half-court game. They got on top of each other and stood on their hind legs fighting for the ball or trying to hide it.
"It's hilarious," Tait said afterward.
Venus prevailed.
"There's your champion, according to the rats," said Tait, lifting up the UConn representative as the children cheered.
So there you have it. It's your ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^call: Go with the rats' prediction or watch the human tournament.
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or jlizama@timesdispatch.com.
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