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The Final Four is one of the most anticipated sports events of the year. It is everything fans love about athletics, the culmination of the NCAA Tournament, a nearly monthlong single-elimination playoff that captivates the country, from hard-core college basketball observers to office secretaries who wouldn't know Tom Izzo if he slammed into their SUV in the company parking lot.

But they care about this, partly because they, too, like legions of others, fill out their brackets and are in heated competition with their office or social circle to win the darn thing. It is estimated that 70 million brackets are filled out across America and $9 billion is up for grabs in tournament betting.

Everybody's in the pool.

In Salt Lake City, though, and in LDS Church congregations from coast to coast, there is a snag. An awful, brutal, excruciating, cruel, cruel, cruel snag.

The Saturday on which those national semifinal games take place is the same Saturday on which a few sessions of the faith's General Conference occur, including the Saturday evening priesthood session, to which all Mormon males ages 12 and up are invited/encouraged/exhorted/commanded to attend, either in person or at their local meetinghouse via video feeds. Often, it is the best meeting all conference long, with leaders getting down with their bad selves, speaking frankly and, at times, even entertainingly.

What to do?

It's a classic God-versus-mammon conundrum. May I quote from Matthew 6:24? "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and root for John Calipari."

I swear, it's right there in the Good Book.

Trouble is, mammon offers two great games and, in some cases, a shot at all the office-pool booty, not to mention revenge and redemption from those jerk blowhard co-workers — fill in their names here — who all thought they were going to show you up, kick your arse and take your hard-earned money.

So, every year, it comes down to deciding between Bill Self or Dieter Uchtdorf, Mike Krzyzewski or Henry Eyring, Roy Williams or Thomas Monson.

Life is full of tough choices.

There are those who say the deal is easy: Just record the Final Four and watch it after the conference sessions end. There are two problems with that: 1) A lot of people like to experience big events as they actually happen, and 2) Brother Jones or Johnson or Smith or Smithson always opens his fat mouth and blurts out the game results when you don't want to know. It messes up the whole thing, taking away the thrill of the moment.

Some of the multitasking devout show up at church with phones upon which they watch the games and conference simultaneously. Not a bad option, really, if done discreetly.

Another option: Watch the games live and a recording of the priesthood session later. The issue there is this: With conference sessions stacking up like planes at LaGuardia, two more coming in succession the next day, will you ever really go back and watch what you missed?

As it is, a lot of Mormon guys hustle straightaway from the priesthood session to a local sports bar or restaurant with ample televisions, where they can at least catch live the last bit of game action.

I once heard of a brother, fresh from the priesthood session, who clinched his office pool via Saturday night's results and celebrated by buying a round of beers for everybody (else) on hand at a sports bar. Don't know if that's apocryphal or not.

Ultimately, put in my best-reverential-whispery church tone and vernacular, let me submit, brothers and sisters, that it's up to the individual to chart his own course, to work out his own salvation.

I always thought it would be a kick to see how LDS Church authorities would respond if BYU, God willing, ever made it to the Final Four and had to play on the biggest stage during a priesthood session. Would even the brethren have their phones out?

Not to worry. The Cougars never make it that far.

Gordon Monson hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.