Regarding your dark horse picks, that's what makes it so fun to pick these things!
I actually didnt get terribly clobbered in the earlier rounds and actually won my pool for what it's worth and I havent won an NCAA pool in 15 years so I'll take the victory lap whenever I can as it doesnt come around very often In my defense I did pick the finalists (Germany and Arg) and the winner (Germany) and had Costa Rica and Belgium making some noise. My biggest stinker of a pick was Japan who I thought would make some noise (and yes Honduras ended up stinking up the joint as well).
Definitely a fun tournament and cant wait for the next one where I will more than likely strike out on the majority of my picks. The tourney certainly got me through this dead sports period here in Chicago (aside from NBA free agency).