I have to say that the reaction to the Elite Eight was very unexpected. Until this last round of voting, the most votes any match up had generated was somewhere around 350 from the W-W/Williams first round tilt. This round, the LEAST number of votes generated was 506. Moreover, three of the four match ups were incredibly close. P-P and Tufts were back-and-forth all the way. Kenyon needed a last second surge to get past the Polar Bears from Bowdoin (the last county reporting was from the Cincinatti area, and Bowdoin needed to carry Ohio to win the election). Whitman employed a blog post to get them over the hump. As we all know, the party with the biggest social media presence usually has an edge. I can’t say I’m pleased with the results. I’m really sad to see the Polar Bears and the Banana Slugs out of the bracket, but I guess that’s democracy. The best candidate doesn’t always win.
After that clusterf***, we’re left with Tufts carrying the banner for the large, intimidating animals (insert Republican/elephant related pun here); Whitman proudly marching on for the small, ironic mascots; and a pair of purple people eaters from the Midwest.
8. Tufts Jumbos vs. 4. Whitman Fighting Squirrels
The Jumbos putting on their glass slippers and playing the role of VCU in this tournament. They needed to win a coin toss to get into the bracket, and now they’re in the final four. Unlike VCU, I think Tufts will move on the the finals. Their mascot is actually the official mascot of their school,which has an interesting back story and isn’t just some random animal with a very tenuous relationship to the institution. I’m also a big fan of the North Carolina Blue. The Whitman Fighting Squirrel is a great mascot. That much I’ve already said. But COME ON PEOPLE! This is their official website explaining the ‘cool’ backstory behind their vicious and interesting mascot. Wow, that was riveting. Way to go Whitman. Go ‘Bos!
1. Kenyon Lords vs. 8. Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks
Can I vote for a third party candidate? I don’t even give a s***. Both of these mascots suck. The Lords sucks a little bit more than the Warhawks, but I’m not a huge fan of voting for the lesser of two evils. My only hope is that the Jumbos can come up with the victory in the finals. This Final Four match had so much potential! Purple Cows vs. Polar Bears! Bantams vs. Thoroughbreds! Poets vs. Tartans! Instead we’re left with the Lords vs. the Warhawks, which is just all kinds of lame. But I should stop beating around the bush and tell you how I really feel.
Five more hours, guys!
Dang that’s one cool looking bird!
Cmon Whitewater, pick it up!
Also just want to point out the flaw in the system which is that it appeared to allow voting at least twice after a certain point in the week. I’m guessing the numbers skyrocketed from previous votes as a result.
That is a flaw, but I don’t understand how that would explain the vote totals. That flaw was present for the previous weeks too. Not sure what I can do about that either
Come at me Kenyon
Maybe kenyon keeps winning because all you do is incessantly talk crap about their mascot so they get out the vote to spite you. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t care. Anyways, kenyon is too small of a school to take down UWW, so this is probably the end of the line for them
Voting ends Sunday the 9th at midnight ET