Podcast Madness Sweet 16 recap, there’s a Criminal amongst us

March 7, 2018 8:21 am

According to the laws of tournaments, every subsequent round we halve the remaining participants. Yes, Kevin. We know how tournaments work. Well, did you know that by the Elite 8 round, there are only supposed to be 1- and 2-seeds remaining? In Podcast Madness, we have exactly 1 of those top seeds left (S-Town).

Instead, we have TWO double-digit seeds and I’m ready to crown this years’ Cinderella: Crime Writers On. After berating my Twitter feed with a “nobody believes in us” mentality, their path to the Elite 8 has been nothing short of impressive. After dismantling The Captain and True Crime Garage in the first round, they took down Crimetown (who beat 2-seed, Atlanta Monster), and then wiped the floor with 3-seed, Criminal. They deserve respect in this tournament, and if they can continue their tournament run with beating the lone 1-seed, S-Town, they’ll be a formidable opponent in the Final Four. They’re a staple of campaigning and mobilizing your audience.

The True Crime Quadrant also gave us our closest matchup of the round, and tournament. The aforementioned, S-Town, narrowly escaped an upset from My Favorite Murder — winning by about a percent.

Homecoming remains a quiet juggernaut in this tournament. They haven’t had a close matchup yet despite facing some tough opponents. We’ll see if The Black Tapes can give them a tougher test in the Elite 8.

In the Figureheads Quadrant we also have an underdog advancing through the tournament, Pod Save America. I have them listed as a 12-seed, and yes, I’m willing to concede I may have misjudged them there. We discussed their opponents in the last recap, but after taking down The Daily and 99% Invisible, add Fresh Air to their wake.

We said goodbye to My Thing Can Beat Your Thing and Doug Loves Movies in the Up & Comers Quadrant. The early results indicate the two remaining podcasts, We Have Concerns and Wine & Crime are due for a photo finish.

If you haven’t already, vote in the Elite 8 here. Voting will remain open until Sunday at 7pm ET.