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

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.