CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RESULTS

Championship Final: Tucson Demolishes New Orleans, Reigns Supreme
Tucson is for real. Arizona's second largest city, the #10 seed out of the West, has won the 2020 American City Bracket in convincing fashion, posting a 1058-235 win over New Orleans, the #15 seed out of the South. The win was among the most impressive for a city that continually put up gaudy numbers in their drubbings of various favorite cities around the country. Tucson, Arizona can claim to be America's favorite city to visit once the coronavirus pandemic lifts, at least according to Twitter. Thank you all for participating and spreading the word about this tournament!

No one added points this round to their predictive brackets as no one picked Tucson to win the first round, much less the whole enchilada.

FINAL FOUR RESULTS

Final Four: Tucson, New Orleans Upset Top Seeds, Will Match Up for the Title
The American City Bracket is down to just two cities after the Final Four commenced with two thrilling matchups. #10 Tucson out of the West and #15 New Orleans out of the South have been strong since their first games and have now added wins over #1 seeds to their resumes (the second straight win over a top seed for NOLA). Tucson was paired with #1 Chicago, winner of the Midwest/Great Plains bracket, easily notching a 524-137 win. On the other side of the bracket, #1 seed overall New York out of the Northeast was toppled by New Orleans in a closer and lower-scoring contest, 118-47. The two double-digit seed winners will face off on Thursday for all the marbles in the final game of the American City Bracket!

Kurt Falk's was one of five predictive brackets to call New Orleans making the final and, in so doing, clinched the win in the 13-bracket contest. He could add to his total of 114 points if NOLA wins it all. Three other brackets also called the Big Easy to take the championship.

ELITE EIGHT RESULTS

Elite Eight: Tucson, New Orleans Join One Seeds in Final Four
The American City Bracket finally reached the Final Four with two expected one-seeds advancing and two double-digit seeds crashing the party. By far the biggest surprise and highest scoring city has been #10 Tucson in the West, which secured the Final Four berth with a 920-495 win over #13 Honolulu. The 495 points for Honolulu were the most for a losing team this tournament. Tucson's next challenge will be #1 Chicago, who dispensed with #6 Kansas City in the Midwest/Great Plains by a score of 100-18. On the other side of the bracket, #15 New Orleans continued its Cinderella run in the South, finally stopping #1 Houston by a 94-23 count. New Orleans gets another "new" city, #1 New York from the Northeast, who faced the toughest challenge in the Elite Eight from #2 Philadelphia, utlimately winning 77-47. The Final Four starts Tuesday, 4/21 at 9:00 AM Eastern / 6:00 AM Pacific.

Predictive brackets had mixed results, ranging from 0/13 (West) to 11/13 (Midwest). Ten brackets successfully predicted New York would take the Northeast and five chose New Orleans. All five of those brackets got 3/4 correct, while two brackets (both of whom chose Kansas City in the Midwest) went 0/4. Only 7/13 brackets are still able to earn points from any of the three remaining contests and just two could get all such games right.

SWEET SIXTEEN RESULTS

Sweet Sixteen Second Half: #10 Tucson, #15 New Orleans Continue Cinderella Runs
The American City Bracket continues to be dominated by #10 Tucson out of the West, who put up another epic tally in defeating #6 Denver, 581-115. In the South, the lowest seed left in the tournament, #15 New Orleans, faced early competition from #11 Atlanta before pulling away in the evening in a 58-14 win. In the Midwest/Great Plains, #6 Kansas City made it three straight wins, this time upsetting #2 Indianapolis in the day's closest game, 49-27. The only two-seed to survive to the Elite Eight was #2 Philadelphia, who scored the largest percentage victory with a 63-11 demolishing of #6 Baltimore. This sets up four epic games on Sunday that will determine who cuts down the nets in the Final Four. In the Northeast, the expected seeds will face off as #1 New York battles #2 Philadelphia. In the Midwest, #1 Chicago matches up with #6 Kansas City. In the South, #1 Houston will try to continue its expected but unpredicted run against #15 New Orleans. And in the West, the bracket of most surprise will put a double-digit seed in the Final Four as #10 Tucson is the seeding favorite for the first time against #13 Honolulu.

Predictive brackets had real trouble in the West (all wrong) and Midwest (only three correctly choosing Kansas City). They succeeded in the South (only one wrong, with Atlanta) and the Northeast (just three wrong, one each for the previously eliminated Pittsburgh, Newark, and Virginia Beach). Only one city that actually played today got mulitple missed picks, which was Denver (4 selections). Indianapolis and Atlanta got one pick each.

Sweet Sixteen First Half: #13 Honolulu Dumps #1 LA, NY Squeaks Through
The American City Bracket lost its first top seed and nearly lost another as the field narrowed from the Sweet Sixteen to twelve in Thursday action. #13 Honolulu, one of two Cinderellas still dancing in the West, dominated top-ranked Los Angeles from start to finish in a 44-12 win. Across the bracket in the Northeast, #1 New York faced a fierce challenge from #4 Washington, eking out a 35-25 win. The day's highest score was in the South, where #1 Houston put up another impressive performance, knocking out #4 Austin 265-108. And in the Midwest/Great Plains, #1 Chicago continued its ownership of the quadrant with a 59-10 elimination of #5 Milwaukee. Half of the Elite Eight field, which will play on Sunday, is now set. The other half will be decided Friday.

Predictive brackets generally did well in the Northeast and Midwest while struggling with the South and West. No bracket was perfect and one missed all four predictions. Among teams not previously eliminated, the top selections were Austin (5 picks), LA (3), and DC (2). Fifteen picks involved knocked out cities, led by Miami (6 picks).

SECOND ROUND RESULTS

Day Twelve: Honolulu, DC Eke Out Narrow Victories, Join Austin and Milwaukee in Sweet Sixteen
The American City Bracket is down to the Sweet Sixteen after two of the closest games in its field so far. The closest of the day was #4 Washington DC edging #5 Boston 28-22. Almost as close was upstart #13 Honolulu upsetting #5 Seattle, 30-23. Seattle led that game at several points, but Honolulu went on a late run to seal the deal. Other matches were more definitive: #4 Austin smothered #12 Miami 48-18 and #5 Milwaukee knocked out #4 Oklahoma City 39-11. Wednesday is an off day, setting the stage for these teams to return in Sweet Sixteen action on Thursday: DC opposes New York, Honolulu faces Los Angeles, Austin gets Houston in the matchup of the only two cities left from the same state, and Milwaukee will play Chicago.

Predictive brackets largely bounced back from a rough Tuesday, with two getting all four winners right today. The most popular incorrect pick was Miami (7), followed by Seattle and Oklahoma City (4 each). Three people selected Boston to win, while one person chose both of the previously eliminated cities San Francisco and Lincoln to advance.

Day Eleven: #11 Atlanta Upends #3 Dallas, Joins Three Six-Seeds in Sweet Sixteen
The American City Bracket has twelve of its Sweet Sixteen decided after three 6-seeds secured their berth with dominant victories. But no city was more dominant than Atlanta, who cruised to victory over Dallas by a 46-15 tally. Kansas City notched the highest overall score, but won by the smallest percentage, beating Madison 135-57. Denver similarly overwhlemed San Diego 107-44, while the scores were lower in Baltimore's 42-14 win over Columbus. After a couple days off for these towns, the Friday Sweet Sixteen field is set: Atlanta will face New Orleans, Kansas City will square off with Indianapolis, Denver will play Tucson, and Baltimore will oppose Philadelphia.

So far, this was the toughest day for brackets in the Second Round, with barely more than half of all picks being correct and none of the thirteen notching a perfect day. Misses were all over the board, but San Diego was the most frequent with 6 selections. Other teams that lost today included Dallas (3 picks), Madison (2), and Columbus (1). Among teams already eliminated, St. Louis led the pack with 5 selections, followed by Detroit (2), plus Anchorage, Charlotte, Newark, and Tampa (1 each).

Day Ten: #10 Tucson, #15 New Orleans Storm Sweet Sixteen
Some formidable Cinderella stories are taking shape in the American City Bracket after two double-digit seeds clinched spots in the Sweet Sixteen. In the West, #10 Tucson dumped cross-state rival #2 Phoenix out of the competition, 650-107. In the South, the ten-seed was on the losing end as #15 New Orleans topped #10 Louisville 53-12. Meanwhile, the surviving two-seeds posted less substantial but still clear wins: Philadelphia eliminated Pittsburgh 50-21 and Indianapolis knocked off Omaha 41-19. These four cities will face the next day's winners on Friday, April 17th.

Predictive brackets accumulated the same total score as they did yesterday, 66 points out of a possible 104. Twelve brackets had the previously eliminated Portland in the West slot, with one choosing Phoenix. Previously knocked out cities Des Moines (2) and Wichita (1) garnered votes in the Midwest/Great Plains. And in the Northeast, Pittsburgh got two picks while the ousted Virginia Beach got one. All thirteen brackets had NOLA in the Sweet Sixteen.

Day Nine: All Four Top Seeds Easily Advance to Sweet Sixteen
Second Round action opened Saturday in the American City Bracket with all four #1 seeds punching their tickets to the Sweet Sixteen. Despite a big early lead by #8 Nashville in the South over #1 Houston, Texas' largest city mustered a massive rally and carried the day in convincing fashion, 96-49. In the West, Los Angeles had some trouble with Las Vegas but never trailed in a 29-18 triumph. New York dominated Cincinnati 51-8, but Chicago's win over Minneapolis was the most impressive, 40-5. These four winning cities will be back on the opening day of the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday against the teams that win on Tuesday.

In spite of their top seed, none of the thirteen predictive brackets placed Houston in the Sweet Sixteen: ten had Nashville in the slot and three had the previously eliminated Orlando. LA's advance also surprised four people who picked Vegas to beat them. One bracket made both of those selections as well as Minneapolis and the previously knocked out Providence.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Day Eight: #9 Cincy Squeaks by #8 Cleveland in Last First-Round Upset
The first round closed on a calmer note after Wednesday's boisterous matchups, led by a tightly contested match between rival Ohio cities in the Northeast. Cleveland almost never led the game, pulling even frequently before Cincinnati took the lead, resulting in a 39-33 win for Cincinnati. This was the only 8-9 upset on the day and none of the other matchups were particularly close. In the West, Las Vegas dismissed Albuquerque 40-18, while Nashville handled cross-state rival Memphis 43-16 in the South. In the day's true blowout, Minneapolis opened with the first 34 points en route to a 54-4 dispatching of Tulsa. Every team now gets a day off between rounds, but these winners will return on Saturday to face the top seeds in their respective quadrants.

Brackets knew the Ohio match would be close and the others wouldn't. All thirteen brackets chose Vegas, Minneapolis, and Nashville, but just six of the thirteen picked Cincinnati. Rajul currently leads the thirteen with 29/32 points. Her missed picks in the first round were Orlando, St. Louis, and Portland. However, she had Portland in the Sweet Sixteen and St. Louis in the Elite Eight. Three brackets are close behind with 28 points. Each correct pick will be worth 2 points in the Second Round (32 points are available each round).

Day Seven: #10 Tucson Leads Massive Day of Upsets, Omaha Only 7-Seed Left
7-10 matchups have a reputation for upsets and the American City Bracket is no exception as three of the #10 seeds got the best of their #7s in first round action. The headline was a massive score from Tucson, who staged a seismic comeback to defeat Portland by a whopping 1140-433 tally. This point total for winner, loser, and matchup obliterated records set in prior days by Kansas City in victory and Detroit in defeat. Other games were lower in score, but no less exciting. Virginia Beach and Pittsburgh had the most ties and lead-changes, with see-saw shifts in momentum back and forth before Pittsburgh ultimately prevailed, 65-54. El Paso made several comeback attempts against Louisville but never quite managed to justify their seed, falling 60-38. Omaha was the only higher seed to carry the day against a #10, having little trouble with Wichita in a 66-25 romp. Today is the last of first-round action, while the 7-10 winners will be back in competition on short rest this Sunday, April 12th against the winners from last Friday.

Brackets were blindsided across the board, with none of the thirteen picking Tucson's surprise triumph and just 52% of total picks coming out right. Six brackets picked Virginia Beach to win, while three each chose Wichita and El Paso.

Day Six: #11 Atlanta Upends #6 Charlotte, Other Sixes Move On
Two patterns are emerging in the American City Bracket: blowouts and each day featuring one upset. The blowout streak extended to two full days while the one-upset streak is now at five days. The upset was #11 Atlanta knocking out Charlotte by a 22-6 score. The other blowouts included Denver over Fresno by 30-2 and Baltimore over Newark by 29-6. The day's most intriguing matchup looked to be the cross-state rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis. After some early ties and lead-changes, KC went on an unmatchable unanswered streak and proceded to score the most points yet seen in the Bracket, carrying a 91-20 victory. These teams will be back in action on April 13th, taking on Dallas, San Diego, Columbus, and Madison.

The KC win was a major surprise for bracket predictors as 7/13 picked St. Louis to advance to the second round. One bracket chose Newark to beat Baltimore and another added Charlotte to their St. Louis pick. This left just five brackets unblemished on the day.

Day Five: #12 Miami, #5 Boston Score Shutouts in All-Blowout Day
The American City Bracket scored its first two shutouts as the streak of exactly-one-upset extended to a fourth straight day. Miami was at the center of both phenomena, beating cross-state rival #5 Jacksonville 30-0. Boston was one of three five-seeds to secure a berth in the second round, knocking out Buffalo by an even more impressive 31-0. While they failed to shutout Sacramento, Seattle scored even more points en route to a 34-2 win. The day's closest match was in the Midwest/Great Plains, where Milwaukee struggled very early with Lincoln before sailing to a 23-5 win. The winners will face the previous day's winners in the second round on April 14th.

In keeping with the blowouts, today was the most predictable slate of contests so far, surpassing Day Two by two correct guesses. Eleven brackets were perfect, with one choosing Sacramento and one choosing Lincoln.

Day Four: #13 Honolulu Ousts #4 San Fran in Only Upset
For the third straight day, exactly one upset highlighted action in the American City Bracket. In a highly anticipated and hotly contested matchup, Honolulu came back from a very early deficit to surpass San Francisco (Bay Area) 20-11. It was the day's closest contest as the other four-seeds didn't break a sweat in advancing: Oklahoma City dominated Fort Wayne 28-6, Austin dispatched Raleigh/Durham 26-4, and Washington DC rolled over Richmond 28-4. The winning cities will be back on April 14th for their second-round matches.

Brackets generally had a great day with this relatively calm slate after yesterday's upheaval. Nine went 4/4. One picked Fort Wayne to advance, one chose San Francisco, and two more selected both SF and Raleigh/Durham.

Day Three: #14 Madison Upsets #3 Detroit, Other Threes Advance
In the highest-scoring contest of the American City Bracket so far, Madison withstood several rallies from Detroit to pull ahead in the late afternoon and evening and secure a 66-39 win. The 39 score in a losing effort for Detroit is higher than any other team's winning score so far in the tournament. Other games were also closely contested, featuring lead changes in all three, but ultimately resulting in wins for each #3 seed. The closest such game was in the West, where San Diego edged Anchorage 23-18. In the Northeast, Columbus topped Rochester 26-14. And for the second straight day, the South featured the biggest blowout: Dallas 34, Tampa 14. Madison, San Diego, Columbus, and Dallas will play the winners of Tuesday's 6/11 matches on April 13th.

As would be expected with the closer games, predictive brackets faced a minefield today. Just three of the thirteen got all four games right, and none of those brackets were perfect before, so everyone's bracket has a blemish after just three days of play. Five brackets missed one game, one missed two, and three missed three. Detroit was the most popular missed pick (6 brackets), followed by Anchorage and Rochester (4 each), and finally Tampa (3).

Day Two: #15 NOLA Wrecks #2 San Antonio, Other Two-Seeds Roll
The American City Bracket has its first "upset" in the form of the most lopsided win so far. 15th seeded New Orleans drubbed San Antonio 22-1 to move on to the second round. Other second seeds were more fortunate, topped by Philadelphia in the Northeast, who crushed Worcester 21-2. The remaining matches were closer but not quite contentious: Indianapolis beat Des Moines 17-9 and Phoenix eliminated Reno 17-6. The winners will next play on April 12th.

Bracket submissions (of which there are now 13 officially, as another was unearthed) fared extremely well today. Ten were perfect, including all three perfect brackets from yesterday's action. One bracket picked Reno to win, another picked Des Moines, and a third picked both.

Day One: Houston Survives Orlando Upset Bid, #1 Seeds All Advance
South top seed Houston faced a stiff challenge from #16 Orlando on the opening day of the American City Bracket. Orlando led most of the morning, while Houston pulled even in late afternoon and sealed a 20-16 win overnight. Meanwhile, the other #1 seeds cruised. In the West, Los Angeles faced some early resistance from Boise before pouring it on late, winning 28-6. New York ran up the score on Providence (31-6), while Chicago scored the biggest blowout of the day, beating Sioux Falls 29-3. These top-seeded cities will be back in action on April 11th against the winners of the 8/9 games in their respective regions.

Just three of the twelve official brackets correctly called the Houston-Orlando contest. Every bracket accurately had LA and Chicago advancing, while one put Providence over New York.

There was no March Madness this year. And we can't travel anymore. There are millions of good reasons to be sad and worried. BUT, we can also play games, games that remind us of March Madness and travel...

Behold, the #AmericanCityBracket! 64 cities, narrowed by Twitter polling. pic.twitter.com/PILTsCD8qp

— Storey Clayton (@StoreyClayton) March 31, 2020