After a calm start to the Sweet Sixteen, upsets roared back in the second half, led by the highest scoring park in the tournament, #7 Saguaro. The cactus-based preserve upended #3 Zion in the Southwest by a 195-51 score, marking the highest marks for both a winning and losing park so far this tournament. Saguaro will be joined in the Elite Eight by another seven-seed, #7 Hawaii Volcanoes, who dispatched #6 Sequoia in the Pacific, 19-13. The highest seed to score and upset was #3 Glacier in the North, who was down most of the morning before a long evening rally that resulted in a 21-10 elimination of #2 Grand Teton. And the lowest seed to survive in the tournament so far kept winning as #11 Mammoth Cave surprised #10 Everglades, 18-13. The Elite Eight will be held Thursday, with all parks remaining in the tournament in action on the same day for the first time.

Predictive brackets had by far their worst day ever, notching just 26% accuracy with no perfect days, just one 3/4 and a whopping five 0/4s. The least predicted result was Mammoth Cave, with just one correct selection, while five chose Everglades, four each Virgin Islands and Statue of Liberty, three Lincoln Memorial, and one each for two more parks. Saguaro was almost as hard to foresee with two correct picks, while eight chose Zion, five Rocky Mountain, two Mesa Verde, and two more a park each. Hawaii Volcanoes was selected seven times, a plurality over Joshua Tree (five), Sequoia (four), and Olympic (three). Finally, Glacier was the only majority pick (ten), followed by Grand Teton (four), Kenai Fjords (two), and three parks (one each).

Today’s an off day to gear up for the Elite Eight, which starts Thursday at 9:00 AM EDT/6:00 AM PDT:
Pacific: #1 Yosemite vs. #7 Hawaii Volcanoes
Southwest: #1 Grand Canyon vs. #7 Saguaro
North: #1 Yellowstone vs. #3 Glacier
East: #4 Acadia vs. #11 Mammoth Cave