The first round of Ultimate Podcast Bracket voting is in the books and hoo buddy did we have a round.
First: The favorites. In “looking like contenders” news, defending champions Binge Mode went and scoffed at the committee’s 3-seed, romping over the Ron Burgundy Podcast with 80 percent of the vote. Last year’s runner-up Crime Junkie also won easily over in the True Crime region, and looks set to make another deep run.
But enough of that. Let’s talk upsets. We had TWO 8-seeds upset 1-seeds this year, a thrilling development for the many rampant fans of our imaginary, meaningless podcast bracket. The first was Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, which I recommend as a lovely podcast to learn some stuff and then fall asleep to, which hung on to beat This American Life. The history nerds went and beat up the people who wear cool glasses and tell interesting stories at cocktail parties, and it was a sight to behold.
The other major upset came in the Sports Region, where upstarts Shutdown Fullcast defeated No. 1 seed Bill Simmons Podcast. The fact that the Fullcast was able to do this without working microphones, production of any kind, or any semblance of week-to-week coherence, well, it only speaks to their scrappiness and verve.
On to the Sweet 16! Vote! Once again, voting will remain open until 10 a.m. ET tomorrow.
