Hey guys, we made it! We’re already through this great tournament. This has been a ton of fun and honestly one of the most bonkers brackets we’ve ever done. I can’t remember any other bracket we’ve done with so many upsets and double digit seeds staying in so long.
Just like every year, I like to make picks like I’m in an office pool before March Madness. For the most part the Final 4 was not a huge surprise even though it ended with a 3, 4, 5, and 7 seed making it in. Honestly, I think you could have had most of these as a 1-3 seeds based on your personal feelings. This was probably the hardest time I’ve had seeding the tournament. After this great run, let’s see how the winners of each region fared in the Final Four and who will face off in the Championship!
The Championship Round voting begins now and will end Wednesday April 6 at 5pm Central. Championship winner will be announced on Thursday. I can’t believe we are already almost through this year!
But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.
Semi-Final #1
(4) “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (The Lion King) vs (5) “Friend Like Me” (Aladdin)
Our 4 seed winner of the Mickey Region had a fairly easy path to the Final Four knocking off 13 seed “Why Should I Worry” from Oliver & Company by 74 points to start out the tourney. The closest matchup they faced came in the Round of 32 knocking off a dark horse to win it all in The Little Mermaid‘s 5 seed “Under the Sea” 57-43. The Sweet 16 saw them take out the 1 seed “When You Wish Upon a Star” 83-17. They took the Mickey Region via a 61-39 walloping of 11 seed “You’re Welcome” from Moana.
The Minnie Region’s champion “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Aladdin was arguably (or inarguably if you please) underseeded at 5. But they did not let that stop them as the Robin Williams’ classic came out swinging, knocking off a great 12 seed in The Princess and the Frog‘s “Almost There” by 68 to get things rolling. The Round of 32 matchup against 4 seed, Moana’s “How Far I’ll Go” was not close at all ending 72-28. They absolutely smashed the Cinderella 9 seed “A Spoonful of Sugar” by a final of 82-18 in the Sweet 16 and rode that momentum to a 3 vote 53-47 win in the Elite 8 over 2 seed “Circle of Life” from The Lion King – a song I thought had a great chance to win the whole thing.
In the Final Four, our Minnie Region champ got out to an early lead and could not be caught as the 5 seed “Friend Like Me” holds on to cruise to a 77-23 victory over a beautiful 4 seed in “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”. I thought both of these could have taken the whole thing, so while this result isn’t shocking, it is sad to see either one of these songs go. “Friend Like Me” moves on to the ‘ship!
Semi-Final #2
(3) “Hakuna Matata” (The Lion King) vs (7) “Kiss the Girl” (The Little Mermaid)
Our Donald region was unbelievably stacked. Just a murderer’s row of great music. After some great battles our 3 seed, The Lion King‘s “Hakuna Matata” came out on top. Their road to regional supremacy started with a tougher than expected 14 seed in Hercules‘ “Zero to Hero” but they found the 85-15 victory. The Round of 32 was never close as “Hakuna Matata went on to win wire to wire, 96-4, against Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs‘ “Whistle While You Work”. This was the second biggest point spread of the entire tournament by 1 point. The Sweet 16 seemed like it would be a closer affair, but the 2 seed “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid went down hard by a final of 73-27. They kept the gas down in the Regional Final against 4 seed Toy Story‘s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”, winning that one 74-26.
The Goofy Region held to it’s namesake as all hell broke loose in that quarter of the bracket. We ended up with the lowest seed in the Final Four coming out of this region as the 7 seed “Kiss The Girl” from The Little Mermaid worked their way to the win. They got on the accelerator early via a 92-8 victory over “Bella Notte” from Lady and The Tramp in the Round of 64. One of the biggest upsets to me happened in the Round of 32 when they easily took out 2 seed “Into the Unknown” from Frozen II by a final of 79-21. “Kiss the Girl” really liked that score as they rolled to an identical score in the Sweet 16 taking out 11 seed “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas. It took everything they had in the Elite 8 to fend off an incredibly strong Cinderella team in 12 seed “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan by a final of 55-45.
This was one of the 2 or 3 hardest choices I had to make in this entire bracket. At the moment, I can’t even tell you which way I eventually landed. But this one ends up close but not quite a barn-burner as the 3 seed “Hakuna Matata” holds off the 7 seed “Kiss the Girl” by a final of 61-39 to move on to the Championship. It’s funny the way our brains work – for some reason 61-39 looks like a lot larger of a lead than 60-40.
After a really fun run up to the final game of the year we have The Lion King and Aladdin going head to head. It may not have been the songs I thought would be here but it definitely the movies I figured would still be standing at the end. I cannot wait to see how this one turns out because I have no idea how I am going to vote on this one yet again.
After the Final Four, our bracket now looks like this:
Championship
(3) “Hakuna Matata” (The Lion King) vs (5) “Friend Like Me” (Aladdin)
Polls are open. Let’s get to voting and see who wins our Championship! Voting will close Wednesday April 6 at 5pm. Our champion will be announced on Thursday. Thank you all for reading and voting on these again this year. It’s something that makes me very happy every year.
The Clumsy Optimist 