Team meeting. Conference room in five! So, when I put this bracket together, I had two sketches that were far and away my bet to get to the final against each other. It was looking like they could both get there but…but! Our Elite 8 did what it so often does and decimated some prognostications. Half of our Elite 8 bracket got breezy wins and the other side was a battle to the death that serendipitously led to one of our more fun Final 4 matchups ever.

So here we are. The Semi-Finals begin now and voting will end Sunday, April 6 at 5pm Central. I truly cannot believe we are already at the Final 4, this year’s tourney has absolutely flown by!

But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.

Elite 8

John Belushi Region

(1) Word Association – 1975 vs (3) Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood: Nutrition – 1981

I literally stared at this matchup for quite some time and still could not choose which of these classics I wanted to vote for after multiple viewings. The voting public on the other hand, did not seem to share in my indecision as our 1 seed ‘Word Association’ breezes to a win over a phenomenal 3 seed in ‘Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood’ to win the John Belushi Region by a final score of 67-33.

Phil Hartman Region

(1) Matt Foley: Van Down by the River – 1993 vs (2) Celebrity Jeopardy!: French Stewart, Burt Reynolds, & Sean Connery – 1999

I had a decent feeling in my gut that we could possibly mimic the real NCAA Men’s Tournament Final 4 and get all of our 1 seeds representing. This region’s 1 seed ‘Matt Foley’ remains one of the funniest comedy sketches in my lifetime. That being said, this match was back and forth all throughout the voting period and 2 seed ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ eked out a 1 vote win (!) and sent poor old Matt back to his van down by the river. The 2 seed takes the Phil Hartman Region 54-46.

Chris Farley Region

(1) More Cowbell – 2000 vs (7) What Up With That?  – 2009

Whereas all three of our other Elite 8 matchups were within at least a puncher’s chance for both squads, the Chris Farley Region was very much not. Our overall 1 seed ‘More Cowbell’ got out to a red hot start and never pulled back against the 7 seed ‘What Up With That?’. The Bruce Dickinson / Blue Öyster Cult Behind the Music sketch just absolutely obliterated the competition by a final of 82-18. Oooo Weee! I think they got enough Cowbell.

Norm MacDonald Region

(1) Close Encounter – 2015 vs (7) Black Jeopardy! with Tom Hanks – 2016

This was another matchup that I truly had no clue what y’all were going to do with. Both of these sketches are super memorable and hilarious. I leaned ever so slightly to 1 seed ‘Close Encounter’, and you seemed to share my inability to choose on this one. This was a very back-and-forth affair, but at the end of voting, our last remaining Cinderella 7 seed ‘Black Jeopardy!’ pushed to a 1 vote (!) victory, winning the Norm MacDonald Region and moving on to the Final 4 by a final score of 54-46.

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We head into the Semi-Finals with a classic Richard Pryor/Chevy Chase sketch vs another Will Ferrell all-timer that got a full documentary hour treatment in the SNL 50 celebrations and an incredibly fun ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ vs ‘Black Jeopardy!’ matchup that I truly didn’t see coming but could not be happier about. Absolutely impossible to choose here. How do you even pick? Wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, after all the votes and all of my back-patting about seeding so well, we head into the Semi-Finals with two 1 seed representing. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! The other side of the bracket gives us a 2 seed vs a 7 seed. One Cinderella story has made it all the way to the Final 4! It’s been a fun ride with some twists I did not see coming at all but overall, I feel very comfortable with these results! Good voting, team!

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That leaves our bracket looking like this (Click to expand. It gets a little crowded):

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Final 4

Semi-Final #1

Semi-Final #2

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We’re here, guys! We have our regional winners and now it’s time to see who moves on to the finale! Polls are open and will close on Sunday, April 6 at 5pm Central.

Let’s get to voting and see who gets to the ‘ship! See you guys on Monday with our Championship match-up! Unreal that we are already here.