The final four is set for the Spring Semester 2016 Most Influential American and we have four participants who are making their first ever trip to the final four. The regional finals were tightly contested in each bracket and the four who survived advanced thanks to their hard work, their accomplishments, and their tenacity.
In the most creative match up of the day Abraham Lincoln held off a late surge from Franklin Roosevelt. Both candidates were very creative in their approach but Lincoln triumphed. In fact, Lincoln has won more contests in this tournament than he won elections in his career. Lincoln has traditionally under performed in this tournament but not this time around as he advances to his first final four.
In the Innovator's Bracket, Robert Oppenheimer continues to blow the field away as he dropped the bomb on Thomas Edison in the elite 8. Oppenheimer continues to (nuclear) power his way to through the field as he moves into his first ever final four. Fat Man and Little Boy have nothing on Oppenheimer as he will square off with Abraham Lincoln in Final Four.
In another close contest, the father of our modern economy Alexander Hamilton held off a late push from Lewis and Clark. Early in the proceedings it looked like Lewis and Clark were up the Missouri River without a paddle but they caught some wind and made it close down the stretch. In the end, Hamilton was "money" as he took the victory to the bank--The First Bank of the United States, that is.
In the social activists division, Frederick Douglass pulled a mild upset on Martin Luther King. Swaying many voters may have been the fact that when King was a young boy (and a bit of a troublemaker), King's father gave him a copy of Frederick Douglass' autobiography. A nice piece of research that may have swung the voters. This is Douglass' first time advancing to the final four.
President's Bracket
Abraham Lincoln vs. Franklin Roosevelt Innovator's Bracket Robert Oppenheimer vs. Thomas Edison Wild Card Bracket Lewis and Clark vs. Alexander Hamilton Social Activist Division Martin Luther King vs. Frederick Douglass The biggest surprise of this semester's Most Influential American tournament has to be scientist and father of the atomic bomb Robert Oppenheimer who has blown up many brackets as he advances to the elite 8 in the innovators bracket. Oppenheimer came into the tourney as a 9 seed and has knocked off Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, and Alexander Graham Bell leaving nothing behind in his wake. Oppenheimer will match up with Thomas Edison who advanced by 1 vote over Henry Ford in the most closely contested match up in the round of 16.
In the President's bracket, one question remains. Could this be Abraham Lincoln's year? A perennial top seed, Lincoln has never advanced to the final four (think the Norm Stewart era at Mizzou). Lincoln defeated Thomas Jefferson to move into the elite 8. In the Elite 8, Lincoln faces a formidable foe in wheelin' and New Dealin' president Franklin Roosevelt. FDR rode rough over his cousin Teddy Roosevelt in a thorough trouncing. The Wildcard Bracket saw Lewis and Clark venture into unknown territory as this newcomer to the tournament advanced to round of 8 for the first time. As Lewis and Clark blazed new trails they await the "hottest ticket on Broadway" Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton has had an amazing year. First, he is introduced to a new generation of Americans with the hip hop musical Hamilton and now a trip to the elite 8. Hamilton survived his duel with Muhammad Ali much better than the actual duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804. Hamilton advanced with the largest vote total of all the match ups. The Social Activist division saw two lopsided victories for Civil Rights activists of different generations. Martin Luther King saw his dream fulfilled as he knocked off Susan B. Anthony. Frederick Douglass routed Cesar Chavez to set up a match up between King and Douglass. This one promises to be a good one. President's Bracket
Abraham Lincoln vs. Thomas Jefferson Franklin Roosevelt vs. Teddy Roosevelt Innovators Bracket Robert Oppenheimer vs. Alexander Graham Bell Henry Ford vs. Thomas Edison Wild Card Bracket Lewis and Clark vs. Walt Disney Muhammad Ali vs. Alexander Hamilton Social Activist Bracket Martin Luther King vs. Susan B. Anthony Cesar Chavez vs. Frederick Douglass The sweet 16 is set in the Most Influential American tournament and some individuals pulled a "Michigan State" and bowed out early in the tournament when normally they are locks to advance to the Elite 8 and Final 4. Say goodbye to longtime favorites Steve Jobs (a two time champion) who was defeated by Walt Disney. Also ousted was Jackie Robinson as he fell short vs. women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony. The biggest "bomb" of the round of 32 was #1 seed Albert Einstein being upset in overtime by #9 seed Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer advances to the sweet 16 after two overtime victories in a row. Let's take a look at each bracket. Abraham Lincoln staved off the pesky Ronald Reagan by 1 point. Reagan has knocked Lincoln out of this tournament before and Lincoln was happy to stave off another early exit as he advances to the sweet 16 for the first time. Making the moment sweeter is that Lincoln survived on the anniversary of the day he did not survive April 14, 1865. Lincoln will do battle with the "Gentleman from Virginia" Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson advances on the strength of his Louisiana Purchase. On the other side of the bracket, the Roosevelt cousins will match up as Teddy "carried a big stick" and thumped our first President George Washington in route. FDR had a "new deal" lined up for Dwight Eisenhower as he dealt the defending a champ a ticket back to Abilene, Kansas. The innovators bracket saw the first #1 seed fall as Oppenheimer knocked off Albert Einstein. Einstein's accomplishments have failed time and again to resonate with the people. Alexander Bell will match up with Oppenheimer in the sweet 16 as Bell knocked off Eli Whitney. The voters allied themselves with the motor vehicle more so than the airplane as Henry Ford outpaced the Wright Brothers by a 2-1 margin. It was almost a systematic, automated victory for Ford. Thomas Edison was the other victor in this bracket as he knocked out Ben Franklin. In his post match press conference, Franklin was less than a sportsman as he opened his comments by saying, "If it wasn't for me, my kite, my key and that bolt of lightening, no one would even know about Edison". Franklin abruptly left his press conference after 26 seconds. Lewis and Clark advanced to the sweet 16 over Mark Twain in the Wild Card Bracket. Walt Disney thumped Steven Jobs prompting Disney to walk off saying "Who owns who now?" in the direction of Jobs. Muhammad Ali stung like a bee all over Babe Ruth to advance and Alexander Hamilton was "straight money" in his defeat of Elvis Presley. In the social activist bracket, it appears that Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass are on a crash course for the regional finals. King and Douglass had the two highest vote totals of any second round person. King will match up with Susan B. Anthony in the sweet 16 and Douglass will match up with Cesar Chavez, an upset winner over Earl Warren in the second round. Stay tuned for more updates as the tournament continues! Wednesday brought the early round action of the Most Influential American tournament to close as the round of 32 is set after 7 play-in games set the bracket.
In the president's bracket, Ronald Reagan won one "for the Gipper" as the Ol' Gip knocked off John Kennedy. Teddy Roosevelt withstood an aggressive offensive by U.S. Grant by the "Roughrider" was more than up to the task as he held on to defeat Grant. The round of 32 sees Lincoln squaring off vs. Reagan; Truman matching up with Jefferson; Eisenhower battling Frankling Roosevelt; and Teddy Roosevelt going head to head with George Washington. In the Innovators bracket, Robert Oppenheimer dropped a bomb on highly regarded Bill Gates. Gates is out of the tournament before the mushroom cloud could even rise! Ben Franklin used his ingenuity and variety of skills to shut down Jonas Salk in a similar manner to the way that Salk shut down polio. Second round action has Einstein pitted against Oppenheimer; Eli Whitney battling Alexander Graham Bell; the Wright Brothers (by air) vs. Henry Ford (by ground); and Ben Franklin vs. Thomas Edison. The Wild Card Bracket saw Mark Twain use his wit and charm to stick the great compromiser Henry Clay with a rare loss. This was the only first round play in game in this bracket. Second round games have Lewis and Clark matching up wth Mark Twain; Walt Disney and Steve Jobs will battle it out; Babe Ruth goes up against the heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali; Elvis Presley will battle Alexander Hamilton (who knows a little about music given the success of his musical). The innovators bracket saw a battle of Mann vs. boys as Horace Mann defeated union activist Samuel Gompers. WEB DuBois knocked off Eleanor Roosevelt in a 10-7 seed upset special. In the second round, MLK will compete vs. Horace Mann; Jackie Robins will battle Susan B Anthony; Cesar Chavez has a tough match up with Earl Warren and DuBois will go agains Frederick Douglass in what promises to be a great game to watch. Round of 32 voting is Thursday. Sweet 16 will be announced on Thursday night. As we head into the stretch run of the school year, the United States history classes will again compete in the Most Influential American tournament. 39 entries make this a very competitive tournament as seeds 1-10 are going to be a tough out no matter what seed they are.
Overall #1 seed Abraham Lincoln returns after his stunning first round upset from last semester. Lincoln can breathe a bit easier as this time around he has a first round bye. Looming in the second round however is the winner of John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Both will prove to be formidable opponents. The other first round match up in the president's bracket is #7 seed U.S. Grant vs. #10 Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the last president to make the cut but could be a tough out. The winner faces #2 seed George Washington. In second round action, #4 seed Thomas Jefferson will match up with the pride of Missouri #5 seed Harry Truman. Finally, #3 seed Franklin Roosevelt will battle with last semester's champion Dwight Eisenhower who enters as a 7 seed. Last semester, Ike was a 12 seed and won the whole thing. Let's see what magic he has now. In the innovators bracket, #1 seed Albert Einstein is still searching for his first final four appearance. Einstein's troubles stem from his inability to connect to the common man. Will this tourney be different. He will match up in the second round with the winner of the Bill Gates (#8) vs. Robert Oppenheimer (#9). Gates is no stranger to the final four and has one a tourney title in his time. He has proven the ability to connect to the voters. #2 seed Thomas Edison won the tourney in the inaugural MIA tourney. He will play the winner of 7 seed Ben Franklin and 10 seed Jonas Salk. Other second round match ups include the 4-5 game that pits Eli Whitney vs. Alexander Graham Bell. The 3-6 match up figures to be a doozy as the father of flight--the Wright Brothers take on the king of the road Henry Ford. The wildcard bracket has proven to be wild indeed as General Patton ran through this regional last year on his way to the finals. Patton did not make the tourney this year in a bit of a surprise. Lewis and Clark are back as the top seed and hope to advance to the Final Four this year. Their second round opponent will be the winner of #8 Mark Twain vs. #9 Henry Clay. Alexander Hamilton earns the 2 seed and still awaits his first final four. He will do battle in the second round with Elvis Presley. Other second round match ups include a monster match up of #4 seed Steve Jobs vs. #5 seed Walt Disney. #3 seed Muhammad Ali will go toe to toe with #6 seed Babe Ruth. The social activists bracket has perennial powerhouse Martin Luther King as the 1 seed. King is a regular participant in the final four and looks to get there again. His second round match up will be against the winner of #9 seed Horace Mann and #8 seed Samuel Gompers. #2 seed Frederick Douglass is looking for his first trip to the final four and will do battle with the winner of #7 seed Eleanor Roosevelt and the #10 seed WEB DuBois, The 4-5 match up pits Jackie Robinson who is always a fan favorite vs. Susan B. Anthony. Finally the 3-6 match up pits 6 seed Cesar Chavez vs. the 3 seed Earl Warren. Warren looks like he could make a deep run in the tourney. Stay tuned for round by round update and analysis. |
AuthorThis is the Official Blog of the Most Influential American Bracket Archives
December 2018
Categories |