Selection Tuesday
Field for RBC VI is announced
It’s that time of year again. It’s time for the Random Bracket Challenge, now in its sixth year.
Maybe you’ve had fun voting in our random bracket challenge in the past.
Maybe you voted but didn’t have fun.
Then again, you may have neither voted nor had fun.
Or, you could be like my wife and think the whole thing is kind of dumb.
The field is again at 40 entries. That means there will be 10 entries in each of the four pods with a pair of matchups in each to form the Initial Eight.
We had planned on announcing the pairing on Selection Sunday but there was a dispute with the Secretary of the Random Bracket Challenge that delayed the release.
The Secretary wanted to ban coverage of the release after claiming that there had been unflattering photos published in the past. It took 48 hours of convincing that not releasing the pairings is sort of the point of the whole thing.
So here we go. This year’s field is elite.
Random Bracket Challenge scholars say nobody’s ever seen anything quite like it.
How RBC works
There will be a preview newsletter prior to the start of each round of voting. You don’t have to subscribe to receive my newsletters to vote but for crying out loud, why wouldn’t you? It remains free.
You’ll be able to find each matchup on X (formerly known as Twitter but also still called Twitter by most people) @sportsdr44.
Before we get to the pairings, let’s review the past champions:
RBC I: Mini-donuts
RBC II: Chili
RBC III: Minnesota Muskies
RBC IV: Lynda Carter
RBC V: Five Guys
No. 1 seeds
Here are the No. 1 seeds:
Roman Voss Pod:
Alex Hein Pod:
Pat Frank Pod:
Cliff Anderson Pod:
First four out
Peter Dinklage: Will devote more time to his position as a tutor for Kyler Murray if he winds up with the Vikings. (as seen above).
Kristi Noem: Will devote more time to her position with the Shield of the RBC Challenge.
Sydney Sweeney: Hard to find an appropriate photo.
Liver: Apparently people eat it, but why?
Opt outs
As a sign of the times there were two Opt Outs for RBC VI, Notre Dame football (above) and Indiana basketball (below).
The pairings
The first voting will start on Thursday night with any luck.
Here are the first-round pairings in each of the pods. Listed are the seed number and the contestant.
Again, the voting takes place on Twitter (or X) You can find me @sportsdr44.
Roman Voss Pod
Initial Eight
8 Bermuda Triangle vs. 9 Black licorice
7 This is fine meme vs. 10 Windom
First round
1 67 vs. Bermuda Triangle-Black licorice winner
4 Snapchat vs. 5 Egg salad sandwich
2 Axe throwing vs. This is fine mem-Windom winner
3 Pufferfisah vs. 6 Axe Body Spray
Alex Hein Pod
Initial Eight
8 Book clubs vs. 9 Tea
7 KC & The Sunshine Band vs. 10 People nicknamed “Tiny”
First round
1 Barstool Sports vs. Book clubs-Tea winner
4 Well-regulated militias vs. 5 Nuremberg Trials
2 Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. KC & the Sunshine Band-People nicknamed “Tiny” winner
3 Spilling the Tea vs. 6 Root canal
Pat Frank Pod
Initial Eight
8 Ear was vs. 9 Herbert Hoover
7 Bidet vs. 10 Colorguard Plus
First round
1 Craft beer vs. Ear was-Herbert Hoover winner
4 Avocado toast vs. 5 Caitlin Jenner
2 Women named Linda vs. 7 Bidet-Colorguard Plus winner
3 Hot Pockets vs. 6 Hoodies
Cliff Anderson Pod
Initial Eight
8 New Coke vs. 9 Oak Ridge Boys
7 Bruce Jenner vs. 10 Ripping a Band-Aid off
First round
1 FFA vs. New Coke-Oak Ridge Boys winner
4 Finding Your Car Keys vs. 5 Drew Carey Show
2 Firm Handshake vs. Bruce Jenner-Ripping a Band-Aid off winner
3 Hospital Superheroes vs. 6 McDLT