In case you missed the Selection Show articles that explained what this was all about, here's Part 1 & Part 2. Here's a brief explanation of the rules:
-Every NFL team has a representative. The representatives are connected to the teams either by fandom, employment, or a connection to a player on the team.
-Seeds are determined by how the teams finished the 2014 regular season, and the brackets are divided by the NFL conferences & divisions. After the divisional rounds, the AFC East winner will go against the AFC North winner while the AFC South winner will go against the AFC West winner in the conference semi-finals. The same will apply to the NFC side of the bracket.
-The matchups will be voted on by the Ultimate Football Blog staff, consisting of Dustin James, Jeremy Lambert & myself.
I'm excited. You're excited. Let's get this thing started!
AFC East 1st Round
Our first matchup pits two of my personal favorites against each other. The Pats & Jets seem to have close games more often than not, and I can see this one going either way.
#1 New England Patriots: Maria Menounos
#4 New York Jets: Kate Upton
Jeremy Lambert: MENOUNOS VS. UPTON IS A FIRST ROUND MATCH UP?!?!?!?! This is a tough one and definitely a Super Bowl worthy battle. As hard as it is to pick against Kate Upton, I have to give Menounos the nod here because her Patriots fandom is unquestionable. Upton seems to cheer for the team that has a player she's dating or with no real allegiance. Menounos is a die hard Pats fan who wore a Giants bikini following the Patriots Super Bowl loss to Eli Manning and Company. I'm not sure Upton would be willing to do the same thing if the Jets ever played a meaningful game.
Dustin James: Maria Menounos - Kate Upton almost made it to the second-round based on her chest alone, but her acting skills are awful and those stupid commercials she's been in lately are just annoying. I've had a thing for Maria for sometime now, and I'm extremely loyal so she should be moving on. Plus, she's been in a WWE ring which is an added bonus for any female in my opinion.
Steve Cook: Neither choice is a wrong choice here. Shocking that Upton's going home this early, if I seeded people based on looks instead of how their teams fared last season she would probably have been a 1 seed. 2 at the worst. But them's the breaks. I've loved Maria forever so I'm not going to complain about it.
Maria Menounos advances 2-0
Our next match features an old-schooler against a new-schooler. Buffalo & Miami have been the forgotten step-children of the AFC East for a long time, can one of these ladies get the Bills or Dolphins back to prominence?
#2 Buffalo Bills: Summer Sanders
#3 Miami Dolphins: Lauren Tannehill
Jeremy Lambert: I've liked Summer Sanders since her Figure It Out days, but she's no match for Mrs. Tannehill. I dock Lauren points for just being the wife of quarterback, because we all know that if Ryan gets traded, she'll root for that team, but at least she's the wife of the starting quarterback.
Dustin James: Lauren Tannehill - Summer Sanders would have made it to the second-round had this tournament been held ten years ago. One of the biggest reasons why is because Tannehill would've been only 16 then and likely would've been ineligible for this whole shebang. Now though? She's much more "talented" than Sanders in my opinion.
Steve Cook: I also had quite the crush on Summer in the 1990s, but this was one of the easier choices of this round. And Dustin is correct. Although I have not made an age limit for this tournament official, 16 would definitely, definitely be under it.
Lauren Tannehill advances 2-0
AFC North
The AFC North is the toughest division in football, so it's no surprise to me that it's one of the toughest divisions in this tournament. Our first matchup pits the establishment against a young up & comer.
#1 Pittsburgh Steelers: January Jones
#4 Cleveland Browns: Sara Carnes
Jeremy Lambert: I'm going with the upset here. No disrespect to Ms. Jones, but Sara Carnes is a fine young lass and I might be in love. Carnes is docked points for working as part of the Browns team, meaning her allegiance would probably change if another team paid her, but Jones is docked for being a fan who just sits and watches the game and doesn't like when people get excited.
Dustin James: January Jones - I don't really know who either one of these women are, so I'm just going off looks alone. January Jones it is!
Steve Cook: Lambert makes the superior argument here, and it's not like I'm going to pass up a chance to vote against the Steelers. Sara seems like a pretty loyal Browns/OSU/Indians fan if her Twitter feed is any indication. I wish she'd convert to the Cincy pro teams but I'm not optimistic that the Reds sausage fest TV team will add a lady any time soon. I'll give Sara the tiebreaking vote & a berth in the 2nd round.
Sara Carnes advances 2-1
This next matchup is one of the toughest first round matches to handicap. You'd expect to see this type of quality in an Elite 8 or a Final 4, not Round 1.
#2 Cincinnati Bengals: Katherine Webb
#3 Baltimore Ravens: Stacy Keibler
Jeremy Lambert: Katherine Webb is slightly overrated while Stacy Keibler is an all-timer. Also, Webb gets docked points for being a wife and the wife of a back-up at that. Keibler cheered for the Ravens so her ties will always be with them.
Dustin James: Stacy Keibler - I dislike people who are famous just for being attractive. Stacy Keibler made a name for herself by busting her chops in the WWE and then putting up with years of George Clooney's crap. She gets the advantage over K-Webb in my eyes and it wasn't even close.
Steve Cook: I think Webb has gone from being overrated after the Brent Musburger situation to now being underrated. Since McCarron's doing nothing with the Bengals we're not seeing much of her. I'm a huge fan of hers, and of course I would have liked the Bengals to go far in a tournament for once, but it's hard to argue against the one great thing that Baltimore ever produced. Well, excluding [i]The Wire[/i]. As usual, a tough draw for my Bengals.
Stacy Keibler advances 2-0
AFC South
We go down to the AFC South, which has been a one-team show for the last couple of years. The Titans & Jaguars have done nothing in ages, can they make an impact here? We start off with the Titans representative (whose career probably peaked around the last time the Titans were good) going against the Colts'.
#1 Indianapolis Colts: Ariel Meredith
#4 Tennessee Titans: Faith Hill
Jeremy Lambert: Faith Hill by a landslide. Meredith will be cheering for another team next year, depending on where Hakeem Nicks signs.
Dustin James: Ariel Meredith - I was so ready to pick Faith Hill just based on name alone, but I decided to look back at Ariel Meredith's picture one more time and GOOD GAWD! I'll be surprised if I don't pick her to win this whole thing.
Steve Cook: If this was Faith Hill from fifteen years ago I'd be voting for Faith Hill. That Breathe video was a good piece of business, yes indeed. But in 2015 I have to side with Meredith, even if she'll probably be supporting a different team next season. I feel like Cincy could take a chance on Hakeem Nicks, it's not like they have any WRs after Green & Sanu.
Ariel Meredith advances 2-1
The Texans & Jaguars go at it next. Duff vs. Duke has a good ring to it, doesn't it?
#2 Houston Texans: Hilary Duff
#3 Jacksonville Jaguars: Lindsey Duke
Jeremy Lambert: I'm not sure Duke even cheers for the Jags anymore now that she is no longer dating Blake Bortles. She might be hotter than Hilary, but at least Duff is a true fan, so I'm going with her. Plus, she did Lizzie McGuire.
Dustin James: Hilary Duff - Hilary Duff gets the nod here because I have no idea who Lindsey Duke is. Plus, Duff has kids now and she still looks hot. Who can't appreciate that?
Steve Cook: Dustin tweeted me a picture of Duke last off-season while I was going on about how Blake Bortles wasn't a better prospect than Teddy Bridgewater. I'm not giving up on Bortles as a starting QB or anything, but I was obviously right about Teddy being a better prospect. I vote that Teddy hook up with Lindsey so I can include her in this tournament next season. I think she got jobbed out here, but she could use a better connection to football.
Hilary Duff advances 2-0
AFC West
Time to head out west! The Broncos have dominated this division of late, will they survive the 1st round in this competition?
#1 Denver Broncos: Lindsey Vonn
#4 Oakland Raiders: Naya Rivera
Jeremy Lambert: I hate Glee. (Editor's Note: I'm counting this as a vote for Vonn.)
Dustin James: Lindsey Vonn - Lindsey Vonn is dating Tiger Woods. Woods is one of my all-time favorite athletes, so she's obviously getting the nod here. It also doesn't hurt her chances that she's an athlete. Just sayin.....
Steve Cook: This was the right choice. I like Rivera a lot, but Vonn was an Olympic hottie & those are always more special than regular hotties in my opinion. Voting for them is patriotic.
Lindsey Vonn advances 2-0
The Chiefs & Chargers are two franchises that have had a lot of bad luck in postseason tournaments. At least one of them will advance past the 1st round here.
#2 Kansas City Chiefs: Rachel Santschi
#3 San Diego Chargers: Kendra Wilkinson
Jeremy Lambert: I'm voting for Dustin James (Editor's Note: I assume this is a KC vote.)
Dustin James: Kendra Wilkinson - Kendra Wilkinson is a hot mess. I like me a girl who's a hot mess, they are usually fun. She might win this whole tournament now that I think about it.
Steve Cook: I'm going to cast my vote for Kendra for three reasons:
1. Lambert's argument wasn't very persuasive this time.
2. I had a devil of a time finding two pictures of Santschi to use. The earlier she goes out the easier things are for me. Lady's gotta step up her pic game.
3. I am pro-hot mess. At least as far as my Internet perusing goes. You don't want to date a hot mess. Sadly I usually end up with ugly messes, which is the worst of both worlds.
Kendra Wilkinson advances 2-1
Here's the updated AFC bracket!
Join us next time when we go through the 1st round NFC matchups!
No comments:
Post a Comment