The Final Four is decided

Good games finishing up this morning, with one surprising outcome, being that (7) Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" upset (1) Elliott Smith's "Waltz #2" 85-69. This was a huge game, with a huge result, sending Chapman onto the Final Four, where she will play (1) Joy Division. Smith is the second 1-seed to fall, after Jeff Buckley took down Neutral Milk Hotel yesterday to punch their own ticket to the Final Four. The Committee was divided on their predictions for this game, and rightly so. The voting was close, with Smith and Chapman trading leads until Chapman went up by 7 just before halftime. Elliott Smith never tied it back up, and his run at the sadness cup ends here.

(14) Low, fresh off their huge upset over (2) Concrete Blonde on Wednesday, came into this game a little flat, but their traveling fans—best in the tournament in our estimation—got them into it. With a strong wind at their back, they got hot and hit shot after shot, and were leading at one point by more than 12, most of the votes coming from the Twitter poll (as you know, to make it as easy as possible for everyone to vote, we aggregate the Twitter poll with the blog voting). But shortly before halftime, Joy Division shifted into the zone defense, and that seemed to stymie Low, who looked gassed after playing with such little rest between games. JD took the lead and kept it, though Low made run after run to get back into it. JD ended up with a double-digit win, 74-60, and it looks like Low grew out of the glass slipper. That score's misleading: this was a hard-fought, tough game from buzzer to buzzer. Brilliant season and a very deep run by Low. The fans should be proud of their effort, losing to what might very possibly be an unbeatable Joy Division team that we think we'll see in the final and maybe cutting down the nets after it.

Here's your updated bracket:

So the Final Four is set: on Monday morning we'll see (1) Joy Division against (7) Tracy Chapman and (2) Jeff Buckley versus (1) The Cure. Our guest analysts will be here to offer their takes and analytics then. We have only three games left in March Sadness. Though your team may have been sent home and your bracket busted, there's still time to choose another hero to back in the last few days. Final Four games are Monday, finishing 9am Tuesday morning. The Sadness Championship is Wednesday. See you there.

Friday's Scores & Today's Elite 8 Games

We're trying to keep the analysis here short so as not to push the new game posts too far down the screen. We'll post more analysis this weekend since the Final Four doesn't begin until Monday.

Scores: (2) Jeff Buckley soundly beat a divisive (1) Neutral Milk Hotel 74-44. And (1) The Cure gets by (2) Radiohead 65-58 on free throws at the end.

But today's Elite Eight games each feature Cinderella candidates: first there's a scrappy (14) Low up against the legendary (1) Joy Division. Tough game, as Low knows:

It's been a great season and we did well but JD is going to be tuff... https://t.co/CoZ3OrZNaq

— Low (@lowtheband) March 24, 2016

But you got a shot, Low! As they say, don't stop believin' (also a good candidate for a song for Low to cover, AV Club style?). Your fans travel well, and we suspect there are more out there who listen in to this tournament. And there's (7) Tracy Chapman up against (1) Elliott Smith, which we think will be closer than anyone has a right to expect. Can Cleveland (Chapman's a Cleveland girl) pull off its biggest win of the year? YOU DECIDE... & Final Four on MONDAY

ELITE 8: (1) ELLIOTT SMITH vs (7) TRACY CHAPMAN

FINAL SCORE: (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 85, (1) Elliott Smith 69

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By now you've probably read enough analysis of the Elite Eight songs already, but if you missed it, get up to speed, starting with the Sweet Sixteen coverage below. For this game we offer you our expert analysis of each song in eight categories. Ratings are of five possible teardrops, five being the maximum, one teardrop being the minimum. The Committee Members also offer their predictions below (which may or may not correspond with their votes).  

(1) Elliott Smith, "Waltz #2" • Sweet 16 • 2nd round • 1st round
(7) Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car" • Sweet 16 • 2nd round • 1st round

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(1) Elliott Smith, "Waltz #2"

vs.

(7) Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”

ELITE 8: (1) JOY DIVISION vs (2) LOW

FINAL SCORE: (1) JOY DIVISION 74, (14) Low 60

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By now you've probably read enough analysis of the Elite Eight songs already, but if you missed it, get up to speed, starting with the Sweet Sixteen coverage below. For this game we offer you our expert analysis of each song in eight categories. Ratings are of five possible teardrops, five being the maximum, one teardrop being the minimum, meaning none. The Committee Members also offer their predictions below (which may or may not correspond with their votes).  

(1) Joy Division, "Atmosphere" • Sweet 16 • 2nd round • 1st round
(14) Low, "Words" • Sweet 16 • 2d round • 1st round

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(1) Joy Division, "Atmosphere"

vs.

(14) Low, “Words”

Thursday's scores; the ELITE 8 action begins today

Real brief update since I'm in the middle of finishing an article on sad songs & the tournament this morning to go live Monday on the day of the March Sadness Final Four. So today we had a major upset, with (14) Low holding off a charging (2) Concrete Blonde 73-64 in the last hour regardless of Megan Campbell's great advocacy for "Joey." Did we see them getting this far? To be honest, we did not, but we're pleased they did. In the next chapter, Low will meet (1) Joy Division in the Elite Eight Friday, since JD demolished (5) PJ Harvey & Nick Cave 75-24 in spite of an outstanding essay by Nicole Walker.

Today we have the first half of the Elite Eight, a battle of the 1s and 2s: (1) The Cure's "Pictures of You" vs (2) Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" and (1) Neutral Milk Hotel's "Two-Headed Boy" taking on (2) Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah."

You may notice that for the Elite Eight we've put the polls first thing in the game posts (and The Committee offers its graphic analysis and predictions) so as to make voting a little easier. Do the decisions get harder and more wrenching as we get closer to the end of the tournament? Yes indeed they do. And that's where the bracket starts to tell you things about yourself.

ELITE 8: (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL vs (2) JEFF BUCKLEY

FINAL SCORE: JEFF BUCKLEY 74, NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 44

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By now you've probably read enough analysis of the Elite Eight songs already, but if you missed it, get up to speed, starting with the Sweet Sixteen coverage below. For this game we offer you our expert analysis of each song in eight categories. Ratings are of five possible teardrops, five being the maximum, one teardrop being the minimum, meaning none. The Committee Members also offer their predictions below (which may or may not correspond with their votes).  

(1) Neutral Milk Hotel, "Two-Headed Boy" • Sweet 16 • 2nd round • 1st round
(2) Jeff Buckley, "Hallelujah" • Sweet 16 • 2d round • 1st round

*

(1) Neutral Milk Hotel, "Two-Headed Boy"

vs.

(2) Jeff Buckley, “Hallelujah”

ELITE 8: (1) THE CURE vs (2) RADIOHEAD

FINAL SCORE: CURE 65 RADIOHEAD 58

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By now you've probably read enough analysis of the Elite Eight songs already, but if you missed it, get up to speed, starting with the Sweet Sixteen coverage below. For this game we offer you our expert analysis of each song in eight categories that may or may not be meaningful to you in deciding your vote. Ratings are of five possible teardrops, five being the maximum, one the minimum. The Committee Members also offer their game predictions below (which may or may not correspond with their votes and the leanings of their hearts).  

(1) Cure, "Pictures of You" • Sweet 16 • 2nd round • 1st round
(2) Radiohead, "Fake Plastic Trees" • Sweet 16 • 2d round • 1st round

*

(1) The Cure, "Pictures of You"

vs.

(2) Radiohead, “Fake Plastic Trees”