March Madness Update: Puns, $pecial Ch@racters, and the Shortcomings of Zombies

All of the top seeds survived the first round unscathed. In beating their competition, CAPS LOCK CRAZY, Russian Radio Appeal, The New Cartographers, and The Thorough Beards continued the streak of top seeds never losing to the bottom seed. But not all of the 2-seeds were as lucky. Here’s the bracket as of now:

We have more exciting matchups this week with heavyweights CAPS LOCK CRAZY and Hierarchy of Fonts slugging it out. But, first, here are 5 things we learned from the Round of 32:

1. There is no statistical correlation between Zombies and winning.
   Two band names heavily featured zombies, but only one made it through to the Sweet Sixteen. Though zombies may be all of the rage these days, zombies alone do not seem to be enough to win.

2. Dollar Signs in Band Names Are So 2008.
   Just like the dollar sign in Ke$ha, Ca$h Money Mug$ is out. Perhaps Ca$h Money Mug$ should never have made the band name wall in the first place, but it seems more likely that putting special characters in your band name just isn’t that cool.

3. Puns are the best.
   So far, the most dominant band names have involved wordplay. Schroedinger’s Server, Beauty School Valedictorian, The Thorough Beards, and The New Cartographers. All winners, and all punny.

4. Ready, Aim, Advocate: Overrated or overmatched?
   Despite being one of the strongest two seeds, Ready, Aim, Advocate only barely made the Sweet Sixteen. Maybe the band name isn’t as strong as initially believed or perhaps It’s A Different Noodle was drastically underseeded. Either way, the Selection Committee needs to reevaluate their reliance on the RBI (Really Bad Index) as a valuable indicator of potential tournament performance.

5. Nobody correctly predicted every matchup.
   That’s right. After only 16 matchups, not a single perfect bracket exists! Unfortunately, nobody is going to win 1 Billion TechPoints this year from the coffers of TechChange CEO & President Nick Martin, but there are still more amazing matchups coming up!

Ready for the Sweet 16? Vote below.

We’re continuing to the next round of our Battle of the Band Names from last week’s Round of 32! We’re parodying the currently-on-going NCAA’s Basketball Tournament to choose the best of the band names we’ve come up with over the last year (all written on a whiteboard in our old office). We’re asking you for help in choosing the best band name!