March Mold Mania Round 2: Will the 1s survive?

If your NCAA bracket is anything like mine, it looks like Sex Panther smells (thanks, Michigan State).

With that in mind, it’s time to put my full focus toward the Noodle Arm Disc Golf March Mold Mania bracket, as this is my only real shot at redemption.

And looking at the Round 2 matchups, here’s my first thought: Will all the No. 1 seeds survive?

The Destroyer, Teebird, Buzzz, and Judge all waltzed through the first round, making easy work of the lowly 16 seeds. Round 2, however, finds the Destroyer going up against the ninth-seeded Westside World, a disc that came from out of nowhere last year to make the Final Four. In addition, the lofty Teebird is going up the disc that was created to supplant it, the Latitude 64 Saint Pro. Innova definitely has some tough matchups heading into the second round.

Before we vote on the next set of matchups, a little analysis of the Round 1 results:

Upset Specials

They certainly weren’t on the level of Middle Tennessee State and Stephen F. Austin pulling off massive victories, but two of Dynamic Discs’ original molds knocked off higher seeds to move on to the next round.

First, there was a bit of Trilogy-on-Trilogy crime, with the 12th-seeded Escape knocking off the 5th-seeded Latitude 64 River in a 52%-48% showdown. Honestly, I thought the River had this one in the bag early, but the Escape put in a strong second half effort to finish off its factory mate.

The bigger surprise, though, was the No. 13-seed Trespass taking down the No. 4-seed Innova Discs Tern by a 16% margin.

I know a couple people – including a few who picked the Trespass to go all the way – saw this coming, but I certainly did not. Well-played, folks.

Biggest Blowouts

The poor Discraft Heat never really stood a chance going against the mighty Teebird, but I expected better than a 91%-9% showing.

The Judge dispatched the Vibram Ridge in similar fashion, besting the rubber-based disc in a 92%-8% contest.

Close Calls

Most matchups spared us the drama and went the blowout route, but the aforementioned River/Escape tilt was decided by a mere 34 vote spread.

Bracket Leaderboard

Bracket challenge contestant discgolfblogger is tied with three others for first place, with all four participants correctly choosing 30 of 32 matchups. With only one Top 10 player’s champion eliminated so far, though, it’s anyone’s game.

Bringing up the rear currently is user Renee, who stumbled to 21 correct first round choices. With all of her Final Four molds still in it, though, there’s no reason for her to give up hope.

View the entire leaderboard here.

Now, on with Round 2!

Warp Speed Drivers

Every Round 2 matchup in the Warp Speed Driver bracket pits one Innova disc against a counterpart from the Latitude/Westside/Dynamic family. Aside from the marquee Destroyer/World matchup, I’m looking for a close contest between the Trespass and the Katana to send someone to the Sweet 16.

Control/Fairway Drivers

We’re again heavy on Innova vs. Trilogy here, save one matchup that is Innova-Innova: Valkyrie vs. Firebird. Will it be power or finesse in this matchup of old school heavyweights?

Midranges

Do you prefer your Buzzz original, or extra tasty overstable? We’ll find out with this delicious 1 vs. 8 matchup, with Roc vs. Truth as dessert.

Putters

Honestly, all of these matchups look like chalk to me. Surprise me, people. Make an upset happen here.