(08) Episode 1 (Happy) def. (09) Episode 3 (Awakening) 30-23

[Jim Cobb]

wow this is close.

[davepeck]

gotta go old school here. like eppy 3 a lot, but not as much as 1. and let\'s remember - without episodes 1 and 2, there would be no episode 3.

[Jim Cobb]

ah man, i\'m sad that ep 3 is gettin ousted so early.

[Wolfman]

gotta go old school here. like eppy 3 a lot, but not as much as 1. and let\'s remember - without episodes 1 and 2, there would be no episode 3.

I dunno.  See: Star Wars.  They had Episodes 4-6 20 years before 1-3.  I could write a song called "Episode 24" right now, I wouldn\'t need 1-23.  I\'ve been voting for more new songs over old songs than I thought I would.

[ChrisPitch]

This bracket clearly has the best second-round matchups forthcoming with Score vs. May Fly, See the Light vs. Psygn, and even Gravity vs. Late and the Great, which made a quality showing in downing Fairy.

I was glad to see Episode 1 and 3 stage a back-and-forth battle before Ep. 1 pulled away in the final days. Tough to go against the defending champ in the next round.

I will say that I thought Psygn vs. D5 would be closer and am disappointed and stunned that it was such a rout. But that simply illustrates the strength of the fans\' new favorite song that it could defeat a song which is also a favorite.

As far as D5\'s "low" seed goes, believe me, it\'s not because of my personal preference. I love the song. But when you\'re a 7 seed in 2005, lose in the first round, and the band significantly diminishes your spot in the rotation, you get dropped. Vera Street was in the same scenario: 7 down to 11 after a first-round loss last year. Consistency, consistency, consistency. There was some randomness in these brackets, but I also had a formula for a lot of the matchups. It worked for a lot of them and in this case it didn\'t. Well, it didn\'t work for D5. It worked fine for Psygn, which now either gets to see the light of the quarterfinals or the dark side of the bracket.

This whole experience has been shit tons of fun!