I love thinking about Schmoedown brackets. The science behind it has always fascinated me. Because the Schmoedown is a combination of seeding and entertainment. So when making a bracket you cannot just purely decide the matchups on seeding since that’s not a Schmoedown is. But also you cannot ignore seeding and decide the matchups on pure entertainment since that is not fair. If you have a better record then you should have some sort of advantage within a tournament and there should be a disincentive for managers to send competitors/teams with worse records into these tournaments. So my goal with these brackets is to maximize both entertainment and fairness. Create a bracket that is not only fair seeding-wise but is also full of exciting and entertaining 1st and 2nd round matchups with enough history/storylines to maximize entertainment. It’s important to only think about the 1st round matchups of the bracket but also the possible 2nd round matchups. Finals are less important to worry about because any two competitors will be entering finals with momentum and big wins and there is no result where finals are not entertaining. So this is Schmoedown Bracketology, me sharing the brackets I created for each upcoming tournament with the reasoning behind each 1st and 2nd round matchup.
PLAYERS I EXCLUDED
- Mike Kalinowski and Chandru Dhandapani
- It is unclear whether the loser of the Kalinowski vs Dhandapani title match will be allowed to compete in the Innergeekdom tournament, so I did not include them.
- Mara Knopic or Robert Parker
- Both cannot be in the tournament given it being one competitor per faction so unless Kaiser trades one of them, one of the two will have to sit out.
- Amarú Moses or Saul
- It is assumed the winner of the number one contender match at Schmoedown Collision will not be able to compete in the tournament. This means if Saul wins, the Den will put Ben Goddard in and if Moses wins, then the Usual Suspects will put Jacob Wittneben in.
- Alex Damon
- I think it is very likely that Damon will want to solely focus on getting his Star Wars belt back and with Brandon Hanna being a very suitable replacement for the Stars, I think Damon will sit this one out.
- Moose Haas
- I think it is very likely that the Finstock Exchange will award The Barbarian for his commitment to the faction with the Innergeekdom tournament spot rather than Haas.
- The Reel Rejects
- Since both Greg Alba and John Humphrey suffered embarrassing losses to Saul, I think that Swift has the most potential in Innergeedom within The Quirky Mercs and should be the choice.
MY BRACKET
EXPLANATIONS OF MY FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS
- Knopic/Parker vs Eric Zipper
- Given Zipper’s history with the Dungeon and his lackluster Innergeekdom record, it makes a lot of sense to give him the Dungeon in Round 1.
- The Barbarian vs Hanna
- Both competitors are at similar spots within their Innergeekdom career. Hanna is 4-4 and The Barbarian is 2-2. A loss for either would be very damaging, but a win would keep their hopes of an Innergeekdom title alive. Both are evenly matched and have interesting characters that the fans are invested in one way or another. Also, Roxy Striar vs Bobby Gucci is a fun rivalry we have not seen as much this year.
- Chance Ellison vs Swift
- Going into this match, KOrruption will have a lot of recent history with the Quirky Mercs. The results of Shazam! vs KOrruption (which is taking place at Schmoedown Collision) will be known and last year’s very competitve Round 1 match between Kalinowski and Alba gives this match enough history to make the matchup between factions interesting no matter the result.
- Moses/Saul vs Goddard/Wittneben
- With these two factions facing off in an Innergeekdom number one contender match, it makes a lot of sense to have the factions face off again in the Innergeekdom tournament. Not only does that make the scheduling easier (give that all competitors will only know if they are in the tournament after Collision unlike other factions) but to have whoever loses the Moses vs Saul match immediately have to face the same faction again in the Innergeekdom tournament could create some interesting tension and stakes for redemption.
MY POTENTIAL SECOND-ROUND MATCHUPS
- Knopic/Parker vs The Barbarian
- A potential Dungeon vs Finstock Exchange semifinal automatically would make this a PPV worthy match.
- Knopic/Parker vs Hanna
- This could be Hanna trying to avenger his loss to Parker, but either way this might be Hanna’s last chance to make a statement within the Innergeekdom division. And to finally breakout, Hanna would have to go through the top faction’s Innergeekdom juggernaut.
- Zipper vs Hanna
- I think the first match these two played this season was a possible Match of the Year candidate. Now if you were to add that history, factor in the extra motivation to hand Hanna the loss that he took in their previous match, and with Zipper coming off a huge win against one of the tournament’s favorites, he could pull off the win. Also, both need the win for their Innergeekdom careers, and this would likely add a good amount of tension.
- Zipper vs Barbarian
- Both competitors would be looking to break out of the fifty percent rut they came into the tournament with. This would be an important match for both since both have had trouble getting to their first title match. Whichever gets to their first tournament final would be huge step towards their career, adding stakes and tension to this matchup.
- Ellison vs Moses/Saul
- Having two of the most promising players in Innergeekdom would make this a great semifinal. This match could determine the direction of these players’ Innergeekdom careers.
- Ellison vs Goddard
- The talk that could occur between these competitors alone would make this match worth it. This is just a matchup that I want to see, both of them being three division players that have a chip on their shoulder, looking to prove themselves among the Innergeekdom greats.
- Ellison vs Wittneben
- A classic David vs Goliath. Ellison can compete in three divisions, is one of the league’s stars, and he’d be going against a rookie in Wittneben coming off an impressive win against Moses/Saul. Could Chance make his second straight Innergeekdom tournament final or would Wittneben go on an Andres Cabrera-like tournament run?
- Swift vs Moses/Saul
- Swift has the character potential and knows the game. If he could pull off the upset against Ellison then he could become one of the most interesting competitors to watch in Innergeekdom. It would be interesting to see if he could pull off the upset once again.
- Swift vs Goddard/Wittneben
- Upset city! If Swift pulls off an upset against Ellison and either Goddard/Wittneben also pulls off one against either Moses/Saul, we would get a semifinal that nobody would expect. No matter who would win this matchup, we would get a Cinderella story in the final. Overall this might be the best outcome for the league if those two first-round wins occur, possibly building two new Innergeekdom stars.
MY MOST INTERESTING POSSIBLE FINAL MATCHUPS
- Knopic/Parker vs Ellison
- This is either Parker vs Ellison tournament final which feels like a rightful conclusion to the trilogy of matches between the two competitors. Or it could be Knopic vs Ellison, with Knopic’s history with Kalinowski and KOrruption possibly making a match between her and Ellison, as his faction’s second in command, a great final.
- Knopic/Parker vs Moses/Saul
- No matter the match up here, the fans would get two trivia powerhouses coming in with a lot of momentum to give great performances in a tournament final.
- Knopic/Parker vs Swift
- We either get Knopic facing off against her former faction the Quirky Mercs, or we get Parker vs Swift, two rising stars facing off in their first title match. Overall, it would just be great to see Swift in the final. He has a lot of potential with his great character work and if he can back that up with wins, he is sure to be an Innergeekdom star.
- The Barbarian vs Ellison
- A win here would mean that the Barbarian could possibly play in his first Spectacular and his first title match, but to do so he needs to avenger his previous loss to Ellison.
- Hanna vs Ellison
- Both are players wth a lot to prove. The Innergeekdom belt for either competitor would be career changing and to see two great competitors with great character work fight for the chance to get that belt in the final is definitely ideal.
- Hanna vs Saul/Moses
- With either get a Saul vs Hanna rematch in a tournament final which any Schmoedown fan would enjoy because of the history, or we get Hanna vs Moses with both competitors trying to prove their are elite Innergeekdom players, with a win affirming that belief.
- Zipper vs Ellison
- With Zipper’s long history with KOrruption and his losing streak against them, a final between Zipper and Ellison would have a lost of history and a lot going for it. To see these two three division players trying to obtain their first Innergeekdom title alone makes it worth it. Once you add in the history, this could be a great final.
FINAL THOUGHTS
With Kalinowski and Dhandapani potentially out of the tournament, this is the time for a newer Innergeekdom player to take advantage and go to Spectacular. The only veteran who has already proved themself is Knopic and she may not even be in this tournament. Either way, this is a chance for competitors like The Barbarian, Swift, Goddard/Wittneben, and Zipper to make an impact by securing a big win. Even one win can greatly increase interest within a player’s career. The aim of this bracket was to allow those players to potentially get those career-changing wins while also giving Chance, Knopic/Parker, Moses/Saul, and Hanna a fair shot at winning the tournament.
Feel free to let me know your thoughts on these brackets and the matchups, as well as your predictions on who would win this theoretical tournament in the comments below. Feedback is always welcomed.
