March Madness, Day 4: Southern Powerhouses Come Out To Play

Time for your daily dose of freshly baked competition: The Cake vs. Pie tournament marches on, though the latest games have resulted in some heartbreak. But this is not over yet, oh no. It’s only just begun.

[The original bracket and tournament guidelines are available here.]

Yesterday’s competition pitted the fourth and sixth seeds against the thirteenth and eleventh, respectively. Unlike this weekend’s drama, neither conference saw ranking upsets — but that doesn’t mean the results weren’t upsetting. At the Cake Conference Stadium, sentimental favorite Funfetti Cake lost to the complex German Chocolate Cake, while the controversial Wedding Cake took home the prize at the expense of Pineapple Upside-Down. Over in the Pie Conference, no one was surprised to see Pumpkin Pie take down the Lemon Meringue Pie program; a similar reaction was drawn by Rhubarb Pie’s defeat at the flakey, fruity hands of Blueberry. (And, lest you doubt the neutrality of the Selection Committee’s seeding, do know that in our hearts, we wanted to give Rhubarb a better chance — Strawberry-Rhubarb is a summertime MVP. So we are very sad today, even though we played fair.)

Now wipe away those sugary tears; move forward, we must! You can still decide who goes the the Sweet Sixteen (which starts Friday, by the way). Today’s competitors: In Cakes, we’ve got beloved #3-seeded Red Velvet Cake against #14 Coconut — conventional wisdom is that the playing field could see some red, velvety bloodshed. In Pies, it’s #3 seed and SEC favorite Key Lime Pie in a showdown against another Southern legend, #14 Sweet Potato Pie. Will we see an upset?

The polls will remain open until 3/24, 1:55pm EDT. Be sure to vote in both contests — loud and proud, people.