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A Letter To Elites: This March Sadness bracket is a fierce battle of mopey college rock

It’s Friday, and today, the Cure aren’t only in love — they’re in a battle for the ages.

The British post-punk band is one of 64 entries in the 2016 March Sadness bracket, which may be our favorite play ever on the famed NCAA tournament and certainly a better use of time than actually following men’s college basketball. All voting is public, via marchsadness2016.blogspot.com, songs are paired off against its bracketed competitor over a 24-hour period, and participants include New Order, Morrissey, Ride, Elliott Smith, Pet Shop Boys, Radiohead, Wilco, OMD, Smashing Pumpkins, Sisters of Mercy, Slowdive, U2, Kate Bush, Mazzy Star, PJ Harvey, and a few dozen others.

Part of the first round has been completed, and we are happy to report that the Cure’s Pictures of You” defeated the Gear Daddies’ “Don’t Look At Me”, meaning there will be no Cinderalla-like run from the hockey-loving Minnesota band.

Before you dive in and start casting votes and making predictions — Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” feels like University of Kansas Jayhawks here — check out the creators’ criteria.

“Songs selected needed to be sad (though as you can see there’s quite a spectrum of sadness here) and in the orbit of the college rock/MTV 120 Minutes (or its prequels/sequels) world, and released between 1980 and 2001, with a bias toward 1985-1995,” they write. “We welcome your naysaying, griping, props, editorializing, recommendations, complaints about the committee’s song choices, and other sorts of nerdery in the comments.”

Here’s the original bracket…

marchmadness2016