Pizza Pandemonium, National Championship: Will Cinderella topple No. 1 overall seed in this year’s bracket?

Food takes rule the internet and brackets rule the month of March. Together, and with the help of the Cover 3 Podcast Twitter account, they have inspired this year’s Pizza Pandemonium. Voters have whittled a field of 16 teams down to a pair with remarkable efficiency. These outcomes, though all unique, have given us the ultimate David and Goliath matchup: 

No. 1 seed Pepperoni vs. No. 8 seed Jalapeños.

Pizza topping blue blood and No. 1 overall seed Pepperoni cruised over No. 3 Sausage in the Final Four with an impressive 74% of the vote. Now, it  has a great chance to follow through on its preseason odds to win it all. Meanwhile, No. 8 Jalapeños — the last topping to make the field — edged No. 3 Peppers 50.6%-49.4% in the semis to prove just how hot it is on the Scoville scale.

Oddsmakers have installed Pepperoni as a whopping 15-point favorite, and analysts agree that its consistency as the unquestioned king of toppings will end Jalapeños’ magical run. 

Pizza Pandemonium Bracket

Voting for every round round is being held via tweets from our Cover 3 Podcast account as embedded below. 

(1) Pepperoni vs. (8) Jalapeños

(1) Pepperoni: Cruised through the Hunter region with dominating wins over No. 8 Anchovies, No. 4 Bacon and No. 3 Sausage en route to the title game. None of them came within 50% of the pizza toppings staple, proving why Pepperoni could be the first preseason No. 1 to go wire-to-wire in our completely made up and delicious tournament. Pepperoni wasn’t even challenged in the regular season, however; could that come back to haunt it with the national title on the line? Jalapeños are hot — pun very much intended — and will pose the biggest threat to date.

(8) Jalapeños: Capturing the Gatherer Region title, Jalapeños also apparently captured the hearts of Cover 3 Podcast voters. Once considered a mere regional power, Jalapeños have announced their presence on the national scene with authority. The Florida Atlantic of this tournament spent the last five years dominating lower-level competition in the state of Texas and throughout the southwest part of the country. However, the rise in popularity in hot foods and sauces across all 50 states has helped elevate jalapeño into a budding superpower in the topping world.