Folks, we did it. We made it to the Final Four of What You’re Looking Forward to the Most After COVID, the bracket that has inspired a nation, as well as dozens of angry DMs and comments. After 2 weeks of madness, just 4 teams remain. As we near a return to normalcy (not sure how that phrase missed this list) here are the four things people are most looking forward to.
Little Things Region: Never Hearing Unprecedented Times Again
Work Region: Leaving Work on a Friday
Socializing Region: Making Spontaneous Plans
Experiences Region: Attending a Live Sports Game
We’ll get into what happened in the last two rounds below, but if you’re new to the party, go read our full tournament summary and Sweet 16 update. Voting kicks off today at 12 pm on Instagram Stories so get your ass over there and vote.
Let’s get into it.
Where We Stand
Little Things Region
Sweet 16 Matchups:
- Top seed High Fives, a juggernaut squad that’s nearly impossible to beat when executed properly, was stunned by Cinderella 13 seed, Never Hearing Unprecedented Times Again, that is playing its best basketball of the season.
- 14 seed Seeing People Smile continued its wholesome run through the tournament, dominating #15 Seeing Fans in the Crowd at Sports Game and getting contributions up and down the bench, from seeing someone’s dog on the street to passing coworkers in the hallway.
Elite 8 Matchup:
- While Seeing People Smile started off strong and has the potential to turn an entire day around, it exposed itself as a team you only really miss like a once a week, as Never Hearing Unprecedented Times Again simply overwhelmed with their unmatched ability to avoid having to caveat everything, the impacts on TV and advertising, and the simple fact that ‘unprecedented times’ is the most annoying phrase of all time.
Work Region
Sweet 16 Matchups:
- Top seed Leaving Work on a Friday drubbed an overmatched Lunch Breaks team that could actually get worse when we return to office, as they’ll lose star players Lunch Naps, Saving Money by Making Food at Home and Watching Netflix to graduation or the NBA.
- Work from Home as a Treat continued its dominating run through the bracket, knocking off third seed Closing Your Laptop and Being Done for the Day, a team that won’t change post-COVID, as the type of person who checks their email after 6 during WFH will continue to do so after returning to the office.
Elite 8 Matchup:
- Top seed Leaving Work on a Friday continued its dominating run, led by its All-American duo of Going Straight to Happy Hour and Forgetting Your Job Exists for 48 hours, manhandling WFH As A Treat and Not Daily Life, a team that has been forever tainted by the pandemic.
Socializing Region
Sweet 16 Matchups:
- 4 seed No More Zoom Parties, the preseason #1 team in the country, had their season come to a disappointing end against Making Spontaneous Plans, as they simply lost steam going into conference play and were deeply impacted by indoor dining and vaccinations late in the season.
- In one of the tournament’s fiercest matchups, 2nd seed Bar Hopping knocked off a strong Watching Sports at a Crowded Bar team that can be annoying if you have a bad seat and was simply too one-dimensional to hang with a Bar Hopping squad that has the versatility to apply to multiple events beyond just sports.
Elite 8 Matchup:
- 8 seed Making Spontaneous Plans continued its shocking run, proving it was just the better, more versatile version of Bar Hopping, a team that can be a risky move if you’re at a good bar and becomes incredibly annoying as you have to coordinate texting friends, remembering to close out tabs, and finding a place without a bad line, all while completely hammered.
Experiences Region
Sweet 16 Matchups:
- Top seed Attending a Live Sports Game dominates an aging #5 Weddings team that is a lot of fun for the first half, but can become an expensive burden as the game (of life) goes on.
- 3rd seed International Travel fought hard but was hurt by weak spot, junior guard Seeing Other People’s Instagrams Nonstop, and fell to a Concerts team that will be coming out with unmatched energy in a post-COVID world, as every musician up and down the roster promises to bring their best performances after a yearlong absence.
Elite 8 Matchup:
- In a fierce, back and forth struggle between two very different styles of play, top seed Attending A Sports Game got a huge performance from star players Tailgating and Befriending Strangers in the Parking Lot and took down a Concerts team that battled hard, but was hurt by a key blunder from senior leader Taking Blurry 3 Min Videos On Your Phone That You’ll Never Watch Again.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorites today! Winners and National Championship voting early next week.