NCAA Tournament

This is what we've been waiting for folks! Today was selection Monday for (NCAA) Nick's collective assessment of Awesomeness (of foods) Tournament, and the picks are in! The selection committee has worked long and hard on the 64-food bracket and may the best food win!

For the fruit and vegetable bracket

1 Potato
2 Banana
3 Apple
4 Strawberry
5 Carrots
6 Corn
7 Grapes
8 Broccoli
9 Asparagus
10 Mango
11 Sweet Potato
12 Avocado
13 Bell Pepper
14 Butternut Squash
15 Shitake Mushroom
16 Olive

For the Meat and Fish Bracket

1 Bacon
2 Filet Mignon
3 Hot dogs
4 Hamburgers
5 Rib Eye
6 Lobster
7 Fried Chicken
8 Corned Beef
9 Pastrami
10 Pulled Pork
11 Smoked Salmon
12 Duck Confit
13 Short Ribs
14 Pork Belly
15 Prosciutto
16 Beef Jerky

For the Carb bracket

1 Pizza
2 Mac and Cheese
3 Pancakes
4 Waffles
5 Bagels
6 Spaghetti
7 Muffins
8 Lasagna
9 Garlic Bread
10 Biscuits
11 Cornbread
12 Baguette
13 Brioche
14 Honey Bunches of Oats
15 Risotto
16 Sourdough

And finally the sweets

1 Vanilla Ice cream
2 Oreos
3 Chocolate Chip cookies
4 Brownies
5 Doughnuts
6 Apple Pie
7 Reese’s
8 Soft-serve Ice cream
9 Cinnamon buns
10 Fudge
11 Cupcakes
12 Cheesecake
13 Pecan Pie
14 Poundcake
15 Dark Chocolate
16 Carrot Cake


Looks like the toughest region may be the fruit and veggies. They've got so many evenly matched teams, it's tough to tell who will come out on top. Watch out for the potato as a national championship contender. It's got such great versatility, and their first round matchup should be an easy game. I'm lookin at the sweet potato as a possible sleeper in that round, but I'm really not sure if it's their season (it's spring).

The meat and fish region is heavy with power players. I mean come on, who can contend with bacon with all that momentum comin off a big win in the conference tournament. I think the selection committee overlooked some fish, I know Tuna and Striped Bass were hopin for a spot, but they really just don't have what it takes to play with the big boys. Duck Confit over Rib Eye could be a big 12 over 5 upset. I see Duck Confit as the Arizona of the food world. Smoked salmon and lobster are two little fish in a big sea, that should be an interesting matchup.

Pizza held that number one ranking throughout the season, and I just can't see them losing anytime soon. Pizza always seems to deliver or DiGiorno in the clutch. But look out for Mac and Cheese, a popular final four pick in this recession. I would call Honey Bunches of Oats as a sleeper but they're up against those powerhouse pancakes. The flap jacks should bisquickly take care of HBO.

Vanilla ice cream really looks like the weakest number one seed. They just seem to melt whenever they get in a pressure situation. If they make it that far, look for the rivalry match between choco chip cookies and oreos and be on the lookout for pecan pie as a possible sleeper.

So there you have it folks. Fill out your brackets, make your bets, and tune back in Wednesday for first round results.