The national Beer Pong League

"mikevit"

From everything i have read so far and heard (about 30 min on the phone with Kessler trying hash out the way the final 8 went) I believe they 100% followed the EXACT FORMAT that was laid out in the rules (with the exception of changing a best 3of5 to 2of3).  I will attempt to enter my explanation, but be forewarned it might be long.
 
8 16 team "Groups" Winners Bracket:
 
The Rule:
 
The entire field of 128 teams will be broken down into 8 groups of 16 teams. Each group of 16 will enter into a "double-elimination" bracket. In the Winner's Bracket, each round will consist of a "best 2-out-of-3" series.
 
The Confusion:
 
I don't think there was too much confusion with this part
 
How it turned out:
 
This was used as a guideline to seed the teams initially and to produce half of the final 16.  This is the easiest part to follow because teams aren't placed in from a different part of the bracket.  It just follows as it was shown on the screen.
 
The Loser's Bracket:
 
The Rule:
 
Loser's Bracket will be single-elimination. At the end of the bracket, the Loser's Bracket winner will have to defeat the Winner's Bracket winner three times to win the group, while the Winner's Bracket winner will have to beat the Loser's Bracket winner twice.
 
The Confusion:
 
People didn't understand why they were not playing the same teams that were in their initial 16 team grouping.  And some did not understand the match up in the "Sweet16" against the winners bracket winner.
 
How it turned out:
 
The loser's bracket was essentially rotated between the brackets to avoid playing the same team twice.  That is how the teams that made it out of the loser's bracket ended up playing a team that was not initially in their group in the bracket finals.  Also, the argument for having that final match up be  one game then a best 2of3 or the other way around can be debated both ways.  I will not discuss it here.  They (B,D,S) made the decision and stuck with it, and i for one think it was the right one.
 
The Final 8:
 
The Rule:
 
The 8 teams that win their brackets will be split up into two groups of 4. Each group of 4 will enter in a "double-elimination" bracket. In the Winner's Bracket, each round will consist of a "best 2-out-of-3" series. All games in the Loser's Bracket will be single-elimination. At the end of the bracket, the Loser's Bracket winner will have to defeat the Winner's Bracket winner three times to win the group, while the Winner's Bracket winner will have to beat the Loser's Bracket winner twice.
 
The Controversy:
 
People playing the same team more than once in this bracket.
 
How it turned out:
 
This format was absolutely followed.  One bracket had Since Sliced Bread, Gossip Girl, God Given, and McAllister.  The other had Smashing Time, Doin HELLA Much, Game Over Boys, and Ask About Us.  I will only focus on the second of those 2 brackets (mostly Ask vs DHM) because i don't know how the other went down exactly.  
 
Round one winners: DHM beat Ask about us AND Smashing Time beat Game over Boys
 
Round one Losers:  Ask about us beat Game OverBoys
 
Round 2 winners: Smashing Time beat DHM
 
Round 2 losers: Ask about us beat DHM in a rematch.
 
Bracket Finals: Smashing Time beat Ask about us
 
Smashing Time then went on to face and beat Since Sliced Bread in the Championship Finals.  Which was changed from best 3 of 5 to best 2 of 3.
 
I hope this has helped clear things up for those of you who took the time to read.  Billy, Skinny, or Duncan if any of this is wrong feel free to delete it.