The License Plate Bracket Semifinals are finished. Here’s what the bracket looks like now:
There are three ways to vote in the Semifinals (and yes, you can vote on all three, but be cool about it). Voting closes around 3:00 PM EDT tomorrow (Thursday).
1. This Google Form:
https://forms.gle/GRFaKJz6j6HSuMMPA
2. Our Instagram story:
https://www.instagram.com/thebarkingcrow/
3. This Twitter thread:
Now, detailed results from the Semifinals, commentary, and a championship preview. We’ll start with the top seed:
1. Wyoming defeats 13. Arizona, 28-17
Instagram: Wyoming 12, Arizona 10
Twitter: Wyoming 8, Arizona 2
Google Form: Wyoming 8, Arizona 5
It’s a testament to the run Arizona had that the moderate margin in their loss to the top overall seed comes across as a surprise. Many had them favored to win, which makes a good point about how we, the license plate blogging industry, mustn’t overstate the importance of momentum.
It’s become clear as the tournament’s gone on that Instagram voters love the Arizona plate (it’s possible they just love sunsets, as you’ll see in a minute here, and can you blame ‘em?). Against a flawless plate like Wyoming’s, that love only carried the Grand Canyon plate so far. Yes, Arizona held close with Wyoming on the ‘gram, but with the cowboy silhouette racking up larger margins on the smaller voting platforms, Arizona really needed to win their strongest demographic. They did not pull that off.
2. North Dakota defeats 11. Colorado, 25-18
Instagram: North Dakota 15, Colorado 5
Twitter: Colorado 6, North Dakota 4
Google Form: Colorado 7, North Dakota 6
Instagram! North Dakota!
The Peace Garden plate limped through the first few rounds, narrowly defeating classic but simple opponents in Florida and Georgia. Against more heralded foes, the script has changed. Suddenly, North Dakota’s looking like a force, strong enough that it will probably hold a spot in our top three when adjusted voting margin is used to reseed the plates for the 2021 tournament, even if Wyoming cruises tonight in the championship vote.
The flip side of this is that it’s possible Colorado’s gotten some of its support in recent votes from opponents of its opponents. Meaning, it’s possible voters frustrated with the South Dakota plate’s high seeding (what, you don’t like massive, stone-carved heads of presidents?) or entrenched against the dairy industry (you’re reading the wrong blog, pal) turned to Colorado as a safety vote. There’s been some fervent opposition to North Dakota throughout the tournament, something reflected in Colorado’s victory on Twitter and the Google Form, but that opposition has remained somewhat marginal, overly amplified on Twitter (as so much fervency is). On Instagram, the most democratic of the voting options (higher sample size, transparent voting record), North Dakota won by enough to comfortably advance to the championship.
Championship: 1. Wyoming vs. 2. North Dakota
When ranking these plates last summer, I tried to be objective (evidence: Idaho did not receive the number-one ranking). In voting, we have not asked you to be objective, but there are certain things that seem to transcend our petty license plate disagreements. Those things? Postcard-based license plates with unique fonts and coloring. They’re great. We, as a species, love them. So, as is true so often with great art, we get our best here in the final matchup. What a matchup it is.
Image credits can be found on this post.
