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And finally, we're down to two. Leeds United March Madness began with 64 entries, and after two weeks, five rounds of voting, and exactly 4,599 votes, we've narrowed the field to only two competitors. When your friends ask you about Leeds United, what do you mention first? What comes to mind? That's the decision we're asking you to make here in the Championship round, as two obviously worthy victors face off for the inaugural tournament title.
Those competitors are Don Revie and Elland Road.
Both of these deserve the nod, as both are synonymous around the world with Leeds United. Both came into our tournament as one-seeds, and both coasted to easy victories throughout their brackets.
Revie knocked off Brian Clough, Simon Grayson, Gary McAllister, and finally Howard Wilkinson to win the Managers bracket, and then topped Players champion Lewis Cook to make the championship.
Elland Road knocked off GFH Financial, Vinnie Jones, Don's Statue, and Billy's Statue to win the Icons bracket, and then topped Greats champion Billy Bremner to secure its spot in the title game.
So who is the most Leeds of them all? Revie managed from 1961-1974 before taking over England's national team, posted the best win percentage in Leeds history, and managed almost double the number of games as the second place Wilkinson. Elland Road was built in 1897, became Leeds United's home when it was formed in 1919, and has been host to home games ever since. It's the legendary manager against the legendary stadium. You really can't go wrong.
Remaining:
0 Leeds United Current Players
1 Leeds United Manager
0 Leeds United Greats
and 1 Leeds United Icon
Tournament details: we have polls for each of the 32 First Round matchups, and the voting will run through Sunday night. Vote for your favorite in each matchup, and the loser is eliminated from the competition. Then, on Monday, we'll post the 32 winners and the polls for the 16 following matchups. Next Thursday, we'll post those 16 winners (the Sweet 16), and run 8 polls through Sunday night. On the following Monday, we'll post the 8 winners (the Elite Eight) and run 4 polls through Wednesday night. Then finally, on Thursday the 31st, we'll have our LUMM Final Four, winners for each of the four categories (Favorite Player, Favorite Manager, Favorite Great, and Favorite Icon), and a chance to crown the ultimate Leeds United March Madness champion for 2016.
(Thanks to Vertex42 for the amazing customizable spreadsheet there. Click the photo above to enlarge it and see the updated bracket.)
Thanks for participating in this crazy tournament. We know that Revie, Bremner, Elland Road, and even Lewis Cook are all "the most Leeds" in their own way, but we've enjoyed narrowing it down with polls here on the blog. We hope you have too. And if you have any suggestions for our tournament for next year, let us know in the comments below. Enough with the talking. We're going to leave this round open a full week and announce the winner next Monday morning. Get to it. GET IN.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Thanks for voting! Check back next week for the final results and our wrap up of the 2016 Leeds United March Madness Tournament. And check back later today for our preview of Tuesday's game against QPR. As always, even after defeats like Saturday's, we're marching on, through it all, together.