2009 Cincinnati March(itecture) Madness

Recap: Games 29 – 30

Record voter turn out and an upset marked the Regional Final Round of the 2009 Cincinnati March(itecture) Madness.

In the East Region:
Game 29 - No. 1 seed Music Hall narrowly lost to the No. 2 seed Roebling Suspension Bridge, 93 – 94.

In the West Region:
Game 30 - No. 1 seed Union Terminal beat the No. 10 seed Cincinnati Observatory, 262 – 103.

The big news is Music Hall, last year’s winner, lost a close one. It had trailed the entire time but closed the gap to within three votes by lunchtime today, two votes by dinner, and one at 9:00 PM. The finals will pit last year’s runner up against the structure it beat to get to the there last year.

But the other huge story is the sheer number of votes this year in Cincinnati March(itecture) Madness. Confirmed reports indicate employees of the Museum Center have seen the blog and are pouring their support behind Union Terminal – or “The U” or “UT” for short. Even if that is the case, let’s just look at the numbers. Compare voting in the Final Four this year and the Final Four of last year.

This year, Music Hall vs. Roebling Suspension Bridge had a total of 187 votes cast. Union Terminal vs. Cincinnati Observatory had a total of 365 votes cast!

In 2008, Music Hall vs. Carew Tower had a total of 27 votes cast. Union Terminal vs. Roebling Suspension Bridge also had a total of 27 votes cast.

So in Union Terminal’s match up, there was a 1352% increase in votes over last year for the same Regional Final game. Clearly it looks like more people are seeing us and casting votes at least in these later rounds. A big ‘thank you’ to all of you.

So all that said, the other story of interest was Union Terminal was actually losing to the Cincinnati Observatory until a span of about two hours around lunch on Wednesday when over 100 votes came in, quashing the hopes of the Observatory for an upset. UT won by over 150 votes. Cincinnati Observatory wept during its post game press conference. As hard as they fought, this Cinderella will not be making it to the finals.

To view the entire 2009 Cincinnati March(itecture) Madness Tournament Bracket, click here.

Remember, voting in Games 31, the Final Championship game starts tomorrow, Saturday, April 4. Voting continues through the weekend and ends at 9:00 PM on Monday, April 6 (right before tip off in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship)!