The brackets are officially set for the 5th annual Fall Frenzy Virtual Cycling Tournament! Sixteen teams have moved on from the qualifying round out of nearly 200 participating schools.
See related: “Fall Frenzy kicks off”
These teams will now compete head-to-head on their Expresso bikes every Wednesday and Thursday over the next four weeks until a champion is crowned.
Here are the official matchups:
(1) Schoolcraft College vs. (16) Gannon University
(2) Georgia Gwinnett College vs. (15) Lorain Community College
(3) Carnegie Mellon University vs. (14) University of Iowa
(4) SUNY – Oswego vs. (13) SUNY – Binghamton
(5) University of Rochester vs. (12) Colgate University
(6) University of South Dakota vs. (11) Gonzaga University
(7) Houghton College vs. (10) University of Virginia @ Wise
(8) Salem State University vs. (9) Marist College
The next round of the tournament will feature some interesting matchups. Get ready for a friendly SUNY grudge match between #4 Oswego and #13 Binghamton. Carnegie Mellon comes into the tourney at the #3 spot and will take on #14 Iowa who has the potential to turn it on at any time. The #1 Schoolcraft vs. #16 Gannon University matchup will mark the first time these schools have seen each other since the finals in 2014 where both teams ticked off over 4,000 miles!
Last year’s champion Schoolcraft College from Livonia, MI took the top seed for the third year in a row by riding nearly 1,584 miles in 48 hours. Georgia Gwinnett College also passed the 1,000-mile mark and grabbed the number two spot with 1,252 miles. These will be key teams to watch as the tournament unfolds!
Individual tournament riders
Riders are also competing individually. For every 10 miles ridden, riders receive a lottery ticket. At the end of the tournament, one lucky rider will win $500! Even if a team drops out, riders can continue earning tickets and bragging rights!
The qualifiers saw some herculean individual efforts. Top rider John King from Houghton College personally logged 235 miles with back-to-back century efforts. Other notable riders that crossed the century mark include Kevin Anthony of Georgia Gwinnett (181), Israel Musonda of Gonzaga (142), Thomas Marshall of University of South Dakota (125), and Jim Seay of Schoolcraft (105).
Tune into the Fall Frenzy from October 11–12 to see who moves forward into the next round and even closer to the championship title and the coveted Golden Spokes trophy!
Ross Stensrud is currently Chief Marketing Officer and coach at Expresso. He can be reached at rstensrud@ifholdings.com.
