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Yik Yak Wants To Help You Mourn Your NCAA Bracket

by Alexi McCammond

The NCAA March Madness tournament has been anything but typical this year. Michigan State's men's basketball team had a shocking first round loss to Middle Tennessee, which ruined countless brackets that projected them to win. Similarly, very few people expected Syracuse University to make it to the Final Four, but add their Cinderella story to the list of things that have destroyed people's NCAA brackets this tournament. Social media has been a great place to complain about the NCAA tournament results that no one saw coming, but Yik Yak (the app used for anonymous messaging on college campuses) wanted millennials to complain in a more fun way: through music. In the days leading up to the Final Four games on April 2, Yik Yak asked users to describe their brackets with a song title, and the responses are hilarious.

Based on the posts, Yik Yak users haven't done so well with their brackets this year. Instead of posting positive songs, like Pharrell's "Happy," the responses skewed overwhelmingly negative, which provided a fun throwback to sad songs of the past. You'd think that college students would know a thing or two about college basketball, but the NCAA tournament knocked everyone's brackets around and the Yik Yak posts showed a glimpse into just how poorly everyone has done this year.

This year, the teams in the Final Four are: Villanova, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Syracuse.

Of all the participants in NCAA.com's Capital One Bracket Challenge, less than 1 percent had Syracuse making the Final Four. Among the same bracket challenge participants, 0.0093 percent of submitted brackets had all Final Four teams correct. The percent of brackets with a correct Final Four lineup has remained under 1 percent since 2014, but that clearly didn't make some Yik Yak users change their bracket strategy this year.

Hopeful College Basketball Fans

Among the countless unhappy college basketball fans whose brackets have been completely ruined, some Yik Yak users showed their optimism for finishing strong. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" is the perfect anthem to remain focused on winning your NCAA league, even if you suffered a few unexpected upsets early in the tournament. But considering Journey is from San Francisco, I would guess they wouldn't be too happy about the Final Four outcome, either, since there are no California teams represented.

Angry College Basketball Fans

If "Forget You" by CeeLo is the song that describes your NCAA bracket, it's probably safe to say that it hasn't held up so well throughout the tournament. The silver lining, though, is that it's kind of difficult to remain angry when this upbeat song is actually playing. But Three Days Grace is another, much darker story that really shows just how messed up some users' brackets are this late in the tournament.

Sad College Basketball Fans

Let's be honest: There's nothing sadder than feeling sad and listening to Drake. At least this user isn't alone in recognizing that their bracket is officially "Over," as the majority of Yik Yak users revealed their brackets are pretty much done for good. "Regrets" by Jay-Z is a natural complement to Drake's sad song, and if this user's bracket looked anything like mine (which had Syracuse winning the first round only), then there's a lot of regret going around.

Here's to the (almost) end of the NCAA tournament, which singlehandedly ruined countless brackets across the country. If it makes you feel better, I'd suggest making a playlist from these Yik Yak users' descriptions of their brackets. But hey, as T. Swift always says:

Images: Yik Yak