March Madness: North and West Second Round Results

NORTH

Second round drubbings continued in the North and West divisions, with only the contests between fourth and fifth seeds conjuring up anything like suspense. Third seed Indiana led the onslaught against hapless Nebraska with a punishing 25-1 score. First seed Wyoming's 24-2 rout of Michigan and Ohio's 22-4 runup on Montana represent a combined referendum of 71-7 against the last three seal-on-blue flags left in the tourney.

Missouri's bears stayed within reach of Iowa's eagle, but could never quite close the margin; the fourth-seed horizontal tricolor state eventually fell to the Hawkeye State, 15-11.

WEST

The first and second seeds in the powerful West division announced their presence with authority, with #1 Alaska trampling on the Northern Marianas 25-1 and #2 New Mexico mounting a decisive 21-5 victory over popular California; by all appearences, California's flag is the first that a large number of voters feel genuinely sorry to see leaving the contest.

Things were a little more interesting in the middle rungs, where sixth seed Colorado kept it respectable, garnering nine votes to put up against Arizona's seventeen. Washington and Hawaii, meanwhile, were too close to call until the final bell; when the smoke cleared, Hawaii's banner emerged on top, 15-11. The West semifinals will therefore feature contests among the four most recent states to join the American union -- although not by any means, however, the four most recent flag designs. Action resumes Thursday!