Marketplace Scratch Pad

Who will make the Final Four?

Scott Jagow Mar 26, 2010

I’m not talking about NCAA basketball tournament. It’s time for the annual Worst Company in America bracket from Consumerist! Will AIG defend its title? Let me tell ya, there are some intriguing first-round matchups.

How about B of A vs Citigroup? Toyota vs GM. Ticketmaster vs NBC. Microsoft vs Apple. Oooh — Comcast and Directv. What a tournament! Here’s the bracket:

I gotta think Toyota will go pretty far, just because of its recent form, but six months ago, GM would probably have trounced Toyota.

NBC has its moments, but Ticketmaster is just too good at angering its customer base to not walk through the first round. WalMart will also win easily. And I have Bank of America moving on, although that should be a nailbiter with Citigroup.

AIG vs Cash4Gold is a surprisingly good first round matchup. AIG unloaded some of its problems from last year’s team, so they could be ripe for an upset, but I’ll take AIG in a squeaker.

The airlines are a toss-up, but I see US Airways and Continental advancing. Comcast has a fairly easy road to the Final Four, and so does AIG, although Best Buy or PayPal (Ebay) could pose a challenge this year.

That one regional is loaded: Toyota, Ticketmaster, Anthem, Chase. Whew. I see Toyota and Ticketmaster as the finalists. How do you call that one? Ticketmaster in a buzzer beater.

So, my final four: Bank of America, Ticketmaster, Comcast and Best Buy (calling the upset). Bank of America beats Comcast in the championship game. The banking conference is just too strong this year.

You can vote on some of the matchups here. How do you see it?

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