Upon reviewing the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket, I got to thinking of what a Rick Steve's Europe bracket would look like to select the top Country to visit in Europe.
In the field, I've included Turkey and split UK into England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and identified Kosovo separate from Serbia (sorry, no intention to offend anyone....just more fun!). With 50 entrants, the bracket would necessitate a bye for the top 4 seeds in each region (the top 16 countries) into the field of 32. It would also require a couple of play-in 12-seed games, matching Moldova vs. San Marino and Kosovo vs. Liechtenstein...for the opportunity to pair against 5 seeds Poland and Ukraine in Round 1.
Seeding is based on the annual number of foreign tourist estimates for recent years (at least from a super-quick Google search). Wish there was a polling feature on this site so we could actually vote on the matchups.
The bracket sets up some intriguing Round 1 matchups, such as 8 Finland vs. 9 Norway, 8 Romania vs. 9 Estonia, and 6 Bulgaria vs. 11 Serbia.
Also, presuming Round 1 winners, Round 2 doesn't disappoint: 4 Czech Republic vs. 5 Ireland, 4 Scotland v. 5 Poland, 3 Russia vs. 6 Sweden. But I feel bad for the unfortunate 8 Vatican City vs. 1 Italy Round 2 matchup and don't see any magical 8-seed vs. 1-seed upset there.
Without further ado, I present....
the 2021 EUROPE BRACKET CHALLENGE
REGION 1
(1)France vs. winner of (8)Finland/(9)Norway
(4)Scotland vs. winner of (5)Poland/(12)Moldova v. San Marino
(2)Croatia vs. winner of (7)Malta(10)Lithuania
(3)Turkey vs. winner of (6)Bulgaria/(11)Serbia
REGION 2
(1)Spain vs. winner of (8)Slovakia/(9)Andorra
(4)Belgium vs. winner of(5)Ukraine/(12)Kosovo v. Liechtenstein
(2)Austria vs. winner of (7)Iceland/(10)Latvia
(3)Russia vs. winner of (6)Sweden/(11)Luxembourg
REGION 3
(1)Italy vs. winner of (8)Vatican City/(9)N. Ireland
(4)Czech Republic vs. winner of (5)Ireland/(12)Monaco
(2)Germany vs. winner of (7)Wales/(10)Albania
(3)Portugal vs. winner of (6)Hungary/(11)Bosnia and Herzegovina
REGION 4
(1)England vs. winner of (8)Romania/(9)Estonia
(4)Switzerland vs. winner of (5)Cyprus/(12)Belarus
(2)Greece vs. winner of (7)Denmark/(10)Montenegro
(3)Netherlands vs. winner of (6)Slovenia/(11)North Macedonia
SWEET SIXTEEN
Barring upsets, the Sweet Sixteen would look like this:
REGION 1
(1)France vs. (4)Scotland
(2)Croatia vs. (3)Turkey
REGION 2
(1)Spain vs. (4)Belgium
(2)Austria vs.(3)Russia
REGION 3
(1)Italy vs. (4)Czech Republic
(2)Germany vs. (3)Portugal
REGION 4
(1)England vs. (4)Switzerland
(2)Greece vs. (3)Netherlands
And, again barring upsets, the Final Four sets up some titanic matchups!
FINAL FOUR
(1)France vs. (1)England
(1)Spain vs. (1)Italy
What upsets do you see in the bracket?