Chicago Cubs’ March Madness Bracket- Sweet Sixteen

Chicago Cubs: Wrigley Region Sweet 16

• 1 seed Ron Santo defeats 8 seed Anthony Rizzo
• 5 seed Pete Alexander defeats 13 seed Kris Bryant
• 3 seed Fergie Jenkins defeats 11 seed Kerry Wood
• 2 seed Billy Williams defeats 7 seed Ned Williamson

As much as it would have been nice for current Cubs fans to see their beloved “Bryzzo” advance farther in the tournament, their opponents were two of the best players of all-time. Ron Santo is one of the best third basemen ever, a superb defender who hit 342 home runs and drove in 1331 more. He’s also a Hall of Famer and “This Old Cub.” Quite tough for Rizzo to unseat one of the most beloved players in all of Cubs history.

That being said, if Rizzo continues to do what he has the last six seasons, he could make this more of a case once he hangs up his spikes- especially considering he led the Cubs to something Santo sniffed- a World Series. Also, beloved for his community outreach and persona, if Rizzo continues doing what he’s doing for another five seasons and brings another flag back home to Wrigley, this could be a much different story in a decade.

Kris Bryant experienced the same kind of defeat as Rizzo. Still, again, it’s nothing to be ashamed of as “Old Pete” Alexander (better known as Grover Cleveland Alexander) is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Strictly as a Cub, however, this race is a little closer than you might expect, as Alexander’s best seasons were with Philadelphia.

In the bottom part of the bracket, Jenkins and Williams easily advanced, and set up a helluva showdown to move on to the Elite Eight. Here’s what the bracket looks like now in the Wrigley Region:

• 1 seed Ron Santo vs. 5 seed Pete Alexander
• 2 seed Billy Williams vs. 3 seed Fergie Jenkins