An In-Depth Analysis of The Dozen Trivia Tournament

This is something that is a little out of my wheelhouse, but I love The Dozen. I think Jeff D Lowe puts out high-quality content every week and I really enjoy it. So I've taken it upon myself to grade all of the teams and identify their strengths, weaknesses, who I think can be a cinderella, and which high seed do I think is most likely to be bounced early.

I'm going to start first with the favorites. These teams all earned first-round byes due to their combination of trivia efficiency and general likability from the fans.

Frank and The Frankettes

This team is comprised of Frank the Tank, Nick Turani, and KB. They are a powerhouse and have many impressive wins. Most people will have them as the favorite to win it all and the fans consistently show them love on the rankings. I think their biggest strengths are geography (especially world capitals) and baseball while their biggest weaknesses are pop culture, college sports, and the NFL.

Team Yak

Big Cat, Steven Cheah, and Rone are the members of Team Yak. They haven't been on the show as much as Frank and The Frankettes and when they faced head to head, FATF absolutely molly whopped them. It should also be noted that Steven Cheah stinks at NFL question even though that is his "niche". With that being said their biggest strengths would be the NFL and College football, while their weaknesses would probably celebrity mashup. They are also pretty good at music categories.

Team Minihane

Team Minihane consists of Jared Carrabis, Steve Robinson, and of course, Kirk Minihane. They are a relatively inexperienced team being 3-1, but they do have the number one ranked trivia player (Kirk) in the game, so you never know what they can do. Also, in their last match, Steve began to show signs of life. Their biggest strengths would probably be baseball and golf and their biggest weakness would probably be celebrity mashups. They are an all-around solid team.

Big Screamin Honkers

The Honkers consist of Coley Mick, Robbie Fox, and Ben Mintz. This rag-tag group of guys has quickly become one of the fan favorites and is a serious threat to win it all over the past few weeks. Their strengths include UFC, comic book movies, and some general sports knowledge. Their weaknesses generally come from more academic categories such as geography and history. 

So these groups are undeniably the favorites, now let's take a look at the rest of the field.

The Experts

This team originally started off as Brandon and PFT, but has added Fran in the recent weeks. They are certainly the most experienced having over seventy matches! Most people thought that the addition of Fran would make them a super team, but that hasn't exactly been the case. Their strengths are wrestling, football (college and NFL), and some pop culture. Their weaknesses would definitely be hockey and honestly their constant second-guessing of themselves. They are also not particularly great when it comes to the bonus round.

Team Chiclets

This team is comprised of the Spittin' Chiclets podcast: Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonette, and Rear Admiral (Sorry Grinelli). They are certainly one of the more entertaining teams in the tournament, but could also falter due to lack of experience. Their strengths obviously include hockey, which is expected with two former NHL players who also run a hockey podcast. Besides that, they are also fairly good at golf, movies, and pop culture. Their weaknesses would definitely be the NFL and college sports. I would put these guys on upset alert, be careful.

Gen XYZ

Gen XYZ is a team with Jake Marsh, Vibbs, and Large. They are quite an unusual trio, but that seems to help them cover a wide range of knowledge. Their strengths would include sandwiches and alcohol (courtesy of Large), college basketball, and US History. I'm not really sure what their weaknesses are but they aren't particularly knowledgeable in many categories. I would say they are a jack of all trades, master of none.

Team Smockin

Smockin is an interesting team.  They were really good when they had Trill Ballins, but he has now been replaced by Mark Titus, who was a bit lackluster in his trivia debut. Their strengths are movies, international foods, and college basketball. Their weaknesses would probably be football and baseball. This team is a pretty big wild card because Kenjac's ego has gotten in the way at certain points.

The Misfits

The misfits have Reags, Dante, and everyone's favorite producer, Hank. Up until last week, they had Bailey Carlin, who was quite good at trivia, but he had to leave the team since he left Barstool to start his own company. This team is a wild card. They are undefeated through two matches, but they weren't against particularly strong opponents. 

Team Chicago

Chicago is comprised of the guys we all know and love, Chief, Carl, and White Sox Dave. Besides the Experts, Team Chicago is the most experienced team in the field. Unfortunately, they have a 5-record, but a lot of those losses came early when they only played the experts. Their strengths would definitely be baseball, hockey, and football (college and NFL). They are also a sneaky good geography team if it is US geography. However, their weaknesses are basically any non-sports questions. 

Finally, I'm gonna review the bubble teams.

Team Nightmare

What a wild ride for team nightmare. They are 7-3 and find themselves on the bubble due to numerous cheating allegations. I personally believed they did cheat in their early matches, but after seeing them win numerous times after said allegations, I think they're legit. Their strengths would probably be college football, the NFL, and movies. They are another team with really no true weakness, they just are sometimes not on their "A Game". 

Uptown Balls

This team has Tommy Smokes, Smitty, and Glenny Balls. They are a decent team, but nothing to write home about. They do complain a lot, like a hell of a lot. Almost to the point that it is insufferable. Their strengths would include baseball, U.S. history, and Celebrity Mashup. Their weaknesses would be trying to outsmart themselves. 

Team Ziti

I have no idea how Ziti even made it in this, I would want to write a review on them, but they're gonna get blown out in the play-in game.

***Edit***

Dave Portnoy has just been announced as the third member of team ziti! This leads me to believe that they will win their play in Match vs Uptown Balls due to Tommy and Smitty being intimidated by Dave. A huge turn of events!

Bracket Breakdown

Looking at the bracket we have a few interesting matchups and potential matchups. 

In the first round, I like Chiclets, Nightmare, Chicago, and the Experts all to win. But after that, I don't really see how any big upsets could happen. If anything, I think maybe Chicago could upset Team Yak just off of pure luck. I like nightmare's ability, but I think they don't stand a chance against Minihane. I do think there could be a chance Cons and Feits could chirp Kirk enough to throw him off of his game, but that's very unlikely. 

My Bracket