Editing 1819: Sweet 16

{{w|March Madness}}, with its championship played on the day this comic was published, is a colloquial name for the {{w|National Collegiate Athletic Association}} (NCAA) {{w|basketball}} tournament, which features 68 American college basketball teams in an elimination bracket. Due to the setup the teams that make it to the third round of the tournament (or fourth if counting the "First Four") are sometimes called the "Sweet 16", an American slang term also used to describe someone's 16th birthday, hence the title. Winning a third round game means that a team is part of the "Elite Eight," who can win to move on to the "Final Four," and then to the championship game, where a winner is crowned.  

This is the second time [[Randall]] has made a bracket with strange opponents meeting each other in a bracket, the first was [[1529: Bracket]]. References to basketball is a [[:Category:Basketball|recurring subject]] on xkcd, as is Randall's lack of interest for [[:Category:Sport|sport in general]].  

In this comic however, the bracket, see details [[#Table of the bracket|below]], of the final 16 is not filled in with actual college team names, but descriptions of the odd circumstances of each team. For example, the first team is "a school with a dog on their team", a reference to {{w|Air Bud}}. The team descriptions become increasingly bizarre, comprising varied sports and pop culture references and and often building on and playing off of previous team descriptions.

The first four teams on the left are comprised partially or completely of animals, which are most likely pets, but could be animals for assisting disabled persons, emotional support animals, police dogs, feral cats, etc. The next two teams consist of some form of {{w|baseball}}-basketball crossover. The bottom two teams on the left feature developers and players of {{w|NBA 2K17}}, a basketball video game by 2K Games. Basketball has previously been compared with {{w|chess}} in [[1392: Dominant Players]].

The first team on the right, the 1988 {{w|LA Lakers}} historically is an actual {{w|NBA}} team; though the particular team from 1988 would not exist today it could be a team of the same players, who would now be in their mid-50's or 60's. They are paired against a team of four kindergarteners and current Cleveland player {{w|Lebron James}} (born 1984), who was also a kindergartner in 1988.

The title text explains what the heck Randall was doing to make this comic: Randall is incredibly out of touch with sports, or at least their traditions. During March Madness a popular pastime is to take a look at the starting bracket of all 68 teams and speculate who will win each round. This activity is sometimes associated with gambling, where the person with the most correct bracket could potentially win money. Randall, when handed a blank bracket, instead fills it with teams he ''wants'' to see play rather than who is actually in the tournament. A bracket is considered "busted" when a number of predicted teams lose earlier than expected. In this case, since Randall's Sweet 16 does not include any of the real teams participating in the tournament, his bracket is busted from the beginning.

|rowspan="2"|Perhaps this is to see if a baseball team can play basketball as well as a basketball team if they were handicapped with baseball gear. While basketball doesn't require any gear and favours outfits that permit free movement, baseball has helmets, bats and thick gloves, possibly giving the baseball team a chance. On the other hand, if the basketball team is permitted to use the baseball bats on ''the opposing team'', they may have a distinct advantage.

|rowspan="2"|NBA 2k17 (video game)

|NBA 2k17 top players

|rowspan="2"|There's a bit of ambiguity as to what "players" means: the professional basketball players whose likenesses are in the video game, or video game players? Given that the video game includes not only the current NBA players, but also some of the most successful teams in history, it's hard to see how the game developers can stand a chance if the former. If the latter, it's probably much more evenly matched, both if they're facing off on a digital basketball court or a real one.  

|NBA 2k17 top developers

|rowspan="2"|The Los Angeles Lakers were at their height, winning a rare repeat victory. LeBron James is one of the most well-known basketball players. At the time of the 1988 finals, he was 4 years old, so even with his later talent and with the support of 4 kindergarteners, it would be tough for him to win the game. However, he might have a better chance if he played in the present, what with the 1988 Lakers team members being well over 50.<br><br>It should be noted that the NBA requires a minimum of 13 team members.

|Four kindergarteners and Lebron James

|rowspan="2"|Perhaps this is to see if boxers team can play basketball as well as a basketball team if the basketball team were handicapped by having to wear boxing gloves.