It's Musical March Madness! The sprawling bracket — both a parody and a tribute to the NCAA basketball tournament, masterminded by MTV News' James Montgomery — takes the 65 biggest names in rock, splits them up into four regions, assigns them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 65. Over the next few weeks, we will present a series of polls that will allow you to vote for the match-ups presented in MTV News' Band Bracketology. You vote for the winners, we'll keep advancing the seeds and, in the end, we'll have some sort of champion. What will the winner receive? Little more than our esteem (as well as that of the fans) and some Internet bragging rights.
We begin the proper tournament in the East, which is a collection of critically-adored groups that could produce any number of underdog upsets. Let's get to the picks.
(2) Animal Collective vs. (15) Faith No More
Despite the distance between the two seeds, these two are closer than you might think. Animal Collective had a huge year, as they put out one of the most beloved albums of 2009 and are about to release a trippy, fascinating film called "Oddsac." After being absent for nearly two decades, Faith No More are back with one of the most hotly-anticipated reunion tours in recent memory. But who will prevail? The indie upstarts or the rock veterans making a big comeback?
(7) Arcade Fire vs. (10) MGMT
These match-ups are always dangerous, and it would seem that even though Arcade Fire have experience and stamina on their side, MGMT are about to release one of the most talked-about follow-ups of the past few years. In fact, they could easily be the Cinderella of this entire tournament. But which will come out on top?
Who do you want to win the MTV News Musical March Madness tournament? Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments!