Welcome to our first annual Merch Madness bracket! We’ve found 32 of our favorite items sold by college radio stations across the United States, and they will compete to see who has the best merch! Everyone in the bracket is already a winner so support these stations by buying some of these great items. Make sure to cast your votes and check back to see who will be on top at the end of Merch Madness 2022! The last station standing will be featured on the 35000 Watts homepage for a month.
The voting will be conducted on our Instagram account (@35000watts).
There will be two Round 1 match-ups each day, look below the bracket to see upcoming match-ups in detail (completed match-ups are at the bottom of the page). Be sure to click the photos to go to the station’s store so you can purchase the item for yourself!
Finals
April 4
KSLU (St. Louis Univ.) vs. WSOU (Seton Hall Univ.)
This is it, the final showdown. The underdogs from KSLU made it all the way from a play-in to the Finals with their Billiken crewneck sweater. They take on the top overall vote getter in the entire tournament, the seemingly unstoppable facemasks from WSOU.
Completed Matchups
Round 1
March 12
KAOS (Evergreen State College) vs. KAWC (Arizona Western College)
Our first match-up pits two T-shirts head-to-head: a classic hand-drawn illustration (featuring a cat!) from KAOS in Olympia, WA up against an excellent word art vinyl record design from KAWC way down in Yuma, AZ.
KBGA (University of Montana) vs. KCPR (California Poly. State Univ.)
Another T-shirt showdown: KBGA in Missoula, MT brings a trippy hand-drawn space lobster logo, going up against a shirt featuring KCPR’s “Burnt Dog” mascot (possibly an in-joke in San Luis Obispo?).
March 13
KCSB (Univ. of California – Santa Barbara) vs. KCSS (Stanislaus State)
Day Two starts with yet another T-shirt battle, this time between two California stations. The hilarious raccoon from KCSB in Santa Barbara takes on a clean cassette tape design from KCSS in Turlock, CA.
KFJC (Foothill–De Anza Comm. College) vs. KHDX (Hendrix College)
A very tough match-up with two truly great artworks going at it. An awesome “girlie” design from KFJC in Los Altos Hills, CA versus a really fun illustration of a college radio DJ booth from KHDX in Conway, AR.
March 14
KIWR (Iowa Western Comm. College) vs. KJHK (University of Kansas)
Day Three of Round One and no T-shirts this time in a Midwest match-up. A unique offering of foam fingers from KIWR in Council Bluffs, IA takes on a tote bag featuring a very cool “spooky gramophone” design from KJHK in Lawrence, KS.
KSLU (Saint Louis Univ.) vs. KSPC (Claremont Colleges)
The winner of our “KSLU play-in” from St. Louis, Missouri is going to have to fight a tough battle against the KSPC kitten mug from the fine folks in Claremont, CA.
March 15
KSUA (Univ. of Alaska – Fairbanks) vs. KTRU (Rice University)
It is Alaska versus Texas as the excellent tote bag from KSUA in Fairbanks goes up against a T-shirt featuring a modern design with a twist from KTRU in Houston.
KUMM (Univ. of Minnesota – Morris) vs. KZSC (Univ. of California – Santa Cruz)
Possibly the toughest matchup of Round 1? A shot glass from the creative gang at KUMM in Morris, MN takes on a Daniel Johnston-inspired T-shirt (with a great message) from KZSC in Santa Cruz, CA.
March 16
WECI (Earlham College) vs. WESU (Wesleyan University)
Day Five takes us east of the Mississippi, and we start with a hoodie-versus-hoodie match-up between the excellent state outline logo from WECI in Richmond, IN and a cool hand-drawn Mona Lisa illustration from WESU in Middletown, CT.
WHFR (Henry Ford Comm. College) vs. WMPG (Univ. of Southern Maine)
Never too young for college radio gear! WHFR’s baby pajamas from Dearborn, MI go up against the hilarious “Face For Radio” hoodie from WMPG in Portland, ME.
March 17
WMSE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) vs. WPGU (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
The tournament’s only water bottle makes the bracket thanks to amazing artwork from WMSE in Milwaukee, WI. The bottle goes up against the carton, a nice inside-joke T-shirt from WPGU in Champaign, IL.
WREK (Georgia Institute of Technology) vs. WRGW (George Washington Univ.)
Extra-credit goes to WREK in Atlanta, GA for offering the only slip mats we could find. They take on a hoodie with a clean logo design from WRGW in Washington D.C.
March 18
WRIU (Univ. of Rhode Island) vs. WSOU (Seton Hall Univ.)
A skateboard? Yes, a skateboard, from WRIU in Kingston, RI! And it wouldn’t be 2022 without facemasks, luckily the ones from WSOU in South Orange, NJ are very cool.
WSUM (Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison) vs. WTJU (Univ. of Virginia)
A really cool logo design helps the WSUM pint glass from Madison, WI make the bracket, while WTJU in Charlottesville brings possibly the most unique merch of the entire tournament with their own brand of roasted coffee
March 19
WVBR (Cornell University) vs. WVUM (Univ. of Miami)
The vintage pillow from WVBR in Ithaca, NY is really excellent (click through to see more detail) and it goes head-to-head with a cute, simple hand-drawn illustration T-shirt from WVUM in Coral Gables, FL.
WWUH (Univ. of Hartford) vs. WYXR (Univ. of Memphis)
The last match-up of Round 1 pits a classic beanie from WWUH in West Hartford, CT against a T-shirt from WYXR in Memphis, TN with a really neat design and one of our favorite slogans, “Raised By Sound”.
Round 2
March 20
KAOS (Evergreen State College) vs. KBGA (University of Montana)
Our first second round match-up is a T-shirt showdown between the cute cat cartoon from Olympia, WA’s KAOS and the space lobster from KBGA in Missoula, MT.
March 21
KCSB (Univ. of California – Santa Barbara) vs. KFJC (Foothill–De Anza Comm. College)
Match-up #2 of the second round is another T-shirt battle, this time between two California schools: the radical raccoon from KCSB in Santa Barbara takes on the very cool “girlie” design representing KFJC in Los Altos Hills.
March 22
KJHK (University of Kansas) vs. KSLU (Saint Louis Univ.)
This one is a mid-west match-up featuring the spooky gramaphone tote bag from Lawrence, KS up against a T-shirt from St. Louis that has won two match-ups already: it is KJHK vs. KSLU.
March 23
KSUA (Univ. of Alaska – Fairbanks) vs. KZSC (Univ. of California – Santa Cruz)
Another tote bag vs. T-shirt battle, with Fairbanks, AK’s KSUA and their hilarious canvas design competing against the Daniel Johnston-inspired design from KZSC in Santa Cruz, CA.
March 24
WESU (Wesleyan University) vs. WMPG (Univ. of Southern Maine)
Round 2 heads east for a hoodie match-up between WESU of Middletown, CT and WMPG of Portland, ME, each featuring a really fantastic and unique design.
March 25
WMSE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) vs. WREK (Georgia Institute of Technology)
A unique match-up with no clothing at all. WMSE in Milwaukee, WI brings a water bottle with an incredible custom design to take on the super-clean slip-mats from WREK in Atlanta, GA.
March 26
WSOU (Seton Hall Univ.) vs. WTJU (Univ. of Virginia)
The top vote-getter for Round 1, the heavy metal facemask pack from South Orange, NJ’s WSOU, goes up against the custom coffee blends from Charlottesville, VA and WTJU.
March 27
WVBR (Cornell Univ.) vs. WYXR (Univ. of Memphis)
A vintage artwork pillow from WVBR in Ithaca, NY goes head-to-head with WYXR out of Memphis, TN and their “Raised on Sound” T-shirt design.
Round 3
March 28
KBGA (University of Montana) vs. KFJC (Foothill–De Anza Comm. College)
The first matchup of Round 3 pits the space lobster from KBGA against the “Girlie” design from KFJC.
March 29
KSLU (Saint Louis Univ.) vs. KZSC (Univ. of California – Santa Cruz)
The underdogs from KSLU are on a roll with their Belliken T-shirt, going from the play-in to the Elite Eight, but now they are up against the Daniel Johnston-inspired design from KZSC.
March 30
WMPG (Univ. of Southern Maine) vs. WMSE (Milwaukee School of Engineering)
Our first non-T-shirt battle of Round 3 pits the “Face for Radio” hoodie from WMPG against a water bottle with some amazing artwork from WMSE.
March 31
WSOU (Seton Hall Univ.) vs. WVBR (Cornell University)
The final matchup of Round 3 is a battle between the top vote-getter overall, the heavy metal facemask pack from WSOU, and the unique vintage pillow from WVBR.
Semi-finals
April 2
KFJC (Foothill–De Anza Comm. College) vs. KSLU (St. Louis Univ.)
KSLU are on a roll with their Billiken (their lovely fearsome mascot) design on a crewneck sweater and now face off against an awesome “girlie” design from KFJC in Los Altos Hills, CA.
April 3
WSOU (Seton Hall Univ.) vs. WMSE (Milwaukee School of Engineering)
Our second semi-final matchup features the juggernaut from Seton Hall, WSOU, with the heavy metal facemasks that have steamrolled all competition taking on WMSE’s custom artwork water bottle.