Pittsburgh's Best Pizza 2020 Reaches Saucy Sixteen

Things are heating up in the 2020 race to crown a pizza champion of the steel city. What started as a 64 team tournament has been sliced down to the top 16, and there's still time to vote for your favorite via Pittsburgh Clothing Co.'s Twitter, and send them to the "Italian Eight".

The entire tournament has been filled with drama and outrage – something us yinzers typically save for the NHL playoff race this time of year. But since sports are cancelled, we must do our civic duty and argue with each other online about pizza. It's the only way keep our spirits high.

Beto's Early Exit Still Fresh On The Minds of The City

Anyone that peaks at the bracket above is immediately aghast at the huge upset that took place in the first round of the Franco Region. We covered last week that some fans online suggested coercion between the main stream media and #16-seeded Sorrento's in Oakland.

However, since the early surge of Oakland pizza shops, both Sorrento's and #12-seeded Antoon's from the Sammartino Region have been knocked out of the tournament. Was there something deeper going on in Oakland? Voter fraud? Blackmail? College cheating scandal?

The #1-seeded Beto's, had this to say around 3:00am on Friday morning:

Does Beto's know something that we don't? What is "the truth"? Of all the 1 and 2-seeded pizza joints, they're the only ones outside of the saucy sixteen. How did this happen? We may never know.

New Crowd Favorites Emerge

A wise man once said, "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." The #3-seeded Dougboy's Pizza is taking that mentality to heart. In one of the hardest fought battles this city has seen since the seige of Fort Duquesne, the McKees Rocks pizza shop edged out #6-seeded Proper Brick Oven and #7-seeded Monte Cello's back-to-back.

What is their formula for success?

That kind of laser sharp focus is what leads to championships. Next up for them is a massive showdown in the Italian Eight with the #9-seeded Yoli's, a Jefferson Hills spot that sent shockwaves throughout the pizza world when they upset #5-seeded Caliente in what was the most dramatic of all matchups.

Stay tuned for continued coverage of the tournament by following Pittsburgh Clothing Co. on Twitter, or reading Jagoff Sports (the greatest sports and entertainment blog in Pittsburgh history). We will be back with a Final Four article to wrap things up.