And the winner is… March Madness wraps up tonight with Florida and Houston facing off for the national championship after an epic collapse by Duke in the Final Four. But before they crown the winner of the NCAA tournament, we’ve got some business of our own to tend to: Crowning a winner in our annual Whiskey Riff Madness tournament. This year we teamed up with our good friends at Rock the Country, a festival for “We The People,” to bring you a bracket for “We The People” featuring 64 of the most red, white and blue-blooded American country songs of all time – and let you, the readers, vote for your favorites. After starting with 64 songs, we ultimately were left with two country music legends competing for the championship: Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue” and “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” by Alan Jackson. But before we get to the winner, let’s take a look at how both songs got here. Toby Keith looked to be unstoppable throughout the entire tournament. In fact, we started with 3 songs from Toby, and the only person who could stop Toby was…well, Toby. We had “American Soldier” and “Made in America” going up against each other in the round of 32, and in the Final Four we had “American Soldier” going up against “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue.” But other than that, nobody else has managed to keep Toby Keith from absolutely dominating, taking down songs like “Fly Over States” by Jason Aldean, “Something To Be Proud Of” by Montgomery Gentry, and “Where the Stars & Stripes & the Eagle Fly” by Aaron Tippin. On the other side of the bracket though, Alan Jackson was battle tested, with “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” fighting off tough challenges from legends like Charlie Daniels, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash while also coming out on top of a nailbiter with Justin Moore’s “Small Town USA” to earn its spot in the championship round. And ultimately, it gave us two legends fighting it out for the star-spangled championship. Unfortunately there can only be one winner though, and after hundreds of thousands of votes cast, the champion of American Madness is… “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue” That’s right, Toby Keith just couldn’t be stopped this year, which seems fitting for a tournament focused on patriotic country songs. I mean, who’s the first artist that comes to mind when you think of patriotic country music? Has to be Toby Keith, right? In fact, “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue” was so dominant that it never got less than 87% of the vote in a round. Just a complete bloodbath for whoever was unlucky enough to have to go up against it. Here was the final bracket: We had a lot of fun with this one, because as you know we love our country here at Whiskey Riff, so thanks to Rock the Country for helping us out with this one. If you want to hear some more great patriotic country music and celebrate America, make sure you get your tickets to Rock the Country before they’re gone – and of course, in honor of the late, great, Toby Keith, crank this one up one more time: Rock the Country kicked off this past weekend in Livingston, Louisiana, featuring a stacked lineup of headliners like Kid Rock, Nickelback, Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd, along with performances from incredible artists like Travis Tritt, Treaty Oak Revival, Tracy Lawrence, Aaron Lewis, Big & Rich, Shenandoah, and more. The lineup varies by city, so make sure to check out the closest one to you and get your tickets soon before they’re sold out and you’re left on the outside looking in like the British were in 1776. Rock the Country Dates: April 25-26 – Knoxville, TN May 2-3 – Poplar Bluff, MO May 9-10 – Ocala, FL May 30-31 – York, PA June 13-14 – Hastings, MI June 20-21 – Little Rock, AR July 11-12 – Ashland, KY July 18-19 – Sioux Falls, SD July 25-26 – Anderson, SCThe post WHISKEY RIFF MADNESS: American Madness Presented By Rock The Country – And The Winner Is… first appeared on Whiskey Riff.