Ranking the 2017 NCAA Tournament’s 8 new Twitter hashtag emojis

Twitter loves to create handy hashtags for sports fans to discuss big events to their hearts’ desires, and the NCAA Tournament is no exception. This year we have been graced with no less than EIGHT hashtags to express our numerous feelings about the whirlwind that is March.

So here they are, ranked from best to worst. Rankings include the quality of the whole thing, both the words and the emoji, hence the name hashtag emoji.

This is by far the best emoji. It’s a trash fire, for crying out loud, which speaks to the hot mess that is deep down in all our souls (or not so deep down, no judgment). Plus, the hashtag itself, #BracketBusted, is applicable really at any time during the tournament, except for the beginning and the end, unless this is the year someone finally gets it right.

This one just gives all the feels. The emoji is great, and evokes fond memories of championships gone by. I’d like to also advocate the use of this hashtag for situational irony, whenever someone goofs up big time.

Simple and to the point. It is a lot of characters, but the emoji is a great image — even without words, it’s clear what this means. The most versatile of all the hashtag emojis.

Bonus: It looks like the Pokémon Magnemite. Like, really.

IT’S A BASKETBALL SUNDAE. WITH A 16 ON IT. I love everything about this, it’s just limited to use during the actual Sweet 16, hence it’s ranked at number four.

Fairly straightforward emoji with this one, but #NationalChampionship is a phrase used by analysts, journalists, and every fan with a pipe dream that THIS YEAR IS FINALLY THE YEAR. We’ll see plenty of appearances by this little number.

Basketball sunrise! Or sunset! Unclear! Could be a sunrise for the dawn of a new champion, or a sunset for the dusk of another NCAA tournament. Either way, this is a sweet emoji for the most exciting time of the tournament.

The Elite Eight emoji isn’t really doing it for me. It’s a patch. It’s gray and blue and black. It’ll get the job done but it’s not flashy.

This is the worst emoji, easily. It can only be used one day of the whole tournament, and the picture is just shoes and a ball ... basketball themed, but also I could have made this with clip art in Microsoft Word.