Upgrade did clear in the end!!!!

But I had an interesting observation. The plane was very much NOT full, and the F cabin was still showing F7 with a seatmap showing 7 non-assigned seats. The C cabin was showing only C4 with a seatmap showing 4 non-assigned seats. At about 1 hour prior to departure, I check at the gate about my upgrade and was told that business class had checked in full. The implication of this statement is that I was NOT going to receive the upgrade. About 15 minutes later I think they bumped up a bunch of C folks into F freeing up the 7 C seats, then called "exactly" 7 folks up for new seats. I was luckily one of hem.

This tells me that if anyone is waiting for an upgrade to C, they will fill every C & F seat before letting the upgrade remain unclaimed.