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March 18, 2010
Picking the Brackets
by Antonio Gates,
San Diego Chargers
 I
love this time of
the year. March
Madness. There is
nothing quite like
it. Upsets, buzzer
beaters, individual
performance and a
non-stop highlight
reel straight
through the
championship game. The 2010 NCAA
Tournament will
undoubtedly provide
all that and more.
Teams like Kansas,
Kentucky and
Syracuse are among
the favorites in the
minds of many. There
are probably another
half-dozen teams
that have been
talked about as
being good enough to
cut down the nets.
Beyond that there is
not a great deal of
separation between
the vast majority of
the remaining teams
in the field so we
should see a lot of
highly competitive
games.
Teams like Baylor,
Cornell, Richmond,
San Diego State,
Siena and UTEP have
been mentioned as
possible sleepers.
No doubt there is a
team out there,
which nobody is
talking about
that will emerge.
Will a 13 seed or
lower win a game?
Everybody looks for
that first round
surprise, like
Hampton beating Iowa
State or Kent State
knocking off
Indiana. With so
many quality
mid-major teams in
the tournament, it’s
likely that we’ll
see at least one. At
the very least I
would expect a lot
of higher seeds to
get challenged.
I was hoping my Kent
State Golden Flashes
would be part of the
Big Dance but they
still had a great
season, winning the
regular season title
in the Mid-American
Conference.
Wednesday night the
Golden Flashes
rallied back to beat
Tulsa in the NIT.
Maybe Geno Ford’s
team can get on a
run and get to
Madison Square
Garden for the NIT
Final Four.
I couldn’t pick Kent
State to surprise
somebody in the NCAA
Tournament but I did
pick a couple dark
horses. I am sure it
won’t take long for
my bracket to fall
apart but that’s the
beauty of the Big
Dance.
I hope everyone
enjoys the Madness
that is March.
CLICK HERE for
the full size
version of Antonio Gates NCAA
Tournament Bracket
Selections.
NOTE: Antonio Gates
played basketball
for two seasons at
Kent State, after
transferring from
Eastern Michigan.
In 2002 he helped
Kent State reach the
Elite Eight.
Gates was named to
the
CollegeInsider.com
Mid-Major All-Decade
team.
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