First off, congratulations to Alan Anderson, who barely edged Derrick Mason to win the play-in poll. You'll see him immediately.
Before we launch into this bracket, a note -- I seeded this semi-randomly (the only change I made was that I moved Mateen so that he wouldn't possibly meet Magic in the second round. That seemed wrong to me. Everything else is randomly seeded), as something as ambiguous as being a person's favorite athlete should really have no seeds. Now, the first bracket to be revealed, the Izzo-Heathcote Region. I chose to honor coaches with the regions, and I couldn't separate Jud and Tom. Here we go:
My immediate thoughts:
- Kalisha Keane has her work cut out for her with Travis Walton, one of the best Spartan basketball leaders of all time. She does have immediacy on her side though.
- As the winner of the play-in poll, Alan Anderson is naturally going against a powerhouse, so it's only fitting he draws Mateen.
- It's a blast from the past as two great Sprtan footballers from a couple decades ago, Percy Snow and Courtney Hawkins, do battle, except it's not as much of a battle as it is a popularity contest.
- Mat Ishbia has the unenviable task of going against what could be the greatest MSU hockey player of all time.
Here's the second half of the bracket:
More thoughts:
- Depending on your thoughts on hockey, the first non-revenue athlete makes the bracket as NCAA champion wrestler Franklin Gomez grapples All-American Greg Jones.
- I don't really have anything witty for Jason Richardson and Morten Andersen. So it goes.
- There's no way we were having a favorite Spartan bracket without Kirk Cousins. He faces Lindsey Bowen, who I enjoyed watching as the women hoopers made their run to the NCAA title game in 2005.
- Floor Rjipma reps Field Hockey here; unfortunately she faces Tim Bograkos, one of the most beloved walk-ons to wear the Green and White.
The Mason bracket will be posted later tonight. For now, your thoughts?