This is March.
Its March Madness time so let's make some BRACKETS. I took the alma maters of all the Royals, and seeded them according to Wins Above Replacement with the Royals, according to Baseball-Reference. I only used four-year schools (sorry Jarrod Dyson of Southwest Mississippi Community College) and only American schools (sorry Aaron Guiel of Kwantlen College).
So let's take a look at the brackets!
Howser Regional
Host school: Florida State
(1) Fresno State (Kevin Appier, Tom Goodwin, Doug Mientkiewicz, Mark Gardner, Bob Stoddard, Terry Pendleton, Ron Johnson)
Most of the Bulldogs' worth comes from Kevin Appier, who has the second-most WAR in franchise history only behind non-collegian George Brett.
vs.
(16) Eckerd College (Steve Balboni)
Tiny Eckerd, a college in the Tampa area of less than 2,000 students, makes it as the final seed, beating out South Carolina-Aiken (Roberto Hernandez), Creighton (Dennis Rasmussen), and Pfieffer (Monty Montgomery)
(8) American International (Fran Healy)
American International College, not to be confused with the online American International University, is a private liberal arts college in Massachusetts that has produced four Major League players.
vs.
(9) University of San Diego (John Wathan)
"The Duke" grew up in sunny San Diego, where he went to play for the Toreros.
(4) San Diego State (Bud Black, Dave Morehead, Chris Gwynn, Dan Murray, Jim Nettles)
The Royals mined a lot of talent from San Diego, although most of the Aztecs' talent came from 1985 World Series pitcher Bud Black
vs.
(13) Mercyhurst (David Lough)
Lough is one of three Major Leaguers produced by the Erie, Pennsylvania school.
(5) American (Steve Farr)
The DC school boasts alumni such as NAACP President Julian Bond, Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp, actress Goldie Hawn, numerous ambassadors and government officials, and Royals swingman Steve Farr.
vs.
(12) New Hampshire (Rich Gale)
Rich Gale won more games in the big leagues than any other Wildcat alum, but he is still overshadowed by catcher Carlton Fisk.
(2) Marshall (Jeff Montgomery, Rick Reed)
The "Thundering Herd" currently have former Royals pitcher Josh Newman on their coaching staff.
vs.
(15) Long Island (Richie Scheinblum)
Scheinblum was an All-Star for the Royals in 1972, and only John Frascatore has since made the big leagues from Long Island.
(7) Northwest Missouri State (Gary Gaetti)
Gaetti was actually dismissed from the baseball program in Marysville, Missouri before he became a born-again Christian and got his career on track.
vs.
(10) St. Mary's College (Mark Teahen)
Teahen was recently inducted into the Gaels Hall of Fame.
(3) Arizona State (Larry Gura, Floyd Bannister, Tim Spehr, Sean Lowe, Doug Henry, Fred Rico, Willie Bloomquist, Ken Phelps, Hubie Brooks)
The Sun Devils have had a storied college baseball program, but Gura provides most of the value here.
vs.
(14) Southern Illinois-Carbondale (Jason Frasor, Alan Levine, Hawk Taylor)
The Salukis have produced a fair amount of big leaguers, including All-Stars Dave Stieb and Steve Finley
(6) Murray State College (U.L. Washington)
Washington did not even play baseball at the tiny Oklahoma college, not to be confused with Murray State University in Kentucky.
vs.
(11) Trinity College (Moe Drabowsky)
Trinity is part of the "Little Ivies", the tiny prestigious schools located in New England. Pretty lofty credentials for a guy named "Moe."
Yost Regional
Host school: Chabot College
(1) Nebraska (Alex Gordon, Ken Harvey, Joba Chamberlain, Michael Mariot)
Brian Duensing could join this list for the Royals this year. Did you know he was Alex Gordon's teammate at Nebraska?
vs.
(16) Emporia State (Steve Shifflett)
Shifflett was a Kansas City native who was a submariner for one season for the Royals after pitching at nearby Emporia State.
(8) Oral Roberts (Keith Lockhart, Keith Miller)
Former Royals reliever Larry Casian also went to the Tulsa school, but transferred to Cal-State Fullerton.
vs.
(9) Dallas Baptist (Ben Zobrist, Billy Brewer, Scott Mullen)
Zobrist began his collegiate career at tiny Olivet Nazarene in Illinois before transferring.
(4) Detroit (Dick Drago)
Drago pitched just one season for the Titans, a few years before the basketball program would be coached by a guy named Dick Vitale.
vs.
(13) Wake Forest (Mike MacDougal)
Mac has more saves in the big leagues than any other Demon Deacon.
(5) LSU (Paul Byrd, Louis Coleman, Curtis Leskanic, Jeff Reboulet, Eric Rasmussen, Brett Laxton, Ryan Verdugo)
The Bayou Bengals have tied for the second-most collegiate championships, but seem to produce mostly relievers for the Royals.
vs.
(12) Eastern Michigan (Pat Sheridan)
Sheridan was teammates in college with future Cy Young winner Bob Welch.
(3) USC (Steve Busby, Brian Bannister, Jeff Schattinger, Seth Etherton, Dave Leeper)
Ian Kennedy will likely join the list this season.
vs.
(14) Princeton (Chris Young, Bob Tufts)
Chris Young is not the only Ivy Leaguer in franchise history. Early 80s reliever Bob Tufts took his economics degree and later got an MBA from Columbia.
(6) Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Tim Belcher)
Belcher became the #1 overall pick from this private Ohio school of about 2,000 students.
vs.
(11) Charlotte (Chris Haney, Stu Cole)
Haney was the winningest MLB pitcher from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, until John Maine overtook him a few years ago.
(2) Morningside College (Paul Splittorff)
Splitt was also a standout basketball player at the college based in Sioux City, Iowa.
vs.
(15) Southern Mississippi (Pat Rapp, John Bale, Ken Wright, Kevin Young)
Kevin Young began his career at Kansas City Kansas Community College before transferring to the Golden Eagles.
(7) Arkansas (Jeff King, Kevin McReynolds, Kit Pellow, Scott Pose)
Jeff King was a #1 pick as a Razorback.
vs.
(10) Bradley (Bob Johnson, Brian Shouse, Bryan Rekar)
The Braves most famously produced Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.
Moore Regional
Host school: George Mason University
(1) Florida A&M (Hal McRae, Vince Coleman)
The Rattlers have only produced four big leaguers, but all are great, including Marquis Grisson and Hall of Famer Andre Dawson.
vs.
(16) Furman (Jerry Martin)
The South Carolina college has less than 3,000 students, but the Paladins participate in Division I athletics.
(8) Pittsburg State (Steve Mingori)
The Kansas City native is one of four Gorillas to play Major League Baseball including long-time Dodgers shortstop Bill Russell.
vs.
(9) Iowa (Mike Boddicker, Jim Sundburg, Web Obermuller, Chris Hatcher)
Boddicker hailed from tiny Norway, Iowa, which had the legendary baseball program featured in the documentary "The Final Season."
(4) Santa Clara (Mike MacFarlane, Nelson Briles)
Mac is fifth all-time in home runs for the Broncos.
vs.
(13) Michigan (Chris Getz, Leon Roberts, Hal Morris)
Morris was college teammates with Chris Sabo and Barry Larkin, who he would win a World Series with the Reds in 1990.
(5) UCLA (Don Slaught, Bob Hamelin, Mike Mangante, Shane Mack, Jim York, Gail Hopkins, Bobby Floyd, Sean Berry)
The legendary hoops school has produced quite a few big leaguers, including 1994 Rookie of the Year Bob Hamelin.
vs.
(12) Rice (Mark Quinn, Phil Humber, Tim Byrdak)
Mark Quinn had a promising career as an outfielder, but flamed out quickly in the early 2000s.
(2) Miami of Ohio (Charlie Leibrandt)
Leibrandt was drafted by the nearby Reds in the ninth round.
vs.
(15) UNLV (Bip Roberts, Ryan Braun, Mel Stottlemyre)
Other notable Runnin' Rebels baseball players include Cecil Fielder and Matt Williams.
(7) South Carolina State (Willie Aikens)
Aikens spent just one year at the historically-black college before getting drafted by the Angels.
vs.
(10) California University in Pennsylvania (Bruce dal Canton)
The school sits in the town of California and the athletic teams are known as the "Vulcans."
(3) Tennessee (Joe Randa, Luke Hochevar, Luke Hudson, Mike DiFelice)
Luke Hochevar is the only #1 overall pick from the Volunteers.
vs.
(14) Long Beach State (Jason Vargas, George Throop, Chris DeMaria, Brent Cookson)
Long Beach's teams have been known as the "Dirt Bags" and Vargas played on a talented squad that included Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitski
(6) Western Carolina (Greg Holland)
Holland's teammate with the Catamounts was Drew Saberhagen, son of Royals legend Bret Saberhagen.
vs.
(11) Whittier College (Jim Colborn)
Colborn, who tossed the first no-hitter in Royals history, began his collegiate career at the University of Washington, but transferred to the school whose most famous alum is President Richard Nixon.
Glass Regional
Host school: Missouri State University
(1) Iona (Dennis Leonard)
The Brooklyn native was a second-round pick out of the New York school.
vs.
(16) Lehman College (Joe Foy)
It will be an cross-town rivalry against this small college located in the Bronx.
(8) Concordia College (Mike Aviles)
Another New York-area college is represented by Aviles, who won a Division II batting title.
vsx.
(9) St. Cloud State (Jim Eisenreich, Bob Hegman)
Eisenreich was a St. Cloud, Minnesota native who excelled at the Division II program.
(4) Eastern Illinois (Kevin Seitzer, Tom Bruno).
Seitzer is the school's all-time leader in batting average and hits and recently had his number retired.
vs.
(13) Miami (Mike Armstrong, Neal Heaton, Danny Rios, Jorge Fabregas, Ross Jones)
The Hurricanes have had a strong program for decades, but 80s reliever Mike Armstrong was the best talent the Royals received.
(5) Oklahoma (Danny Jackson, Lindy McDaniel, Mark Redman, Joe Simpson, Bob Shirley, Russ McGinnis, Nick Capra)
Jackson was a big game pitcher in the World Series, Lindy McDaniel spent 21 seasons in the big leagues, but it was Mark Redman who was an All-Star with the Royals.
vs.
(12) Missouri (Aaron Crow)
Crow is a Topeka native who crossed state lines to pitch at Mizzou.
(2) La Verne (Dan Quisenberry)
Located just east of Los Angeles, the University of LaVerne was founded by the Church of the Brethren.
vs.
(15) Florida (Ryan Shealy, Chan Perry)
The Gators also produced Royals farmhands Mark Ellis and Kevin Chapman.
(7) BYU (Wally Joyner, Dane Iorg, Cliff Pastornicky)
Jeremy Guthrie also began his career as a Cougar before finishing up at Stanford.
vs.
(10) Stanford (Jeremy Guthrie, Bob Boone, Steve Hovely, Tony Cogan, Dave Frost, Dave McCarthy, Paul Zuvella, A.J. Hinch, Brian Johnson, Jed Hansen)
A.J. Hinch was a two-time Pac-Ten Player of the Year and Bob Boone is in the Stanford Hall of Fame.
(3) Rutgers (David DeJesus)
The New Jersey native was All-Big East with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
vs.
(14) Longwood (Michael Tucker)
Despite playing for what was at the time a Division II school, Michael Tucker was chosen to play for Team USA in the Barcelona Olympics.
(6) Auburn (Bo Jackson, Joe Beckwith, Gregg Olson, Terry Leach, Tug Hulett)
Bo also played football at Auburn. You may have heard about that.
vs.
(11) Spring Hill College (Blake Stein)
Spring Hill is a Division II Jesuit school located in Mobile Alabama that has produced just two big leaguers, including late 90s Royals reliever Blake Stein.
Consider this your NCAA tournament open thread. Post openings in pick 'em leagues, make predictions, fill out brackets and win a shot at a free subscription to Royals Review!