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Posted Mar 19, 2013

Jordan Beane Producer Chargers.com Twitter Facebook

Few things captivate, or cause a bigger drop in worker productivity, than March Madness. About the only thing that can make the three week tournament more exciting (other than correctly picking that Cinderella school to make it to the Elite Eight) is to have your team playing in it. 22 Chargers players will be donning their school’s colors starting Thursday in hopes that their alma mater makes a deep run. With that, let’s take a closer look at who’ll have locker room bragging rights when OTA’s begin.

Teams with most Chargers – tie (Missouri, Michigan and San Diego St.)

Mizzou, the 9 seed in the Midwest, are represented here in Murphy Canyon by wideout Danario Alexander and linebacker Andrew Gachkar.

The South’s 4^th seed, Michigan, is supported by a few offensive linemen in Steve Schilling and 1^st year center David Molk.

Finally the hometown Aztecs (7^th seeded in the South) will have receiver Vincent Brown and offensive lineman Brandyn Dombrowski pulling for them.

Highest Seeds Represented – tie (Louisville and Kansas)

Two basketball powerhouses that each earned a number one seed also have put out some pretty good football players. Cornerback Johnny Patrick played for Louisville from 2007 to 2010 while safety/special teams standout Darrell Stuckey is a former Jayhawk.

Lowest Seed Represented – New Mexico State

Long snapper Kyle Nelson’s New Mexico State Aggies are a 13 seed in the tournament and will face a tough road to advance to the Sweet 16.

Quickest to Bragging Rights – Tie

No Chargers’ schools will square off in the first round but two possibilities for potential bragging rights stand out in the second round. With a 1 seed having never lost to a 16 seed we can safely move Stuckey’s Kansas on to the next round where they would meet defensive tackle Cam Thomas’ North Carolina Tarheels in the South region. Meanwhile in the West receiver Micheal Spurlock will be rooting hard for 12^th seeded Ole Miss to pull off the upset where they’re likely to face tackle Jeromey Clary’s Kansas State Wildcats.

Best Chance to Wear an “NCAA Champions” Shirt to Chargers Park – Johnny Patrick

Signed this offseason, Patrick may not have any trouble finding items to decorate his new locker. The New York Times 538 blog says that Louisville has the best chance to win the tournament (the blog was extremely accurate in predicting the past two tourney winners) and 11 of ESPN’s 13 analysts see the Cardinals heading to the Final Four.