The ninth seeded Kent State Golden Flashes are the MAC's highest seed in the NCAA tournament in 12 years. It has been five years since the MAC has won a game in the Big Dance and Kent State laid an egg the last time they were there.
This year, however, the Golden Flashes have the potential to be a Cinderella because they are a team that likes to get out and guard.
Kent State held their own in the MAC this season which had some tough competition for once. Kent's signature win was against St. Mary's, when they had to travel out west in the Bracketbuster game.
Their first round opponent UNLV is not particularly good offensively whereas the Flashes get scoring from a variety of places. The MAC player of the year, Al Fisher, is the team leader in scoring and forward Haminn Quaintance is a 6-8 senior who is a tough matchup for other teams. The Flashes are as good in the paint as they are shooting the deep ball, which will help them against UNLV who can defend the three.
I believe the Flashes will win this game and pull off a shocker against Kansas in the second round.
Kansas is a team that historically has trouble getting through the first few rounds and they might be exhausted after facing some tough teams in the Big 12 tourney. The Flashes can matchup well in this game with Quaintance going up against Darrell Arthur. Especially if Arthur follows his tendency to get into foul trouble.
If Kent State does get to the Sweet 16, the sky is the limit as they go to Detroit which is a good draw for them.
The Kent State fans will not have far to travel to watch the team's Cinderella run.
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