Backtime Official Bracket: 2010 Edition

We refer back to Backtime's Bracket rules, established last year in this forum:

1) Print it the day it's released.
2) Free your mind of any personal prejudice.
3) Grab a pen, not a pencil.
4) Fill it out in 5 minutes or less, relying solely on your instincts.

In this day and age, 3 out of 4 are easy. Item #2 is what gets everyone. How do you free your mind of personal prejudice?

Well, it's simple. Just make your alma mater (Syracuse) and the team you regularly cover (Kansas) #1 seeds. Then they'll face off in the National Semifinals and party like it's 2003 (and in the Elite Eight in '96 as well), only with the Blue team prevailing.

There, that's done. I wish this was one of those wide-open tournaments free of top-heavy super conferences, but unfortunately it isn't. I got two #1 seeds, a #2 (West Virginia), and a #3 (Baylor). Two from the Big East, two from the Big 12. And those two conferences own 6 of my Final 8.

I've got only two dark horses in the Sweet 16, #12 UTEP and #11 Minnesota, both on Syracuse's magic carpet out west.

And only one major 1st Round upset, #14 Oakland over #3 Pitt. Ironic, since Pitt's campus is located in a neighborhood called Oakland. Pitt overachieved this year, after being picked 10th in the Big East before the season, and now they get the early exit.

Kansas over West Virginia in the final for their second title in three years. Nothing exciting, sexy, or outside the box. It's where my instincts led me through the stroke of a pen on Selection Sunday. And it's official.