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It’s that time of year again. March Madness, College Basketball’s annual tournament filled with the Davids taking on the Goliaths, Cinderella stories, dominating performances, emerging stars and all the thrills and chills we’ve come to love from the NCAA’s 64-team tournament that culminates with one undisputed champion. With that in mind, we at Tuff Stuff’s Sports Collectors Monthly pay homage to March Madness with our own Bracketology 2010 tournament.

While our format is a little different, the premise is the same: determining the best of the best. In this year’s “Sweet 16,” we look at some of the more mainstream rookie cards from 1979-1999. The criteria: price, design, hobby relevance and “sizzle,” as in a certain current and extraordinary appeal. Each of the “Big 4” sports must have at least two representatives and a player can only appear once.

We then handed over the rookie cards to our renowned bracketologist/author Doug Koztoski, who seeded 1-16 to set our matchups. He then used the criteria described to determine who advanced through the brackets, ultimately leaving us with one champion.

We realize that selecting a field such as this is very subjective and many of our readers may disagree with his choices, but we came up with a way to let our readers’ voices be heard and we’ll provide you with a chance to win some great prizes in exchange for your participation.

We’ve secured five of the best rookie cards from this year’s Bracketology 2010 from our tournament sponsors (Title sponsor Clean Sweep Auctions along with All-Star Cards, Jim and Steve’s Baseball Cards, Bud’s Sports Cards & Collectibles and Kruk Cards) and five lucky voters will win one of these great rookie cards at the tournament’s conclusion.

Our Bracketology 2010 voting is live now and runs through the week of April 5 when we’ll announce the final results, announce the reader’s choice for a Rookie Card champion and announce the names of the winning voters. The more you vote the more chances you have to win. Please vote below.

Those who vote are eligible to win some of the great rookie cards featured in the pairings, including a 1984 Topps Dan Marino, 1981 Topps Joe Montana, 1986 Topps Jerry Rice and 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr., among others. The Grand-Prize Winner will receive a (PSA 6), with the RCs listed above being given away to voters as runner-up prizes. Vote now and check the schedule below to see the upcoming matchups and vote for your favorites along the way until a champion is determined. Remember, you're voting for the card and not the player. Also, the more votes you make, the better your chances to win one of these all-time great rookie cards.

Elite 8 Matchups
No. 1 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan vs. No. 8 Topps USFL Steve Young
No 4 UD Ken Griffey Jr. vs. No. 5 1980-81 Topps Bird/Magic/Dr. J

To Vote On This Matchup Now, Click HERE

To View Voting Results Now, Click HERE


Bracketology 2010
Voting Schedule

To Vote For Your Favorite Rookie Card
(Unlimited Voting)
Week of Jan. 19: Jordan vs. A-Rod: Jan 19 weekly winner: Michael Jordan, advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here.
Week of Jan. 25: Steve Young vs. Kobe: Jan. 25 winner: Steve Young, advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here
Week of Feb. 1: Griffey Jr. vs. Emmitt: Feb. 1 winner: Ken Griffey Jr. advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here
Week of Feb. 8: Bird/Magic vs. Marino Feb. 8 winner: Bird/Magic/Dr. J advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here
Week of Feb. 15: Manning vs. Jeter Feb. 15 winner:  Derek Jeter advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here)
Week of Feb. 22: Montana vs. Lemieux Feb. 22 winner: Joe Montana advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here)
Week of March 1: Gretzky vs. Favre March 1 winner: Wayne Gretzky advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here
Week of March 8: Ripken vs. Rice Winner: Jerry Rice advances to Elite 8 (to view voting results, click here
Week of March 15: (2) Elite-8 Matchups
Week of March 22: (2) Elite-8 Matchups
Week of March 29: (2) Final 4 Matchups
Week of April 5: Championship Matchup