Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse projected No. 1 seeds in NCAA tournament

[clevfan]

Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse projected No. 1 seeds in NCAA tournament

March 08, 2010|By Andrea Adelson, From the Press Box
orlandosentinel.com

With less than a week to go before the NCAA tournament field is announced, let us take a look at the projected No. 1 seeds as of today, and handicap their chances of winning the national championship.

Duke (26-5): This is the shakiest of the four No. 1 seeds. Losing to Maryland earlier in the week did not help their cause, but the Blue Devils sneak in today after Kansas State hurt itself with a loss to Iowa State. But Duke is most likely going to have to win the ACC tournament in order to solidify a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

What makes Duke the team to beat? Duke has played 21 games against teams ranked in the RPI top 100 and are ranked No. 2 in RPI. The Blue Devils have one of the best backcourts in the country with Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith. The two are averaging a combined 36.5 points and 8.2 assists per game. Kyle Singler has been fantastic, too.

Kansas (29-2): Online oddsmakers at sportsbook.com have the Jayhawks a 2-1 favorite to win the NCAA tournament. They most likely will return to No. 1 in the polls after Syracuse lost on Saturday. Kansas, the preseason No. 1 in team in the country, has held the top spot in the polls for all but four weeks this season. Sherron Collins has been dynamic, averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 assists and is the bona fide leader of the team. He should be – Collins is a senior who has logged plenty of playing time in his career.

What makes Kansas the team to beat? The Jayhawks go into the Big 12 tournament ranked No. 1 in RPI with a strength-of-schedule ranking of 8, according to Real Time RPI. They are experienced, with the senior Collins and junior Cole Aldrich as the marquee players of the team. They know what it takes to win come tournament time.

Kentucky (29-2): The Wildcats are more than back in the first season under coach John Calipari, thanks to his phenom freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe. The trio is averaging 43.2 points a game, leading them to 14 league wins for the first time since 2005. But the team is very young, and that could hurt come NCAA tournament time.

What makes Kentucky the team to beat? How many "old" teams are there in college basketball, anyway? Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe are incredibly athletic, and the Wildcats have a chance to run many teams out of the tournament. Online oddsmakers have Kentucky with 3-1 odds to win it all.

Syracuse (28-3): The Orange go into the Big East tournament off a loss to Louisville but they are still the team to beat for the conference title. Amazing to think that Syracuse was not even ranked in the preseason Top 25. But Wes Johnson has been a force in his first season, after transferring from Iowa St. The 6-foot-7 junior forward is averaging 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and was just named to the all-conference team. Of course, he is not alone in making Syracuse go. Johnson is one of five players averaging double figures for Syracuse.

What makes the Orange the team to beat: They play in the toughest conference in the country, against the likes of Villanova, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Georgetown. Play against the best makes you tough. Online oddsmakers have Syracuse with 4-1 odds to win it all.

One week from now, we will be dissecting NCAA brackets while going on about who got snubbed. But first, we have an entire week of conference tournament madness to keep us busy. Who to watch? The Gators (20-11), who need to win at least one game in the SEC tournament to get back to the NCAA tourney for the first time since winning the national championship in 2007. UF earned the No. 4 seed in the East and will play Auburn, the No. 5 seed in the West, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Nashville (TV: SEC Network). Auburn, you will remember, ended the Gators' NCAA hopes last year in the SEC tournament.

On the rise

Kansas State coach Frank Martin received a three-year contract extension through the 2014-15 season, boosting his salary from $760,000 to $1.2 million a year. Martin has the Wildcats as the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament and was named the conference's coach of the year. Meanwhile, Jon Scheyer of Duke, Grevis Vasquez of Maryland, John Wall of Kentucky, Sherron Collins of Kansas, Scottie Reynolds of Villanova, and Evan Turner of Ohio State were selected as the six finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given the nation's top point guard.

On the decline

Is this the final week on the job for Oregon coach Ernie Kent? A TV station in Oregon reported that Kent has already been told this season is his last, but neither Kent nor athletic director Mike Bellotti would confirm the report. Bellotti said he would address the situation around the Pac-10 tournament, which begins Wednesday. Kent, who has been with the Ducks for 13 seasons, has taken them to the NCAA tournament five times. But Oregon has struggled the last two seasons, finishing 10th in the Pac-10 in 2009 and ninth this season (going 15-15, 7-11 in conference). The Pac-10 has fallen on hard times this season, with the possibility that only one team will qualify for the NCAA tournament.

[coloradobuff95]

going to be alot of parity this year in tournament i think. Going to have to check out sportsbook.com to see if there are some juicy odds on middle of pack teams.