NCAA Basketball: Four #One Seeds
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With Selection Sunday only two days away, it’s time to figure out who will be the one seeds in the big dance this year. It’s a little harder this year than most as this whole season has been pretty topsy-turvy as far as who have been the dominate teams have been. With only the conference tournaments left to go, the contenders and pretenders have revealed themselves in different ways.
March Madness Betting: Locked in at #1
Kansas Jayhawks (30-2, 15-1 in Big 12)
Kansas has arguably been the best team in the college ranks the whole season only losing at Tennessee and at Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks have a championship pedigree, having won the NCAA title two years ago and are led by Senior point guard, Sherron Collins and Junior center, Cole Aldrich. Experience at the point guard position and in the paint make a deep run in the tournament significantly easier.
The duo is supported by a couple of extremely talented wings in freshman sensation, Xavier Henry and emerging sophomore forward, Marcus Morris. All four averages in double figures and are surrounded by a group of experienced role players. Kansas is a lock for the one seed and are likely to get the top seed overall.
Kentucky Wildcats (30-2, 14-2 in SEC)
The Kentucky Wildcats are the other lock for a one seed even if they falter in the conference tournament. Kentucky is the polar opposite team of Kansas in that they are led by youth instead of experience. Freshmen G John Wall, G Eric Bledsoe and PF DeMarcus Cousins have dominated the competition for most of the season with their only losses being at Tennessee and at South Carolina.
Junior center Patrick Patterson is the lone hold-over from the previous regime, but Coach John Calipari uses him as a leader on and off the court. Patterson and Cousins provide for a dynamic front court with size, strength, exceptional rebounding (10.1 Cousins, 7.5 Patterson) and superior scoring ability (15.6 points; Cousins, 14.9 points; Patterson). The guard play has been exceptional from John Wall who is the odds on favorite to be number one overall in this summer’s NBA Draft. Look for Coach Cal to take another team deep into the NCAA tournament as Kentucky plays well beyond their years.
5dimes review: The Rest
The other teams in Division One are really playing for a 1A and 1B seed because Kansas and Kentucky are by far the elite teams this year.
But we need four number one seeds. There have been a bunch of good candidates, but many have been knocked off that pedestal in recent days. Here’s the list of teams that couldn’t make the cut.
Purdue Boilermakers (26-4, 14-4 in Big Ten)
Purdue lost its top player, Robbie Hummel to a season-ending knee injury late in the season. Up until that point, Purdue looked like a one seed and a sweep of the Big Ten tournament would still get them there, but without Hummel, Purdue is not an elite team. They’re still very good, but not a one seed.
Kansas State Wildcats (25-6, 11-5 in Big 12)
K-State looked like a one seed until they dropped their last two regular season games to Kansas, in blowout fashion, and in overtime to lowly Iowa State. K-State will make an argument if they can sweep their way through the Big 12 tourney, but they will likely be destined for a two seed.
Ohio State Buckeyes (25-7, 14-4 in Big 12)
Ohio State lost potential player of the year, Evan Turner, to a fractured vertebrae early in the season for six games. The Buckeyes struggled without him and their seven losses are due to his inability to play for them at full strength for a lot of the season. 
Now with Turner playing like a man possessed (and knocking down a game winning 40-footer a couple hours ago at the buzzer to edge Michigan), Ohio State may be the most dangerous two seed in the dance. Their seven losses will likely keep them from a top seed.
March Madness Odds: Final Two #1 Seeds
Syracuse Orange: (28-4, 15-3 in Big East)
Despite losing their last two games of the season, at Louisville with little to play for and everything at stake for the Cardinals, and in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to Georgetown, the Orange will still get a one seed. In the game against Georgetown, the Orange lost center Arinze Onuaku to a knee injury and promptly lost control of the game to sophomore sensation, Georgetown forward, Greg Monroe. It is too bad because Onuaku held Monroe in check for most of the contest.
If Onuaku is seriously hurt, the Orange will be in trouble, but preliminary tests were negative. He is getting an MRI today. Now with added rest due to that loss, Syracuse will represent the Big East this year as the lone one seed from the conference.
Duke Blue Devils: (27-5, 13-3 in ACC)
The Dukies will get to be the final one seed this year. Led by senior guard, Jon Scheyer, Duke has dominated ACC competition and have looked like one of the best shooting teams in recent memory. C Brian Zoubek has played big minutes for the Blue Devils in the second half of the season and has become a force to reckon with underneath and added a dimension to the Blue Devils it has sorely needed for years; an inside/outside game. Look for Coach K to take his guys deep in the tournament again as a weak ACC has given Duke a one seed, making the path that much easier.
Make no mistake however; this team can be beaten by a team with better athleticism, as Duke’s weakness has been athleticism since the days of Boozer and Battier almost a decade ago now.
