Looking at the #1 seeds in this years NCAA Basketball Tournament leaves me with the question on what the committee was thinking when they put together the brackets. Kansas is the #1 overall team in the nation but was not treated as such. Here is the way I see how the #1 seeds have it in fashion with difficultly…
How do the #1 seeds have it in March Madness?
The fore mentioned Kansas Jayhawks have the hardest road even though they were the #1 ranked team to end the season. Kansas, in the MIDWEST bracket, will have to go through Maryland to get to the elite Eight and will then in probability take on the Georgetown/Ohio State winner. Those two teams are among the best teams playing right now and will give Kansas a tough run to the Final Four.
The West bracket has the Syracuse Orangemen as the #1 seed and they have it pretty good. They should cruise to the Elite Eight where they will probably take on Kansas St. or Pittsburgh. This is a easier matchup than what Kansas has to deal with. Syracuse was lucky to be a #1 seed as they limped into the tournament, but they seemed to get rewarded for it.
The East bracket has the Kentucky Wildcats as the #1 seed. Kentucky is the hottest team in the NCAA right now but have a tough road to the Final Four. They will probably have to face a talented and underachieved Texas team along with Temple on their way to the Elite Eight. If they are fortunate to get there, they will probably face either West Virginia or New Mexico on their way to the Final Four. A tough draw for the red hot Wildcats.
The South bracket has the Duke Blue Devils as the #1 seed. Duke has the easiest road to the elite eight and should make it with not much of a problem. There, they will probably face either Villanova or Baylor. Not a bad draw by any means. If Duke can get there, they should be the freshest team in the Final Four.
While all this is speculation and prediction, I see Duke having the easiest road to the Final Four followed by Syracuse, Kentucky and Kansas. We will have to see how this all plays out, but I am ready to see it. MARCH MADNESS is only a couple of days away.
Kentucky became number 1 in the pools this week and promptly showed why they did not deserve to be there. South Carolina (12-8,3-3 in the SEC) handed the Wildcats(19-1,4-1) a 68-62 loss last night. The Gamecocks outplayed and out rebounded the recently crowned number 1 team in the nation. Their stay will be short and they should fall more than a couple of spots…
South Carolina was lead by Devan Downey, who poured in 30 points and kept the Kentucky defense off balance all night long. Kentucky was lead by Demarcus cousins who had 27 points to go along with their 12 rebounds. Kentucky seemed to have the number one let down and must learn to be more focused down the stretch when they are on the road. Kentucky’s resume’ of victories is less than impressive which makes this loss not that much of a surprise to me.
Kentucky has one real signature win to their credit. They had a road victory in Connecticut. They also do have a another victory over North Carolina but that is less credible now considering the recent play of the Tar Heels. They were overrated 19-0 and if you look at their schedule , you will know what I mean. I want to see how they respond to the rest of the season when their schedule gets tougher and the rigors of travel come into play.
So, who should be number 1 now. My vote would go to the Syracuse Orangemen. Syracuse is coming off their fresh demolition of Georgetown 74-57 on Monday night. The Orange(20-1,7-1) have been impressive all season long. They have victories over Cal by 22,NC by 16,at Florida by 12 and at West Virginia by 1. They have more impressive victories than the other two teams ahead of them, Kansas and Villanova. Kansas (19-1) sports victories over Temple and Baylor with their loss coming at a under manned Tennessee squad.Nova (18-1,7-0) has victories over Dayton and Georgetown and loss at Temple.
It is hard to determine exactly who is the best team in the nation right know, but it looks to me to be Syracuse. They have had the most impressive victories so far this year and the teams ahead of them can’t measure up to their victory resume’ thus far. I would bump them up from number four and put them to the top of the pools. I am not a big fan of the pools, but it does give sports fans something to debate about. The real season begins in March, there is nothing better than the tournament. Can’t wait for MARCH MADNESS.
The college bowl schedule kicks off today with two opening games on the schedule as Wyoming meets Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl and Central Florida hooks up with Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl. College football fans will be treated to 34 games over 20 days culminating with Alabama and Texas deciding this year’s national champions.
This year’s matchups pair what appear to be some with three teams favored by double-digit spreads and twelve team favored by a touchdown or more. While Vegas is seeing a lot of mismatches, there appears to be some great upsets brewing. I am projecting right now seven underdogs achieving outright victories and sixteen underdogs covering the spread.
My biggest underdog covers include SMU, Boston College, Northwestern, East Carolina and Boise State. My biggest underdog outright victories are Texas A&M and Stanford.
Bowl
Matchup
Spread
Winner
Cover
New Mexico Bowl
Wyoming vs. Fresno State
Fresno State by 11
Fresno State
Fresno State
St. Petersburg Bowl
Central Florida vs. Rutgers
EVEN
Central Florida
Central Florida
New Orleans Bowl
Middle Tenn St vs.Southern Miss
Southern Miss by 4
Southern Miss
Middle Tenn St
Las Vegas Bowl
BYU vs. Oregon State
Oregon State by 3
BYU
BYU
Poinsettia Bowl
Utah vs. California
EVEN
Utah
Utah
Hawaii Bowl
SMU vs. Nevada
Nevada by 15
Nevada
SMU
Little Caesars Bowl
Ohio vs. Marshall
Ohio by 3
Ohio
Ohio
Meineke Care Bowl
North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh by 3
Pitt
North Carolina
Emerald Bowl
Boston College vs. USC
USC by 9
USC
BC
Music City Bowl
Kentucky vs. Clemson
Clemson by 7½
Clemson
Clemson
Independence Bowl
Texas A&M vs. Georgia
Georgia by 7
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Eagle Bank Bowl
UCLA vs. Temple
EVEN
Temple
Temple
Champs Sports Bowl
Wisconsin vs. Miami
Miami by 3
Miami
Miami
Humanitarian Bowl
Bowling Green vs. Idaho
Bowling Green by 2
Bowling Green
Bowling Green
Holiday Bowl
Nebraska vs. Arizona
Arizona by 1½
Nebraska
Nebraska
Armed Forces Bowl
Air Force vs. Houston
Houston by 4½
Air Force
Air Force
Sun Bowl
Stanford vs. Oklahoma
Oklahoma by 8
Stanford
Stanford
Texas Bowl
Navy vs. Missouri
EVEN
Navy
Navy
Insight Bowl
Iowa State vs. Minnesota
Minnesota by 3
Minnesota
Minnesota
Chick Fil-A Bowl
Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech by 4½
Virginia Tech
Tennessee
Outback Bowl
Northwestern vs. Auburn
Auburn by 7½
Auburn
Northwestern
Capital One Bowl
LSU vs. Penn St.
Penn St. by 3
Penn State
Penn State
Gator Bowl
Florida State vs. West Virginia
West Virginia by 3
West Virginia
West Virginia
Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs. Oregon
Oregon by 3½
Oregon
Oregon
Sugar Bowl
Cincinnati vs. Florida
Florida by 11
Florida
Florida
International Bowl
Northern Illinois vs. South Florida
South Florida by 7
South Florida
South Florida
Papa John’s Bowl
Connecticut vs. South Carolina
South Carolina by 4½
Connecticut
Connecticut
Cotton Bowl
Mississippi vs. Oklahoma State
Mississippi by 3
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
Liberty Bowl
Arkansas vs. East Carolina
Arkansas by 8
Arkansas
East Carolina
Alamo Bowl
Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Texas Tech by 8
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl
Boise State vs. TCU
TCU by 7
TCU
Boise State
Orange Bowl
Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech by 4
Georgia Tech
Iowa
Gmac Bowl
Troy vs. Central Michigan
Central Michigan by 3
Central Michigan
Central Michigan
BCS Championship
Texas vs. Alabama
Alabama by 5
Alabama
Alabama
Looking at conference performance, here’s how I see it playing out:
Bowl
Matchup
Atlantic Coast
4-3
Big East
4-2
Big Ten
2-4
Big 12
4-4
C-USA
2-4
Mountain West
4-1
Pac-10
3-4
Southeastern
4-6
Western Athletic
2-2
The SEC might be the power conference, but they got some unfavorable matchup. I think the Big 12 and Big East are going to surprise some opponents. The Mountain West is going to do some damage and really stoke the argument that they deserve an automatic BCS invite.
As for the National Championship game, I am seeing a major blowout. Given Texas’ performance against ranked opponents and closing out its season on some very poor play, this just seems like a mismatch of grand proportion. TCU and Cincinnati were much more deserving of a spot in the Championship Game and Alabama is going to apply a major smackdown that will likely drop Colt McCoy’s NFL stock drop tremendously when he loses the game single-handedly.
Overall, this bowl season looks to be exciting. We have a lot of underdogs with solid shots at upsets which should make the next 20 days enjoyable for all to watch.
The college bowl schedule kicks off today with two opening games on the schedule as Wyoming meets Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl and Central Florida hooks up with Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl. College football fans will be treated to 34 games over 20 days culminating with Alabama and Texas deciding this year’s national champions.