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March Madness Selection Sunday Nears |
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Written by Martin Bishop
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Friday, 14 March 2008 |
Two of the top conferences in the country will take center stage during the NCAA's “Championship Week”, which serves as a build-up to “March Madness”. The Big 12 features two of the top-ten teams in the country in Kansas and Texas, while the SEC contains Tennessee, who briefly held on to the top spot in the nation at one point.
Kansas and Texas split the Big 12 regular-season title for the second time in three seasons, although the Longhorns beat the Jayhawks at home in February to earn the top seed. The Longhorns are steered by the high-scoring guard duo of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams, while Damion James is a bruising body in the post. The Jayhawks have one of the deepest benches in the country, but there has been concerns about their lack of size down low.
 Kansas State are led by arguably the nation's most talented player in Michael Beasley, who became just the second freshman to win the Big 12 Player of the Year award, but the Wildcats are young and can be prone to turnovers in big games. Texas A&M is a solid darkhorse, but the Aggies were very inconsistent over the last month of the season. The Big 12's “Big Two” should progress to the finals, where the Jayhawks will avenge their regular-season loss to the Longhorns and challenge for a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee dropped Memphis back on February 23rd to claim the No.1 spot in the country for the first time in their history, and then promptly lost to Vanderbilt in their next game. The Volunteers are led by senior guard Chris Lofton, while head coach Bruce Pearl is a finalist for national Coach of the Year. Not many people outside of the SEC were talking about Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs have a nice mix of youth and experience, and they are extremely physical, which will bode well in late-game situations as it will allow them to slow the game down.
Kentucky was one of the hottest teams in the nation over the second half of the season, winning 11 of their final 13 games. It will be interesting to see how far the Wildcats can go without injured freshman Patrick Patterson. The aforementioned Commodores won their first 16 games of the season, and Shan Foster is as good a player as anyone in the country. The SEC final should come down to Tennessee and Kentucky, with the Volunteers claiming the conference title and an attractive seed in the “Big Dance”.
For more props and odds on NCAA basketball as we approach “March Madness”, visit BetOnline.com for the most exciting experience in the sports betting industry.
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