With Selection Sunday just right over hills and many out there already predicting the brackets, I'd like to talk about seeding. No, not the whole tournament, but let's talk about the No. 1 seeds. The way I see it, we've got three absolute locks for the top seed in the tournament, Syracuse, Kansas, and Kentucky. Those three teams have played the best basketball out of anyone the whole entire year. They were asked to win at home, they did, on the road?, check mate. A few straggles aside, they took care of business and they are sitting pretty right now. Now here's the problem, who is worthy enough to step in and take the fourth no. 1 seed? Let's have a look, shall we?
Ohio State: Since Jan. 12th, The Buckeyes have only lost 2 games by a combined 9 points. They have 6 Top 40 RPI wins including wins at Purdue and at Michigan St. They've already clinched at least a share of the Big 10 title and they have arguably the best player in the country in Evan Turner. A strong performance is expected in the Big 10 tourney and that should be enough to give Ohio State a shot at the fourth no.1 seed.
Purdue: They were all the way there until a season ending ACL tear put their best player, Robbie Hummell, on the shelf for good. Hummell was their heart and soul, a fifth year senior that would do anything to help his team win and it showed everytime he was out on the court. With 6 RPI top 40 wins and at least 2nd place in the Big 10, it was there time. Hopefully they can come together without their leader and finish the job they started.
Kansas State: Winners of 8 out of their last 10(both losses to No.1 Kansas) the Wildcats seem to be peeking at the right time. Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente are playing great ball down the stretch while leading this team to sole possession of 2nd place in The Big 12. An Ohio State slip and a nice showing in the Big 12 Tournament could catapult them to the last spot at the top.
Duke: The loss at Maryland with ACC 1st place implications doesn't exactly help your chances at a no. 1 seed. But the ACC is down this year, UNC is a shadow of last years team and besides Maryland, no other teams in the ACC has double digit wins. Jon Scheyer can lead this team to the ACC tourney title and if he does, The Blue Devils could make a strong case.
Villanova: This team was right at the top. 7 top 50 RPI wins, 2nd place in the Big East, life was pretty good for Nova. Now they've hit a rough spot in their schedule losing 4 of 8 and dropping in the rankings. One more huge regular season game to go(at home against #10 West Virginia) and it's off to the Big East in tourney in New York, where I feel they will have to win it all to get the fourth number one seed.
There you have it, these are five teams I believe have the best shot at the No.1 seed and what needs to happen for them to get there. All of these clubs are talented enough to get the job done that I've set out for them. The question is, who will come out of the knock down-drag out festival they call Championship Week alive? The chaos starts next week and it will not be pretty.
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