Praying for March Madness seeding
Selection Sunday is coming.
‘’The calm before the storm’’ is on as conference tournaments are now underway coming to the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament. It’s all about seedings to those teams hopeful to win the national title by season’s end with their seeds for March secured.
But in leagues such as the Atlantic Sun, Patriot and Sun Belt, it’s winner-take-all. There are no at-large bids, and the teams know that if they want to be in the March spotlight, they must win their league tournament first.
In the Big 12 Conference, the Kansas Jayhawks won the regular-season title by a game over Oklahoma, which lost twice while star big man Blake Griffin was sidelined by a concussion. One of those losses was at home to the Jayhawks. Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma are NCAA locks, while Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State look good for bids.
For the Big East, the Louisville Cardinals won the regular-season title by a game over Connecticut and Pittsburgh. If the Cardinals can also win the league tournament, they’re a good bet for a No.1 seed.
Seven Big East teams; Louisville, second-seeded Pittsburgh, third-seeded Connecticut Huskies, fourth-seeded Villanova, fifth-seeded Marquette, sixth-seeded Syracuse and seventh-seeded West Virginia, are NCAA locks.
The eighth-seeded Providence Friars could play itself into the field, but at a minimum, that would require getting to the semifinals, which would mean a victory over Louisville in the quarterfinals.
Cincinnati, Georgetown and Notre Dame could get firmly onto the bubble if they make it to the tournament final, but nothing we’ve seen from those teams leads us to believe that’s possible. This is the first time all 16 league teams have made the tournament, and teams seeded ninth and above would have to win five games in five days to become tourney champions.
Going to the Pac 10 Conference, Washington won the regular-season title by a game over UCLA. Those two plus Arizona State and California are NCAA locks. Arizona looks fine but the Wildcats sure could ease their worries if they can beat arch rival Arizona State in a quarterfinal face-off. Arizona State swept Arizona for the second season in a row, as the Sun Devils were able to control the tempo against the Wildcats in both meetings.
If the Sun Devils make it 3-0 versus the Wildcats this season, Arizona will be pulling for every other bubble team in the nation to lose, then biting its collective fingernails on Selection Sunday.
The USC Trojans, on the other hand, could play itself into the at-large discussion if it can get to the tournament final. Meanwhile, UCLA and Washington are playing for seeding. If Washington wins the tournament, it likely would end up as a No.3 seed. If the Bruins win it, they’re looking at a No.4 seed.
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Which team will win the 2009 NCAA college basketball national championship? SPORTSBETTING.COM has the odds.
Memphis Tigers 50-1
Kansas Jayhawks 60-1
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