Let’s be honest, if you didn’t pick Kansas in your bracket to win it all, it was for some reason aside from a belief that they were not the best team in the country.\u00a0 There are plenty of respectable reasons (you were in a big pool and wanted to go the non-popular route, you thought that they had a tougher road, you just don’t like Bill Self, etc.), but if you know anything about college hoops and I gave you truth serum and said “who is the best team?”\u00a0you would answer Kansas.\u00a0 But, sixteen teams still have a shot at the 2010 national championship and KU is not one of them.\u00a0 So, who’s the favorite now?<\/p>\n
Instead of a Top Twelve, we’re going to do a Top Sixteen because, well, there are 16 teams left.\u00a0 So, here it is–one man’s opinion of the order of the remaining teams by their chance to cut down the nets in two weeks.<\/p>\n
16). Michigan St.<\/strong>\u00a0 It is never, EVER a good idea to pick against Tom Izzo when talking about anything<\/em>.\u00a0 But, I did it in my bracket, and I’m going to do it again here.\u00a0 The team was just a\u00a0bit too dysfunctional even with their best player, Kalin Lucas.\u00a0 But, even with a nice Sweet Sixteen draw (N. Iowa), without Lucas this team is not <\/em>going to win the title.\u00a0 Then again, I\u00a0went against Izzo with New Mexico St.,\u00a0so don’t listen to me.<\/p>\n 15).\u00a0Xavier<\/strong>.\u00a0 I love the A-10.\u00a0 I think Xavier is very, very good.\u00a0 I think they deserve\u00a0to be here in the Sweet Sixteen.\u00a0 (By the way, there are only two teams in this year’s\u00a0Sweet Sixteen that\u00a0are making their third straight trip to this round–and I ranked them as\u00a0the two teams with the worst chances to win the title, Xavier and Michigan St.)\u00a0 But, the Musketeers just aren’t that talented outside of Jordan Crawford–who is a complete\u00a0stud.\u00a0 And, they have a brutal road to just get out of their region, with K-State on Thursday night and maybe Syracuse on Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0They really have a very long shot\u00a0to win it all, but nonetheless, another great season for the X.<\/p>\n 14). Washington<\/strong>.\u00a0 Great job by the Huskies to beat two very solid teams\u00a0and reach the Sweet Sixteen, giving the Pac-10 a little vindication after a historically poor season for the proud conference.\u00a0 And, despite their 11-seed, they most certainly have the talent to be here.\u00a0 However, their road through the\u00a0East Regional is not going to be pretty,\u00a0as they start with West Virginia and then maybe Kentucky.\u00a0 I\u00a0wouldn’t rule it out because of their talent, but it’ll be a big surprise if UW even makes the trip to Indianapolis, let alone wins two games while they’re there.<\/p>\n 13). Northern Iowa<\/strong>.\u00a0 The team that beat Kansas\u00a0has a shot to ride that to\u00a0being more than just a nice story.\u00a0 No, I don’t think that the Panthers would beat KU in a 7-game series.\u00a0 But, do\u00a0I think it was a total shock that they beat the Jayhawks?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 They were grossly under-seeded (as I said before the first round started) and\u00a0Sweet Sixteen good.\u00a0 Did I think they’d get here when the brackets were announced?\u00a0 Of course not, but they are this good.\u00a0 And, they are good enough to win four more games–trust me.\u00a0 However, the road isn’t\u00a0going to be easy (despite drawing a beat-up MSU team in the\u00a0Sweet Sixteen).\u00a0 They still do rely heavily on the three-ball and do not have a dominant big man (I think Egelseder is a bit overrated),\u00a0and they probably just won’t have the horses to cut down the nets in Indy.\u00a0 But, it’s not\u00a0crazy to think that they could.<\/p>\n 12). Butler<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Butler Bulldogs had a nice win over UTEP and then knocked off a feisty Murray St. team to get here.\u00a0 Now, the level of competition just took a\u00a0huge step up.\u00a0 They have Syracuse on Thursday and the K-State\/Xavier winner on Saturday.\u00a0 I think Butler is a nice team, and probably better than some of the teams above them on this list right now,\u00a0but the West Region is pretty tough right now, and I don’t think they have what it takes to even get to Indy.\u00a0 Then again, it wouldn’t surprise\u00a0me that much–they have won 24 straight games.<\/p>\n 11). Purdue<\/strong>.\u00a0 My first thought was to put them dead-last on this list.\u00a0 My next thought was “if they still had Hummel, they might be FIRST on this list.”\u00a0\u00a0Then, I thought, “they\u00a0beat Siena and a tough Texas A&M team to get here without Hummel, so maybe\u00a0he’s not Michael Jordan.”\u00a0 This is still a\u00a0very\u00a0talented team and now they’re playing with house\u00a0money.\u00a0 They are still battle-tested through a tough Big Ten schedule and can still beat just about anyone in the country.\u00a0 Plus, they have a bit of a soft South Regional to get through.\u00a0 I wouldn’t be shocked to see them frustrate Duke and then\u00a0overwhelm Baylor to get to the Final Four.\u00a0 But, then again, they are missing their best player.<\/p>\n 10). St. Mary’s<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0was as impressed by St. Mary’s as I was by any team\u00a0last weekend.\u00a0 They manhandled two very good teams and did it their way.\u00a0 They pounded the ball down low to their legit big man, Omar Samhan, and hit jumpers when teams sagged.\u00a0 They\u00a0also get to go\u00a0through a relatively unimpressive South Regional right now, so anything can happen.\u00a0 This is the first of the 16 teams mentioned that I really feel have a legit shot at winning this tournament right now.\u00a0 The\u00a0first six mentioned would be a bit of a surprise, but\u00a0now we’re getting to the real contenders.<\/p>\n 9). Cornell<\/strong>.\u00a0 After watching them play Temple and\u00a0Wisconsin, how\u00a0do you beat them?\u00a0 No, really.\u00a0 Based on the first two rounds of this\u00a0thing, the Big Red should probably be #1 on this list.\u00a0 But, they are still an Ivy League team.\u00a0 They still just do not have the athletes that schools that can\u00a0offer scholarships have.\u00a0 They are still a 12-seed whose best win before last week\u00a0was\u00a0road win at Harvard.\u00a0 But, looking at\u00a0team\u00a0construction, they have the pieces.\u00a0 They have a legit 7-footer with size and strength.\u00a0 They have\u00a0two wings who will play professionally somewhere after their college careers.\u00a0 And, they have 8 seniors who have been preparing for this exact moment for\u00a0almost one-fifth of the time they\u00a0have been on this planet.\u00a0 Maybe I’m a jaded Temple fan looking for justification of the Friday debacle, but I think the Big Red can win this thing.\u00a0 The whole f’ing thing.<\/p>\n 8). Tennessee.<\/strong>\u00a0 Talent-wise this team might be the worst team left in the field.\u00a0 But, somehow, some way, their coach has got them do all the right things (as usual), and with Kansas out of this region, they have a legitimate shot to get to Indy, where anything can happen.\u00a0 One win over Ohio St. in the Sweet Sixteen will almost definitely make them a favorite in the Elite Eight (against Michigan St. or N. Iowa), so who knows?\u00a0 Do I think they will beat the Buckeyes?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But, after the job he’s done this year, I’m starting to think that Bruce Pearl can do anything.<\/p>\n 7). Baylor.<\/strong>\u00a0 If you had told me that this would be the Sweet Sixteen, I would tell you that Baylor might be the favorite to win it all.\u00a0 But, I watching both Baylor games, and they were not impressive.\u00a0 I also saw both St. Mary’s games and the Duke-Cal game and those two teams flat-out played better than the Bears.\u00a0 Yes, they are in Houston, but they will need to bring a better version of themselves to Reliant Stadium if they want to go to Indy.\u00a0 Then again, they had the talent to win it all when the tournament started and they survived the first weekend, so you have to think they are still a favorite.<\/p>\n 6). West Virginia.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>And, now we get to the elite contenders for this title.\u00a0 Despite the clear fraudalence of the Big East, I still think West Virginia is a championship-caliber team.\u00a0 They may not like their matchup with Kentucky in the Elite Eight, but their matchup with Washington is pretty good in the Sweet Sixteen, and it’s not crazy to think that they might get Cornell in the Elite Eight.\u00a0 Oh, and they do have the best clutch-scorer in the country this year in Da’Sean Butler.<\/p>\n 5). Kansas State.<\/strong>\u00a0 K-State hammered N. Texas and then beat a really good BYU team that was Sweet Sixteen good with a legit seed.\u00a0 This Wildcat team is for real.\u00a0 As much as I love the A-10 and the “little guy,” I am kind of rooting against Xavier and Butler because I cannot wait to put my feet up on Saturday and watch Syracuse – K State.\u00a0 There might not be a possible matchup to which I am more looking forward.\u00a0 This team is a legit title contender.<\/p>\n 4). Kentucky.<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, they won by 29 and 30.\u00a0 They are supremely talented.\u00a0 But, it’s not the blowout games against a completely inferior team (E. Tennessee St.) or a completely dysfunctional team (Wake Forest) that is going to remind us that these guys are all freshmen.\u00a0 It’s the close games.\u00a0 It’s the games that are tied with 6 minutes left.\u00a0 It’s the games where the opposition slows the ball down and takes them out of what they know.\u00a0 It’s the games against a team like…well…Cornell.\u00a0 Or West Virginia.\u00a0 It wasn’t the matchups in New Orleans that should worry UK fans.\u00a0 And, honestly, it might not even be the matchups in Indy.\u00a0 It’s probably these matchups in Syracuse that should worry Ashley Judd and company.\u00a0 Cornell can frustrate them and annoy them and make them feel the pressure.\u00a0 West Virginia could also.\u00a0 That is why, despite their immense talent, I think that there are three teams with a better chance of taking home the hardware this year than Kentucky.\u00a0 Well, that and the fact that I’m sure these wins will be vacated eventually anyway.\u00a0 And, then Calipari will somehow be hired to succeed Coach K.<\/p>\n 3). Syracuse.<\/strong>\u00a0 I love this Syracuse team’s chances at the title.\u00a0 I have from the beginning.\u00a0 But, their road is still tough.\u00a0 Kansas being cleared from their half is nice, but Butler is no picnic in the Sweet Sixteen and K-State is a HUGE potential roadblock in the Elite Eight.\u00a0 Nevertheless, they have the talent to beat anyone at any time.\u00a0 I was very, VERY close to having them as #1, but in the end, I was just too scared of them getting out of Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n 2). Duke.<\/strong>\u00a0 Now, let me set the record straight here.\u00a0 I do not think that Duke is one of the two best teams left in the tournament.\u00a0 I also do not think that they have a great team or are playing exceptionally well right now or anything.\u00a0 Nor do I want to type this at all.\u00a0 But…for sake of this list and my (unfortunate) opinion, I think that Duke is probably the second most likely team to win this title.\u00a0 As someone I was with said this weekend, “this just feels like the kind of year that Duke would win it.”\u00a0 I have to agree, unfortunately.\u00a0 Look at their draw now.\u00a0 Nova–the team that beat them last year–is gone.\u00a0 Baylor has been shaky.\u00a0 And, their Sweet Sixteen draw is Purdue without Hummel, who is probably just happy to be here.\u00a0 They have three legit rebounders, three other legit scorers, a great coach, and, as always, a very solid defense.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we might be looking at another Duke championship.\u00a0 God, I hope I’m wrong.<\/p>\n 1). Ohio St.<\/strong>\u00a0 The one thing that is probably the most important factor overlooked with all these upsets in the first two rounds is that it took the best Region and turned it completely upside-down.\u00a0 Everyone was talking about how crazy tough the Midwest was when the brackets came out, but look at the four remaining teams.\u00a0 Missouri Valley team and 9-seed, N. Iowa.\u00a0 And, two middling big-conference teams without their best players (Lucas due to injury, Tyler Smith due to suspension).\u00a0 All of a sudden, the seas parted and they’re just inviting Ohio St. to walk to Indy.\u00a0 And, once they get there, they will be as big of a favorite as anyone because they will always have the\u00a0best player on the floor.\u00a0 All told, the team that many people had going out in the Sweet Sixteen or, at the very latest, the Elite Eight, is now the odds-on favorite to win the whole thing, mostly thanks to Ohio University and the University of Northern Iowa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let’s be honest, if you didn’t pick Kansas in your bracket to win it all, it was for some reason aside from a belief that they were not the best team in the country.\u00a0 There are plenty of respectable reasons … Continue reading