BIG XII GETS FIVE DATES TO THE DANCE

COLORADO SNUBBED

    Only five teams from the Big XII were invited Sunday to the NCAA tournament when the selection committee turned its nose up on Colorado (21-13, 8-8). The Buffaloes have accepted a #1 Seed in the NIT and will meet #8 Seed Texas Southern (19-12, 16-2 SWAC) in a first round game.

    Despite going 6-6 against NCAA invitees, including three wins against 5^th-seeded Kansas State and a home win over then #1 Texas, CU's strong showing late in the season failed to impress the voters. Virginia Commonwealth and Southern Cal, as two of the last four teams invited, will "play in" for an 11^th seed. VCU was 3-6 against tournament-bound teams, including an early home win against UCLA; and USC was 5-5 against teams in the field, including wins over Texas, Arizona and UCLA. Both had marginally worse power ratings (RPI + SOS) than Colorado. Clemson (21-11, 9-7 ACC) and UAB (22-8, 12-4 C-USA) were the last two "in" and play Tuesday for the 12^th slot in the East Regional. The Tigers were 3-7 against NCAA tournament teams, with all seven losses coming against the cream of the ACC. The Blazers, with a better power rating than the Buffs, lost in the finals of the C-USA tournament and went just 1-4 against tournament seeds, the only win coming against VCU, another "play-in" selection.

    [In my "mock" bracket, I had CU as a 9^th seed, based primarily the quality of their big wins. I did not have Penn State, VCU, or USC making the field of 68.]    

    As expected, Kansas received a #1 Seed and will head for coach Bill Self's Tulsa stomping grounds to face 16^th seeded Boston University (21-13, 12-4 America East) in the Southwest Regional.

When the Jayhawks bring their "A" game, they are almost unbeatable, especially when Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed hit from 3-point land to open up inside lanes for the terrible twins, Marcus and Markieff Morris. Marcus was named conference player of the year. If the starters don't get the job done, Self can go deep into a talented bench without sacrificing much on either end of the court. One potential pitfall for the 'Hawks is the real possibility that the "terrible twins'" intimidating (read "dirty") style of play could lead to more unnecessary flagrant fouls.

    KU has been to the NCAA tournament 39 times and has three national titles. If Kansas plays with focus and energy, sometimes lacking against lesser opponents, they will be have a good chance to make a 14^th Final Four appearance. Of course, the last two times the Jayhawks lost first round games (2005 and 2006) it was to the "killer bees", the Bucknell Bison and Bradley Braves. Is it a coincidence the committee matched them against Boston? Never in NCAA tournament history has a #1 lost to a #16. It could be worse: These aren't Bruins or Badgers,Bears or Bearcats, Buffaloes or Bison. These are the Boston Terriers.

    Texas (27-7, 13-3) is on the four line against Oakland (25-9, 17-1), which swept the Summit League season and tournament titles. The Longhorns spent a short week atop the AP poll before losing in Lincoln to Nebraska. Despite being ranked in the Top 10 for virtually the entire year, Texas' seed seems to reflect the committee's seeming disdain for the Big XII this year. (The Big Ten, 0-6 against the Big XII, sends seven teams.)

    Oakland is not your typical 13 seed. Six of the Golden Grizzlies' losses were to West Virginia, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State; and they beat Tennessee in Knoxville when the Volunteers were ranked 7^th. They are not afraid to play with the big boys. Nationally, the Griz are 2^nd in points per game (85.6), 14^th in rebounds (39), 17^th in assists (16.4) and 2^nd in field goal percentage (49.4). This could be a "trap" game for Texas, which can't be caught looking ahead to a potential second round game against the Arizona-Memphis winner. [While some critics of the committee's seeming slight toward Texas, I had this exact matchup in my "mock" bracket.]

    Kansas State (22-10, 10-6) goes to Tucson as a higher than expected #5 Seed and will play 12^th seeded Utah State (30-3, 15-1 WAC) in the first round. The Aggies, whose only losses are to BYU, Georgetown and Idaho, are ranked 19^th in this week's final AP poll. The Wildcats, after starting the season high in the rankings before dropping out, went on a 6-game winning streak going into the Big XII tournament and now sits at #21. Could this be one of those 5 versus 12 "upsets" that seem to happen every year? [Again, I hit the nail on the head, pairing these teams in my pre-selection bracket.]

    Two other questionable committee seeds were those pitting Texas A&M (24-8, 10-6) at #7 in the Southwest Region against Florida State (21-10, 11-5 ACC). The Aggies went 5-5 against tourney teams, while the Seminoles were just 2-6 against the field; but one of those wins knocked Duke from the top of the AP poll. If A&M plays to its potential and knocks down its jump shots, they should handle FSU in what should be a highly competitive first round clash.

    Despite its woeful conference road record and some shoddy play late in the season, Missouri (23-10, 8-8) will be dancing for the third year in a row under Mike Anderson. The Tigers spent most of the year bouncing around the lower half of the Top 25 before falling off the charts last week. As a result the committee has put them in as a #10 seed to challenge lean, mean Cincinnati (25-8, 11-7 Big East).

MU will have to bottle some of the magic the 2009 team caught when it captured the imagination of the college basketball world if it expects to beat the Bearcats, toughened by the grueling Big East schedule. Cincinnati is making its first NCAA appearance since the departure of Bob Huggins after the 2005 season. [ I think the committee got these seeds right by flip-flopping my "mock" bracket seeds.]