In his weekly [I]Minutes[/I] column for Yahoo Sports, Pat Forde takes a look at who should be the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tourney teams who have won titles and what kind of winning streaks they carried in to the tournament. He also says that the POY race is not just a two man one, but that Anthony Davis is the leader.
Here’s the dish.
[LEFT][COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I][B][URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/sci/”]Syracuse[/URL] (2)[/B] or [B]Kentucky (3)[/B] for the overall No. 1 seed?[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]The correct answer is Kentucky, but it’s not by a wide margin. The RPI prefers the Orange, though Jeff Sagarin and Ken Pomeroy do not. Even in a slightly down season, the Big East is tougher than the SEC, which has failed to live up to preseason billing. [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/fak/”]Florida[/URL],[URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/vac/”]Vanderbilt[/URL] and [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/aaf/”]Alabama[/URL] are not quite as good as advertised, and[URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/mbg/”]Mississippi State[/URL] is a rapidly unraveling NIT team. Total bids for the SEC, as of now: four. Total bids for the Big East, as of now: at least eight.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]The Orange and the Wildcats have two common power opponents,[URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/laq/”]Louisville[/URL] and Florida. Kentucky handled both more easily, but also played both in Rupp Arena. Syracuse hosted the Gators but visited the Cardinals (and have a return date with Louisville in the Carrier Dome on Saturday).[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]The Wildcats earn the advantage by beating likely fellow No. 1 seed [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/kaa/”]Kansas[/URL]on a neutral court and potential No. 1 [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/nav/”]North Carolina[/URL] in Lexington. Syracuse’s only nonconference game against an assured NCAA tourney team was Florida.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]But Kentucky’s easy conference path to this point leads us to the second burning question: Would the Wildcats [B]benefit from a loss (4)[/B] heading into the NCAA tournament?[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]The emphatic answer is yes. If you don’t believe The Minutes, look at the history books.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Kentucky is on a 20-game winning streak. Nobody has successfully carried a streak that long all the way to the finish line since [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/iai/”]Indiana[/URL] in 1976, which went undefeated all season. That’s 35 years of precedent the ‘Cats are trying to buck.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]The vast majority of national champions over the past 35 years were toughened (and occasionally refocused) by losses in conference play. Most of them lost at least once in February along the way to the title. There are examples from coast to coast of championship teams that lost late and regrouped to win it all, but the Wildcats don’t have to look far to find two great ones:[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]• The 1996 Wildcats were on a 27-game winning streak when Rick Pitino all but threw the SEC tournament title game, benching forward Antoine Walker for the final 18 minutes to teach him a lesson. Kentucky lost that game to Mississippi State, then won six in a row for the title with Walker playing a vital role.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]• The 1980 Louisville Cardinals had just one loss and were on an 18-game winning streak before being stunned by Jeff Ruland, Jim Valvano and [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/iam/”]Iona[/URL] on Feb. 21. Denny Crum’s team didn’t lose again while claiming the school’s first championship.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Despite its youth, this Kentucky team has shown no signs of getting the big head, but human nature is hard to combat. After 20 consecutive victories a reminder of fallibility wouldn’t be a bad thing, and it wouldn’t cost anything. With every victory, the big blue bull’s-eye on the ‘Cats’ backs grows bigger.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[/COLOR][/I][COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Should the Player of the Year race really be just a two-man contest?[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]No, it shouldn’t. Kentucky center [B]Anthony Davis (7)[/B] deserves to be the leading candidate at this point. Kansas forward [B]Thomas Robinson (8)[/B] deserves to be the second choice. But it’s not as if those two have run off and hid from [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/may/”]Michigan State[/URL]’s [B]Draymond Green (9)[/B] and [URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/mbv/”]Murray State[/URL]’s [B]Isaiah Canaan (10)[/B].[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]A brief rundown of all four:[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Davis: 14.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.8 blocks (leads the nation), 66 percent shooting. Team record: 28-1. What the stats don’t tell you: His full defensive impact, which is greater than anyone else’s in the country; plus the stress he puts on opposing defenses that are terrified of being dunked on via lobs off pick-and-roll situations.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Robinson: 17.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks (including – ahem – those in which he levels a driving point guard with no foul call in the final seconds), 53 percent shooting. Team record: 25-5. What the stats don’t tell you: Full value to a team that might be headed to the NIT if he had gone pro after last season.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Green: 15.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists (second on the team), 45 percent shooting. Team record: 24-5. What the stats don’t tell you: The leadership and basketball IQ Green brings to a team that has significantly outperformed expectations.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]Canaan: 19.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 49 percent shooting (48 percent from 3-point range). Team record: 28-1. What the stats don’t tell you: He is the key to the finest season in school history, elevating Murray out of the Division I shadows and into the spotlight like never before.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#111111][FONT=arial][I]There is nothing wrong with keeping an open mind to all four players for the next few weeks.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
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Regarding the Cats needing to lose, I disagree. I was speaking with my father recently who is a lifelong Kentucky fan. He said this could be the greatest Kentucky team of all-time. It doesn’t matter what any other team did. These boys are on there own very special path. How ironic is it that if Kentucky does win out to the Title, Indianna will be the one loss. Payback for ’75?
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Regarding the POY, I agree that its not a two man race, but I say its a one man race. There is no player that comes close to comparing to what Anthony Davis is doing at Kentucky and in college basketball in general. Its historic, its not just about this year. Beyond him, players like Green absolutely deserve as much consideration as Robinson.
[URL=”http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=pf-forde_minutes_final_five_february_questions_022812″]Source[/URL]
