For a No.2 seed, Ohio State received a lot of love from oddsmakers entering the 2012 NCAA tournament. Only Kentucky was set as a bigger favorite to win the national championship.
Well, now we have our answer as to why the Buckeyes have been a favorite on the betting lines, as they reach the Final Four in New Orleans where they will meet the Kansas Jayhawks.
And similar to Ohio State, Kansas was believed to be a viable candidate for a No.1 seed. But instead, they were placed in the Midwest Region as the No.2 seed. Didn’t matter though, as the Jayhawks beat the No.1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels in the Elite 8. Continue reading
Alright college basketball fans, we are down to the Final Four in New Orleans with the regional champions meeting for a shot at the national championship.
The #1 seed, Syracuse, has only shown signs of weakness through their lack of rebounding and failure to win by large margins consistently… when they have Fab Melo. That will not be the case throughout the NCAA Tournament because the university announced on Tuesday that Melo had been disqualified for the entire tournament. This news has really shaken up the 
Kentucky, Duke, Connecticut, Indiana, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Xavier. All big names in college basketball, and battling to come out of the South region.
The West Region, headlined by Michigan State, will prove to be either the first or second most competitive bracket in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
The Midwest Region gives No. 1 seed North Carolina some great matchups right up until the end, but then offers a funny little twist that makes life Roy Williams’ a lot more complicated than he wants it to be.
Michigan State’s recent defeat to upset-machine Indiana notwithstanding, the Spartans have shocked a lot of people with how productive and generally strong they’ve been in 2012. Despite losing a couple of key veteran pieces and being giving zero to no shot at being competitive this year, Michigan State has ridden likely Big Ten Player of the Year Draymond Green’s leadership and talent, and Tom Izzo consistent poise all the way to a share of the conference title.
The comeback kids, the smothering defense, and the last minute game winner’s that have happened three times already this season. This is what describes the season of Florida State Basketball.
It’s easy to get skip all the bracketology this year and just pencil in either Duke, Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Syracuse to win and call it a day. Lee Corso would tell you “not so fast my friend”. If you pull up the current AP Top 25, you will see all of the teams that I listed above one after another at the top, with the Missouri Tigers stuck right in the middle. They have been getting rough and rowdy all year in the Big 12 with huge wins over Kansas, Baylor twice, Texas twice, and non-conference ranked opponent Notre Dame. Last year, the Tigers showed flashes of great play sporadically between monkey stomps from major ranked teams. It’s easy to get bearish on them right now after losing to Kansas State for the second time this season, at home, no less. Despite their loss to the Wildcats, a number 1 seed can be in order as long as they can survive the Rock Chalk chants on February 25th at Kansas. And the negative perception of the Tigers right now just might make them a good value bet.