My buddy Rick Kennedy and I hooked-up in Phoenix back in January to watch some college basketball. Rick is a Kansas Jayhawks fan (home of James Naismith, founder of basketball) and he predicted that Ohio State and Kansas would be #1 seeds in the NCAA tourney.
Rick took a look at my recent posting about basketball and remarked that I should comment about Ohio State and Kansas… Interestingly, the Buckeyes and Jayhawks are now ranked #1 and #2 respectively in the AP and ESPN polls, so his predictions are looking pretty accurate (I won’t rag on the fact that the Ohio State is #2 in the RealTime RPI while Kansas is #15).
As much as I support the Buckeyes, they have the type of team that can either: a) win the NCAA tournament, or b) lose in the first round. They were very fortunate to beat Michigan on Saturday… Kansas recently had a great comeback win against Texas, and they have a team that makes appearances in the post-season tournament just about every year. In fact, I’ve seen Kansas play in-person in the first round of the NCAA twice during the past 10 years.
Given the “Sybil” nature of both teams, I’m going out on a limb and predicting that neither team makes it to the final four in 2007.
DZ – thanks for the comments and I think you’re on track. But I’ll go on a limb a little with Kansas in the tourney this year. I think they have a 50% chance to make the final four this year since Bill Self has proved he is a game coach several times this year (ie – recent Texas game). KU has lost in the 1st round twice in a row and I think Mr Self has a chip on his shoulder and he has the team to take him to the big show. But there are no seniors and only a few juniors on the team. And during crunch time, that can make a big difference…