West: Baffling No. 1 seed for stumbling, injured Syracuse

A lot will be said about this, or should be said about this, but I can't stay away from it:

Syracuse got the No. 1 seed in the West Regional over West Virginia? Really?

E-mailers, I know Syracuse beat West Virginia head to head. They played one time. Syracuse won by one point at West Virginia. It was in January, when Syracuse was playing its best basketball of the season. But in the last few weeks, Syracuse has limped home with a 4-3 record -- losing its first game in the Big East tournament -- and an injured center.

West Virginia, meanwhile, has a win against fellow No. 2 seed Ohio State and won its last six games, including the Big East title. But the selection committee picked Syracuse and its struggling, hurting team over surging, winning West Virginia. I don't get that. Maybe I'm the only one.

Anyway, Syracuse is here in the West -- or will be here in the West after playing its first two games in Buffalo ... assuming Syracuse gets past Gonzaga in the second round. If Orange center Arinze Onuaku is still suffering from a strained quadriceps, Syracuse won't win that game.

Three storylines

1. K-State got the hose: Unless you're a Kansas fan, you have to feel sort of bad for Kansas State. The Wildcats earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, which means they get to stay close to home, but that means a trip to Oklahoma City ... where Kansas fans will be running amok. The pod system is sending Kansas, the top overall seed, and its mini-group from the Midwest Regional to Oklahoma City along with the mini-group from the West Regional led by Kansas State. Look for Kansas fans to scoop up most of the tickets and show up at the arena with two thoughts in mind: cheer for the Jayhawks and boo Kansas State.

2. Syracuse-Vermont again?!? Vermont's already beaten the Orange once in the NCAA tournament, and not that long ago. It was 2005, and Vermont was the 13th seed that took down No. 4 Syracuse. No, none of the players from that game are still playing (though I'm not sure about Syracuse guard Andy Rautins ...), but still. That's some weird history. Add this tidbit: A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed. It'll happen someday, but this won't be the day. Still, it's a fascinating first-round matchup.

3. BYU is in Utah, right? So how did the Selection Committee put BYU, seeded seventh, in the West Regional -- with the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in Salt Lake City? The point of the pods, and of the next few rounds as well, is to give the top four seeds a geographic boost -- or at the least, to not subject them to a geographic disadvantage. Yet here's Syracuse, a No. 1 seed from New York, facing the potential of a game in the regional final against BYU in Salt Lake City. That's what my bracket says will happen, actually. Which means it's impossible. So never mind.

West Regional Picks

Who will win: Syracuse will win, but only if Onuaku is completely healthy. The Orange simply aren't good enough to win three or four tough games without him, especially if BYU is waiting in the Elite Eight. That said, I believe Onuaku will be fine -- which means the Orange are going to the Final Four.

Dark-horse pick: Take your pick. In my bracket, I see wins for the No. 11 seed (Minnesota over Xavier), the No. 12 (UTEP over Butler) and the No. 13 (Murray State over Vanderbilt). And that's not even the craziest thing about my West Regional bracket. I have BYU reaching the Elite Eight as a No. 7 seed.

Most likely upset: Take Minnesota over Xavier. The Gophers are playing great of late, reaching the Big Ten title game, and Tubby Smith -- awful as a recruiter and a motivator -- is tremendous with the X's and the O's. Give him a week to prepare for Xavier, and he'll figure out something.

Best mascot: You have to give Minnesota credit. They named their sports teams after a rodent, and not a cuddly a rodent -- but a rodent that wreaks havoc around the Midwest. I personally have tried to kill gophers in my backyard, and I don't like stepping on ants. But a gopher is the gross, yard-killing spawn of Satan. All due respect.

Best point guard: He plays for Kansas State. I'm sure of that. I'm just not sure which one it is. The Wildcats have two combo guards in the backcourt, Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, who do it all. Pullen averages 18.9 points and 3.5 assists, while Clemente is at 16.2 points and 4.2 assists.

Best post player: He plays for Oakland -- that's right, Oakland -- and his name is Keith Benson. Never heard of him? Not my problem. He's 6-11, and he averages 17 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game.

Despite the presence of two-time champ Billy Donovan, Jim Boeheim is the cream of the West's coaching crop. (US Presswire)

Best coach: Billy Donovan is the only coach in this regional with multiple NCAA tournament titles -- Boeheim and Smith have one each -- but I'm going with Boeheim for his longevity and, frankly, for this crazily overachieving season by Syracuse.

Best reputation How do we define this term, anyway? Last five years, the best rep belongs to Florida. Last 10 years? Maybe Gonzaga. Last 20? I'm thinking Xavier. But overall, going back decades and then turning around and coming back to now, I'm picking Syracuse. It's a BCS school, but a basketball school. There aren't many of those, and when there are, they win this category. It's a rule, people.

Five stars on display

1. Jimmer Fredette (BYU): He's the leading scorer in this regional at 21.7 ppg, and he does it with absurd shooting: 44.8 percent on 3's, 89.6 percent at the foul line. If he were two inches taller and detested nationally, he'd be J.J. Redick.

2. Jordan Crawford (Xavier): This guy had maturity issues at Indiana when Kelvin Sampson was running that asylum, but he has grown up as a third-year sophomore at Xavier, where he averaged close to 20 points, five rebounds and three assists. And he's the guy who dunked on LeBron James in the preseason, if you remember that tale.

3. Ralph Sampson III (Minnesota): His dad was pretty good. The younger Sampson is about 5 inches shorter than Pops, but at 6-11, this kid is plenty big. And he's not bad. He's not his dad, but he averages 8.4 points and six rebounds -- and considering that he spent high school roaming the perimeter (sad but true story), his ceiling is still up there to be reached.

4. Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh): A role player for Pitt last season, Gibbs has become a star this season -- nearly quadrupling his scoring average to 15.8 ppg as he shoots 40.2 percent on 3's and 89 percent from the line.

5. Wesley Johnson (Syracuse): No, he's not the fifth-best player in this region. He's No. 1 in the West, and No. 3 overall in college basketball behind only Evan Turner and John Wall. Johnson steps back to drain 3-pointers, dunks in traffic and blocks nearly two shots per game. He's a pro, in other words.

Five random notes

1. Fourth-seeded Vanderbilt's opponent in the first round, No. 13 Murray State, is as balanced a scoring team as I've ever seen. The Racers have five players averaging double figures -- all of them between 10.3 and 10.6 ppg.

2. Keep an eye on Butler's best player, Gordon Hayward, who missed the regular-season finale with lower back pain. He returned in the conference tournament with mixed results: 10 points and 13 rebounds in the semifinals against UW-Milwaukee, then eight points and four rebounds in the final against Wright State.

3. Remember Vernon Macklin? He was thought to be a one-and-done type recruit when he went to Georgetown, but as it turns out he simply wasn't that good. He's pretty good now, and he's at Florida, where he averages 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds.

4. Florida State has the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, forward Chris Singleton, an active 6-9 sophomore who averages 2.3 steals. 1.5 blocks and 7.1 rebounds.

5. Gonzaga will be without one of its top reserves, freshman forward Mangisto Arop, who underwent surgery on his broken foot after injuring it in the conference tournament. He averaged 3.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.