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Two years ago I called it on the UConn Huskies in late February to win the National Championship. Last year was a close call with Louisville who came into the tournament as 40-1 odds and had a shot to beat Kentucky in the final four. This year they came in as favorites and are entering the tournament as so with a strong Big East tournament once again.

I believe this year will once again prove to be a heck of a tournament with some surprise teams to consider.

Top Conferences By Rank
1. Big Ten
2. Big East
3. Atlantic 10
4. Mountain West
5. ACC
6. Pac-12

Syracuse 35-1-
I’m shocked that Syracuse has continued to rise from an odds stand point. Maybe there is insider information on a possible suspension before the tournament like last year with Fab Melo. We know that James Southerland missed some time clearing up an academic issue, hopefully that is 100 percent cleared. At 35-1, Syracuse presents the best overall value from a strong top fifteen to twenty team. The zone defense is always good to have and I truly do not believe teams in their eastern bracket are as strong as perceived. Indiana, Butler, and Miami.

The threat with Syracuse is always if they have to face a Big East team in the tournament. The committee did a great job on making sure that wouldn’t happen in the second round. Those teams know how to attack the zone as they face it year after year. I’ll be shocked if teams do not struggle against their attack zone and trap zone. Offensively they’ve come back to life and are getting sudden strong play from Rakeem Christmas and Baye Keita inside.

Do not forget about Brandon Triche. There is no player in the country that has more experience on the big stage than Triche. He is a four year starter at Syracuse, and has been a part of several noteworthy Cuse teams. His freshman year was the season they lost to Butler after Arinze Onuaku went down in the Big East tournament. His sophomore year they suffered a very tough loss on a blown call for a backcourt violation in the final minute to Marquette. Last year they went to the Elite 8. Both Triche and Southerland have been on all of those teams, and CJ Fair (junior) has had a significant role as well. Experience will be key for them as an advantage. It always helps having a former player/coach like Gerry McNamara on the sidelines as well.

Temple- 200-1
I’ve loved Temple’s team all season long, and believe they have underachieved from a talent standpoint worse than any team in the country. They have the depth and strong play from every position to make a big push in the tournament. Check odds on them in your local sportsbook for Sweet 16 and Elite 8 odds. In the tournament you look for that “it” factor player. Khalif Wyatt is that type for Temple. He can create and lead his team to victory when he wants.

During the season Temple had a problem playing down to their competition in some puzzling losses. But they also play up to the higher rated competition as well. Defeating Syracuse at Madison Square Garden and narrowly losing to Kansas at Kansas. Big man Jake O’Brien can stretch teams with his ability to shoot three pointers, and Anthony Lee is a tough nosed lengthy big man that plays hard all his minutes.

Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson can be a tough matchup for several teams. What is another big factor for Temple is their depth especially in the back court. Dalton Pepper a transfer from West Virginia provides solid minutes and on the ball defense. The senior cast of O’Brien, Wyatt, TJ Dileo, Hollis-Jefferson and Scootie Randall are unmatched in the tournament. A strong win in the second round over Indiana could give them the mental edge of belief.

My Overall Favorite: Michigan State—15-1
Sometimes all it takes is the right matchups to get you to the final four. From there coaching and the will to win take over. Michigan State has the coach in Tom Izzo and the nucleus of players to get the job done. They were bounced from their conference tournament early and many have probably cancelled them out as possible champs. When you have a team that plays strong defense like Michigan State game in and game out, you have to give that team an extra star and check mark over other teams.

Coach Izzo will have his team ready and I do not believe any other top four seed has an easier path to the final four.

Other teams to consider
San Diego State- 300-1
Another regular season under performing team, but they have the talent on the court to perform. From this year to next March I do not think there is another team in the country that makes a stronger leap in seeding than SD State. I expect them to be no lower than a three seed next season.

New Mexico- 20-1
Outside the Power Six Conferences no one is getting as much attention as New Mexico. In a tough Mountain West Conference this season they delivered. I have them right below Temple outside the Power Six.

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Nowadays in sports a lot has been toned down by commissioners and college athletics as a whole. Players have to tone back their celebrations, and even most coaches show little during the course of a basketball game. One coach who has stayed to his true self his entire career has been Jim Boeheim. At 66 years old he can still be seen flaring his arms in disbelief, his face making unusual expressions, and running up and down the sideline.

Boeheim has been a staple of Syracuse sports for an incredible amount of time. In fact he has made appearances in the Final Four in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s as a coach. To keep that trend going this years team might have the best opportunity in some years.

One thing about Boeheim when retiring is brought up, is that he hasn’t even thought about it. He loves coaching, and stays actively involved even in the off-season. He has been apart of the coaching staff for the USA team, and coordinates many golf charity events as well in the off-season.

Unlike the past few seasons where Syracuse came into the season with little expectations, this years team comes in as a preseason top five contender. Besides losing big man Rick Jackson, this Syracuse team returns everybody. The vaunted Big East still stands in the way, with teams such as Uconn and Louisville right there in terms of talent to Syracuse.

The Big East is always a tough trek, as Syracuse found out last year. After starting 19-0, the Big East wall caught up to Syracuse, and a four game skid in February. Panic nearly set in after a blowout home loss to Seton Hall. Instead Boeheim regrouped the team and made some smart decisions with the lineup to maximize success.

One of the moves was declining the minutes of freshman Dion Waiters and Fab Melo. The funny thing with both players is that they were keys to the Orange late in the season. Fab Melo was relegated to practically two to three quick first half minutes, and then a sit the rest of the game for much of February. A solid game against Cincinnati and Depaul built confidence in Melo, and then a breakout game in the Big East tournament versus St. Johns. A game that Melo picked up the entire team and made some huge key plays down the stretch.

Dion Waiters on the other hand was given the opportunities but like most freshman wasn’t prepared for a full season under Jim Boeheim. When he began to struggle his game became worse on the court. His defense slid even further behind. Not sliding over to close out and leaving shooters wide open on the arc was part of the reason Syracuse was getting torched vs. Villanova and Seton Hall.

Though the story has never fully been told, there have been reports that Boeheim and Waiters have had their issues. To the point that Waiters was on the brink of exiting Syracuse and transferring. In May though, Waiters announced via twitter that he would be back.

In the teams 2^nd round loss vs. Marquette, Waiters was virtually the only player that could produce offensively for Syracuse. He scored 18 points, and did most of his damage off the dribble. Penetrating through the Marquette defense with ease and making twisting layups. Carrying that game with solid off-season work ethic should give Syracuse some if not the best guard options in America.

Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche both have slimmed down around fifteen pounds each. Jardine a senior and Triche a junior, they’ve both been through and know what it takes to get this team to where it needs to be. Jardine a true play maker that’s only downfall is inopportune turnovers. It really became an issue towards the latter part of the Big East schedule and NCAA tournament. Maybe he was worn down, but getting in better shape should help Jardine sustain a solid season. One area that Cuse fans were happy about was his shot selection. It was much better last year and he showed a dependability to knock down the three ball.

For Brandon Triche, staying consistent for an entire year has been the main issue. He will have games where he is by far the best Syracuse player, and others that he gets lost and only scores a few buckets. Where he excels is on the defensive end. The training of playing the top of the zone from Andy Rautins in 2009 really transferred over to Triche. He closes out well and has a knack for knowing when to trap and play the passing lanes.

Offensively he drew a lot of charges just like Syracuse forward Kris Joseph. In fact charges from the two would result in countless turnovers that produced stretches of poor offensive sequences. Both need to realize to pull up or pass the ball out to the perimeter. The NCAA isn’t going to implement a painted area rule, and Triche and Joseph need to realize that.

Boeheim is never big on playing freshman extended minutes, and this year should be no different. It’ll be interesting to see who wins out the starting power forward role next to center Fab Melo. Syracuse boasts three other big men in DaShonte Riley, Baye Moussa Keita, and freshman Rakeem Christmas.

The inexperience at the big man position could cause Boeheim to shift Kris Joseph to power forward. Running a zone as the Cuse does could allow this. A starting lineup of Triche, Jardine, CJ Fair, Kris Joseph, and Fab Melo would not be shocking. With Fair getting rotated out frequently for the Cuse to either go smaller with Dion Waiters, or bigger with one of the limited experienced big men.

Come March 2011, this should be a team that has a solid hold on a number one or two seed for the NCAA tournament. If their big man can gain each month, than this team is going to be a legitimate national contender.