On College Basketball | Getting set for the NCAA tourney: 20 questions

Twenty Questions about the NCAA men's basketball tournament

1. Are conference affiliations even meaningful anymore?

If Syracuse can go 10-6 in a conference like the Big East and not get in, then let's start calling these things what they are, corporate alliances. But it's also time for Syracuse to get out and play true road games. The committee has spoken.

2. Can anybody beat Florida this time?

Now that the defending champions, the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, are fully engaged again and Joakim Noah wants to show that he didn't come back to school just for the parties, it would be a huge upset for anybody in the Midwest to knock off Florida.

3. Can Greg Oden control games defensively like Noah did last year?

That's a big story line of this tournament. Let's say Memphis or Texas A&M and Ohio State both get to the South Regional final. Either way, it would be a defensive war, and we're not at all sure the Buckeyes would get the best of it.

4. Drexel fans want to know: Did Stanford really deserve to get in?

Stanford finished 10-6 in a very tough Pac-10. Stanford won at Virginia and also beat tournament teams Texas Tech, UCLA, Washington State, USC and Oregon. The Cardinals deserved to get in.

5. What about Arkansas?

The Razorbacks finished 7-9 in a weak SEC West, a division where nobody finished above 8-8 and nobody else got in the tournament. The Hogs got in because they beat Vanderbilt twice in the last week. Before that, they had won one of their previous nine road games. Arkansas didn't deserve a bid over Drexel or Syracuse.

6. The most talented players in the tournament are freshmen. What does that mean?

Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to a national title when he was a freshman, but he had veterans out there with him. Can Kevin Durant do that playing with all freshmen and sophomores at Texas? If Oden does it for Ohio State, everybody will see why scouts love him so much.

7. What's interesting about the Duke-Virginia Commonwealth matchup?

Other than the fact that Duke point guard Greg Paulus will have enormous trouble dealing with VCU's full-court pressure? Episcopal Academy graduate Gerald Henderson will be playing against his dad's alma mater. Before he played for the 76ers, Gerald Henderson Sr. was the first basketball player inducted into VCU's sports Hall of Fame.

8. Who are the top senior pro prospects in this tournament?

Jim Clibanoff, The Inquirer's NBA draft expert, goes with these guys, in no particular order: Nick Fazekas, Nevada; Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh; A.C. Law IV, Texas A&M; Jared Dudley, Boston College; Ivan Radenovic, Arizona; D.J. Strawberry, Maryland; Antanas Kavaliauskas, Texas A&M; Caleb Green, Oral Roberts; Alando Tucker, Wisconsin; Derrick Byars, Vanderbilt; Trey Johnson, Jackson State.

9. Which teams have the most seniors?

A lot of teams have seniors. But unless you have the guys on the list above, it can be overrated. We made a list last year and nobody with three or four seniors among their top six scorers made the Final Four.

10. Why do you have to respect Winthrop?

The best team ever from the Big South Conference was leading North Carolina by eight points at halftime in Chapel Hill before losing by seven points.

11. Should anybody take all No. 1 seeds getting to the Final Four in their pool?

Only if you like to go against history. It hasn't happened yet.

12. Are there local guys that can make a difference?

Of course. Virginia's Sean Singletary from Penn Charter has a teammate from Bartram High, Jason Cain. Another top point guard is Arizona's Mustafa Shakur from Friends' Central. Mike Green from Franklin Learning Center is Butler's second leading scorer and although he is only 6-1, also is Butler's leading rebounder.

The freshmen from Episcopal Academy, Henderson and Wayne Ellington from North Carolina. Notre Dame wouldn't be in the tournament without Russell Carter from Paulsboro and Rob Kurz from Penn Charter. Maureece Rice from Strawberry Mansion was the Atlantic Ten tournament MVP.

Niagara definitely wouldn't be playing without freshman Tyrone Lewis from Truman High and junior Charron Fisher from Roman Catholic High. And don't forget the local schools have local players, with Mark Zoller from St. Joseph's Prep and Brian Grandieri from Malvern Prep playing huge roles for Penn and Reggie Redding from St. Joseph's Prep emerging into Villanova's rotation.

13. What about coaches who spent time in this town?

La Salle graduate Jeff Neubauer, a long-time assistant under John Beilein at Richmond and West Virginia, has Eastern Kentucky in the tournament in his first year as coach. Long-time La Salle assistant Joe Mihalich is back again with Niagara. Former Villanova assistant Paul Hewitt is at Georgia Tech. Former Drexel coach Steve Seymour is an assistant at Virginia. And Chester High graduate Bo Ryan has the highest seed of this group with No. 2 Wisconsin.

14. Which teams make three-pointers?

Texas A&M (42.6 percent), Nevada (41.4 percent), BYU (41.3 percent), Texas Tech (41.2 percent), Florida (40.9 percent), USC (40.3 percent), Virginia Commonwealth (40 percent), Texas (40 percent).

15. Which teams play defense?

These are the ones who lead in field-goal percentage defense, and it isn't good news for Penn fans, who already realize they got a brutal draw. Texas A&M led the nation, holding opponents to 37.1 percent. Other leaders include Kansas (37.4), Michigan State (38 percent) and Georgetown (38.7).

16. Remember these stats . . .

Georgetown and Texas A&M are the only teams in the top ten nationally in both field-goal percentage (Georgetown was third, at 50.5 percent, and Texas A&M fourth, at 50.3 percent) and field-goal percentage defense (Texas A&M first and Georgetown seventh).

17. Where are the upsets?

No. 11 Winthrop is an obvious possibility against No. 6 Notre Dame in the Midwest. Also, the Midwest, No. 12 Old Dominion-No. 5 Butler shouldn't have a very big point spread. The other Colonial team, No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth in the West, could give No. 6 Duke fits. And we're not predicting that No. 16 Eastern Kentucky could take out No. 1 North Carolina, but that could be a game that could stay close for awhile.

18. You like high-scoring teams?

Go with North Carolina (87.1 points a game), Texas (82.9 a game), Notre Dame (81.7), Memphis (80.1), Long Beach State (79.9) and Tennessee (79.7). But most fans understand that the NCAA tournament doesn't always reward the high flyers.

19. What about the teams that control the clock, keeping opponents from scoring a lot?

Michigan State (opponents score 56.3 a game), Southern Illinois (56.5), Georgetown (56.5), Holy Cross (57.1) and Butler (57.2).

20. What's the best bet?

Niagara will beat Florida A&M in the play-in game.