[bigboydan]

Depending on the seed they get. I think Vandy could be a real force.

[NEP Dynasty]

Duke should be on the list. Also UConn.

[rjt721]

Depending on the seed they get. I think Vandy could be a real force.

Put down the bottle.

UCLA
Tennessee
Memphis
UCONN
Louisville

[mofome]

UNC
Tennessee
Mem
UCLA
Gtown
Kansas

[imgv94]

Put down the bottle.

UCLA
Tennessee
Memphis
UCONN
Louisville

Most of us know not to take him seriously.

Anyway

Memphis
Tennessee
Washington St
North Carolina
Kansas
UCLA
Texas
Duke
Stanford

[5 star bomb]

Most of us know not to take him seriously.

Anyway

Memphis
Tennessee
Washington St
North Carolina
Kansas
UCLA
Texas
Duke
Stanford

Wash st and Stanford have absolutely no chance

[5 star bomb]

I personally like Tennessee the most right now. If I had to pick 1 team it would be them

[LT Profits]

Most of us know not to take him seriously.

Anyway

Memphis
Tennessee
Washington St
North Carolina
Kansas
UCLA
Texas
Duke
Stanford

Having three Pac 10 teams is a real stretch IMO, I think UCLA is the only one with a chance, and even they are overrated.

I do like the othe teams on you list, and for Wash St. and Stanford, I would substitute Louisville and UConn, which appear to be popular sleepers.

As for one REM sleeper that nobody has mentioned yet, I would go with Purdue.

[raydog]

my god mo, you have found yourself surrounded my a clueless bunch. louisville, uconn, gtown, indiana.....wake up people. i wont even comment on bp's pick. here is the list of teams who have a chance....this is the only list you should look at

memphis
tennessee
kansas
unc
duke
ucla (highly unlikely, but had to put some west coast team in there and could be beat by a dozen teams)

thats it. these are the top 6 teams in the country and they are there for a reason. going to be hard for anyone outside of this list to beat anyone on the list(except ucla) on a neutral court.

much bigger game for tenn. than memphis this weekend. memphis can lose and will still get the 1seed because they will win out and win the conf. title. tenn. must win to have a chance at a 1.

[LT Profits]

raydog,

Of course those are the six favorites, but I was throwing in some sleepers that could surprise at a nice price. Louisville, UConn and Purdue are the three hottest "second tier" teams in the country right now.

And no, I am not "clueless", no matter what my wife told you!

[NEP Dynasty]

LOL...Washington St...

[LT Profits]

IMGV, is a huge pac 10 fan.

Too bad for him then.

Now, there is no personal bias for me being anti-Pac 10. As a matter of fact, in this business, I can't be a fan of any conference. Thus, I don't like the Pac 10 for purely objective reasons. i.e., my numbers say that the conference is grossly overrated.

[Wheell]

I would say the contenders are:

Duke
Kansas
Memphis
North Carolina
Tennessee
UCLA

The second tier:

Georgetown
Indiana
Kansas St.
Louisville
Stanford
Texas
Texas A&M
Washington St.
Wisconsin

The Third Tier (Nova 85 shot in the dark)

Arizona
Butler
Clemson (Sigh, forgot them too. They can make a run)
Connecticut
Drake
Gonzaga
Marquette
Michigan St. (I don't care that Izzo is Mr. March, but yes, they belong here.)
Mississipi St.
New Mexico
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
(Purdue) (Oversight, they were supposed to be here. Oops.)
St. Mary's
USC
(West Virginia)(And yes, I can see WV making an elite 8 run.)
Xavier


Basically I expect the first group to get 3 teams in the final 4 and have the champion, the second group to have 1 team in the final four and the third group to have 1 team in the elite 8. Put a gun to my head and give me 1 team to win it all I would go with Kansas.

[LT Profits]

Wheell,

I guess my major question is how could you have Indiana and Wisconsin in the second tier and not have Purdue at all?

Obviously can't argue with you top tier, and I think that the third tier is irrelevant in regards to title contenders with the possible exception of Connecticut.

[hoopster42]

whoever gets hot at the right time can win. many people did not think syracuse could win in 03, florida in 06

[Wheell]

LT: you are correct, it was an oversight. I should have had them in tier 3.

As for Syracuse in 03, they are my team but that was a bit of a fluke. They basically won the Big 12 over the course of a 6 game span. It was kind of wierd. The could easily have not made it to the sweet 16.

As for Florida they were a deserving champion in a year that everyone paid attention to Duke and UConn.

[Quebb Diesel]

tennessee
ucla
kansas

are the only LEGIT teams that have a shot as we speak right now IMO...the front court is HUUUUUUUGE when you get into the elite 8 to the championship...bubbles could be texas, memphis, and duke...its just real hard to have your back court play perfect 6 games in a row...duke and texas are proven teams that can win on the road and knock off top 5 teams...and memphis is in my bubble just b/c of their record...not too sure how they are going to respond past the sweet 16 playing higher quality teams...

[Deuce]

No Michigan St? Izzo is Mr. March.

[Quebb Diesel]

their overrated this year and havent proven they can win on the road...theyve actually been dominated on the road this year and probably being nowhere higher than a 4/5 seed they have no shot of being legit contenders this year...

[Wheell]

Deuce: Oops. Mich St, Clemson, WV, and Purdue all should have been there.

As for Quebb Diesel's opinion that Memphis, Duke, and UNC aren't legit... well, I love Kansas, but Tennessee faces Memphis this Saturday and I don't know how you think UCLA is legit while UNC isn't. We'll see a lot over the next few weeks.

[Wheell]

Of the teams I consider tier 1 I think Tennessee is the most likely to be a fraud. I expect I will be backing Memphis this weekend (and possibly the under as well).

[Quebb Diesel]

Deuce: Oops. Mich St, Clemson, WV, and Purdue all should have been there.

As for Quebb Diesel's opinion that Memphis, Duke, and UNC aren't legit... well, I love Kansas, but Tennessee faces Memphis this Saturday and I don't know how you think UCLA is legit while UNC isn't. We'll see a lot over the next few weeks.

UNC just hasnt been the same since lawson came out...if he can come back and come back strong they yes i think they are legit contenders w/ the balance in their front and back courts but just going off of the teams right now today...they arent legit to me...you cant argue that duke doesnt have a solid inside presence...and if memphis does go on to go undefeated in the regular season the odds are def going to be against them...i think they are a top 5 team in the nation right now...but who knows how their young key players will respond in the tourney...theres just too many flaws in these teams right now that can affect them in the tourney

i dont think anybody will argue w/ kansas and tennessee w/ their talent and experience...but i dont see why so many people are overlooking ucla? ucla had arguably the toughest road to the final four last year losing to the national champs in the final four and have pretty much the same team as last year plus one of the best big men in the nation...

[BadNina]

List your teams that you considered legit contenders to win it all in March. . .

Ill tally them up at the end, and see what we got.

Here is my list. ..

Memphis
Tennessee
North Carolina
Kansas
UCLA
Texas
Indiana
Louisville

You don't think Indiana could possibly be distracted from their NCAA violation problems involving their coach?

[NEP Dynasty]

Your numbers and my eyes LT. I have literraly almost gotten in fight w/ people really trying to tell me that the pac10 is better than the big east. There was alot of talk early in the year on ESPN that the pac10 was the best conference, It made me sick.

Definitly think Big East is better than Pac-10. Not really that close either.

[raydog]

raydog,

Of course those are the six favorites, but I was throwing in some sleepers that could surprise at a nice price. Louisville, UConn and Purdue are the three hottest "second tier" teams in the country right now.

And no, I am not "clueless", no matter what my wife told you!

ahh LT, you know i was kiddin bout the clueless thing. i just dont see much value in some of the 2nd tier teams because they stink away from home. sure the other teams wont have homecourt adv. either but i just dont trust any teams that lose most of their games on the road. i think memphis and kansas are the cream but duke and unc are notorious for getting the breaks so who knows.

[LT Profits]

I guess I should have attached a smiley face at the end of my post dog.

And yeah, Purdue disappointed on the road tonight. UConn has had some road wins lately (Indiana comes to mind). Let's see how Louisville does the rest of the reg season.

[babaoriley]

my god mo, you have found yourself surrounded my a clueless bunch. louisville, uconn, gtown, indiana.....wake up people. i wont even comment on bp's pick. here is the list of teams who have a chance....this is the only list you should look at

memphis
tennessee
kansas
unc
duke
ucla (highly unlikely, but had to put some west coast team in there and could be beat by a dozen teams)

thats it. these are the top 6 teams in the country and they are there for a reason. going to be hard for anyone outside of this list to beat anyone on the list(except ucla) on a neutral court.

much bigger game for tenn. than memphis this weekend. memphis can lose and will still get the 1seed because they will win out and win the conf. title. tenn. must win to have a chance at a 1.

Interesting... You submit a list of 6 teams yet neglect the #7 ranked team, who incidentally has beaten three of those teams you listed: Texas.

[Glenn Danzig]

Interesting... You submit a list of 6 teams yet neglect the #7 ranked team, who incidentally has beaten three of those teams you listed: Texas.

I picked Texas to win it all at +2000.

[babaoriley]

I picked Texas to win it all at +2000.

As good a bet as any, given that price. It baffles me when people say there are only six clear cut favorites remaining, yet fail to mention a team that is 3-0 against those teams. Texas beating Kansas was a semi-surprise, beating Tennessee by 19 was huge and beating UCLA on the road was superb.