NCAA Tournament: Overall #1 Kansas the Most Solid Team in the Tournament

When filling out your brackets, make sure to remember that the team that began the 2009-2010 NCAAB Regular Season as the #1 team in the land ended the regular season as the #1 team in the land.

The Kansas Jayhawks secured the #1 seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament by beating rival Kansas State and winning the Big 12 Conference.  The Big 12 will send 7 teams to the Big Dance which begins this Thursday and Kansas is no doubt the best of the bunch.

Do the Jayhawks, who are a +175 favorite to win the NCAA Championship and favored over 26 ½ points to beat Leigh, have any weaknesses?

Not really. Let’s take a look at the best team in college basketball going into the NCAA Tournament.

Midwest:  #1 Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas lost only two games this season.  The first was to Tennessee on January 10th.  The second was an upset loss to Oklahoma State on February 27th.  The Jayhawks beat Top 10 Kansas State three times in this season.

They also beat one of the top 2 teams in the Pac-10, the California Golden Bears, 84 to 69.  They beat the Atlantic-10 champs, the Temple Owls, 84 to 52.  Kansas not only showed up against their Big 12 Conference opponents but they showed up against some pretty tough teams in the their non-conference schedule.

Offense:  The Jayhawks play a classic inside/outside type game.  They run their offense through whom many regard as the best point-guard in the nation, Sherron Collins.  Collins averages 15.6 points and 4.6 assists per game.  Their man in the middle, Cole Aldrich, leads the team in rebounds with 9.9 per game. 

The offense averages 81.8 points per game while shooting 48% from the field.  What sports gamblers need to remember is that the Jayhawks did that against some of the top teams in college hoops this season.

Defense:  Kansas’ plays some of the best team defense of any squad in the tournament.  They give up only 63.8 points per game on average and allow only 37.7% from the field. Xavier Henry, Collins’ backcourt teammate, steals the ball 1.5 times on average per game. 

Prediction: The Kansas Jayhawks are simply the best team in college basketball right now.  They proved it during the course of the regular season by beating a Top 10 team in the Kansas State Wildcats three times.  Collins can dump the ball into the middle to Aldrich or create off of the dribble and make his own shot. 

This team is too solid not to make it all the way to the Final Four. At odds of +175, they’re actually a pretty good wager to win it all.

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