| March Madness Top Seeds |
|
|
|
| Written by Scott Burgess | |||||||
|
Monday, 16 March 2009
|
|||||||
 It’s March, and you know what that means, it’s time for the 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament or the Road to the Final Four. Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut helped the Big East become the first conference to put three teams on the top line. North Carolina, regular season Atlantic Coast conference champions, was the other top seed. NCAA Basketball oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the North Carolina Tar Heels listed as +300 moneyline favorites to win the 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Point-Spreads.com breaks down the March Madness Top Seeds and in the mean time, be sure to get your 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Picks in now at Sportsbook.com.March Madness Top Seed - No.1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (South) 28-4 (13-3), 1st Atlantic Coast North Carolina might lose its top ranking after falling in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, but the Tar Heels are keeping the No. 1 they really want at this time of year. North Carolina earned the No. 1 seed in the South Region and will play 16th-seeded Radford in Thursday's first round. The Tar Heels came into the year as the preseason pick to win the national championship. North Carolina earned a top seed for the 13th time, the most of any school. It also was the fourth time in five years that the Tar Heels have been a No. 1 seed. The North Carolina Tar Heels are listed as +300 moneyline favorites to win the 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. March Madness Top Seed - No.1 seed Louisville Cardinals (Midwest) 28-5 (16-2), 1st Big East Louisville secured the top seed overall in the NCAA tournament Sunday, a reward from the selection committee following a grueling 10 weeks in which the Cardinals overcame an early winter swoon to win both the Big East regular season and conference championships. Louisville is the top seed in the Midwest Region and will play either Alabama A&M or Morehead State in the first round on Friday. Pitino took the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2005 after Louisville—then a member of Conference USA—was dropped to a fourth-seed despite entering the tournament with 29 wins. The Cardinals knocked off top-seeded Washington, then rallied past upstart West Virginia in the regional final before falling to Illinois in the national semifinal. The road to the school’s ninth Final Four appearance could be just as perilous, but at least this time the Cardinals will get a view from the top. It’s a view Pitino tends to enjoy. Three of the four previous Pitino-coached teams to receive a No. 1 seed advanced to the Final Four. The Louisville Cardinals are listed at +500 moneyline to win the 2009 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament. March Madness Top Seed - No.1 seed Pittsburgh Panthers (East) 28-4 (15-3), 2nd Big East Pittsburgh is going to the NCAA tournament for the eighth consecutive season, only the Panthers have never gone in like this. The Panthers were one-and-done in the Big East tournament for only the second time since 2001. Losing to West Virginia in the quarterfinals didn’t prevent them from being the top seed in the East regional, creating a first-round matchup with East Tennessee State in Dayton on Friday. If they win, the Panthers will play the winner of Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee on Sunday. Should they keep winning, it might be Xavier, Villanova, Duke—or, again, former Pitt coach Ben Howland and UCLA, which eliminated Pitt in a regional semifinal two years ago. The Panthers have a history of deep runs in the Big East tournament followed by early exits in the NCAAs, so they are looking for a reversal this time. Despite averaging 26-plus wins since 2001-02, Pitt hasn’t reached an NCAA regional final since 1974 or the Final Four since 1941. The Pittsburgh Panthers are listed at +600 moneyline to win the 2009 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament March Madness Top Seed - No.1 seed Connecticut Huskies (West) 27-4 (15-3), 2nd Big East Connecticut lost its starting shooting guard and three of its final seven games, yet its resume proved strong enough to earn the Huskies a top seed Sunday in the NCAA tournament. UConn has been a top 5 team all season, spent four weeks at the top of the AP poll, was 9-4 against ranked teams and lost just one road game all year, to Pittsburgh in the regular-season finale. But the Huskies are 4-3 since losing Jerome Dyson to a knee injury, including two straight losses coming into the NCAA tournament. The Connecticut Huskies are listed at +700 moneyline to win the 2009 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament. 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Picks When: Thurs, March 19, 12:00 PM ET Line: Sportsbook.com Pick: Pittsburgh Panthers +600 Point-Spreads.com 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Picks The Bottom Line: Look for Pittsburgh to clash with Duke in the East, then on to finals. Be sure to get your 2009 Men’s NCAA Basketball Picks in now at Sportsbook.com and receive a 10% sign-up bonus                        |
|||||||
| Last Updated ( Monday, 16 March 2009 ) | |||||||