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It's never too early to talk NCAA tournament seedings

1. Bracket racket It's never too early to examine brackets predicting the NCAA tournament field and first-round matchups. As always, our two favorite mock brackets are done by Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com and Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com. In this week's bracket, the two men agr

1. Bracket racket

It's never too early to examine brackets predicting the NCAA tournament field and first-round matchups. As always, our two favorite mock brackets are done by Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com and Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com. In this week's bracket, the two men agree on two No. 1 seeds - Kentucky and Syracuse - but differ on the other two. Lunardi picks Ohio State and Kansas, while Palm goes with Baylor and Missouri. Lunardi has Baylor and Missouri with Duke and North Carolina as No. 2 seeds; Palm has Duke and North Carolina with Ohio State and Kansas.

2. Crowding in

Lunardi has the most teams coming from the Big Ten and the Big East - eight each - while Palm goes for one more from the Big Ten and one fewer from the Big East. Palm likes Northwestern, but Lunardi doesn't. Lunardi likes Cincinnati, but Palm passes. They also disagree on the number of Atlantic Ten teams, but they concur on the inclusion of Temple - a No. 10 in Greensboro, N.C., vs. Seton Hall in the first round (Lunardi) or No. 9 vs. Alabama in Pittsburgh (Palm). The Owls are the only City Six team that appears in either bracket.

3. Huggs bugged

Few coaches can get right to the point better than West Virginia's Bob Huggins. Huggins might have the best player in the Big East in Kevin Jones, who leads the conference in scoring (20.9 points per game) and rebounding (11.6), but he sometimes gets little help from his teammates. "I asked all our guys that think they're so good, 'Where would we be without No. 5?' " Huggins said Wednesday night, referring to Jones, after the Mountaineers were hammered by St. John's. "He's the most valuable player in the country, and he's playing with all those freshmen who can't pass and don't pass him the ball."

4. Hole in the Orange

Sophomore center Fab Melo is likely to miss his third straight game for Syracuse on Saturday, ESPN.com reported, because of what a source told the website is an academic issue. The 7-foot Melo is the No. 2 shot-blocker in the Big East at 3.0 per game and leads his team in rebounding with a 5.7 average. The university has not said why Melo is out, and a school spokesman quoted coach Jim Boeheim as saying that Melo's problem was taking longer to clear up than first anticipated. The Orange, 1-1 with Melo out, host West Virginia.

5. Bo not a fan

Wisconsin football thrived this year with the addition of quarterback Russell Wilson, who transferred after getting his degree from North Carolina State to use his final year of eligibility. But Badgers basketball coach Bo Ryan is firmly opposed to the graduate-transfer rule. "It's a terrible rule, one of the worst rules I've ever seen," said Ryan, a native of Chester. "I never liked the idea of people leaving a program after four years of development at that institution with his teammates, then all of a sudden change and be eligible to play right away. It's about building a team, building trust."

6. In the Izzo-ne

It was difficult to determine who was happier after Michigan State coach Tom Izzo posted his 400th career victory Wednesday night - Izzo or his players. Izzo said he grew emotional toward the end of the 10th-ranked Spartans' 68-52 win over Minnesota when he pulled his starters with the outcome decided and they told him how much it meant to them. Senior Draymond Green, called an "exceptional leader" by his coach, later led a group that presented a signed commemorative basketball celebrating the milestone. "It feels great to be a part of it," Green said.

7. Making Dad proud

It isn't easy to be Creighton star Doug McDermott when his team goes on the road, seeing that he is the son of Blue Jays coach Greg McDermott. The hecklers at all away stops cry out "daddy's boy" to McDermott, but it doesn't seem to bother him. The 6-foot-7 sophomore, who has emerged into a national-player-of-the-year candidate, is averaging 23.2 points (third in NCAA Division I) and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 61.3 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range. The Blue Jays have won six road games in a row.

8. No longer hidden

One of the hidden gems among Division I players lives in Brookings, S.D. Nate Wolters, a 6-4 junior guard for South Dakota State, accounted for 21 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds in Thursday night's 92-87 loss at Oakland (Mich.). For the season, he is averaging 21.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. According to ESPN Stats and Info, since 2000 only four players - current 76er Evan Turner, Norris Cole, Ricky Minard, and Speedy Claxton - have averaged 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a season.

9. Tide getting rolled

Alabama climbed as high as No. 12 in the AP poll earlier this season, but the Crimson Tide (13-7) are reeling from a four-game losing streak that threatens their NCAA chances. Head coach Anthony Grant was blunt about his team after a loss Wednesday night at South Carolina. "We're playing an entitled brand of basketball, and it's very frustrating as a coach," Grant said. He added later that he needed to "self-evaluate what I'm doing as a coach when it consistently feels like winning is not the priority that it needs to be on our team."

10. They can shoot

The offenses of North Carolina, Creighton, and Missouri are among the most efficient in the country and a major reason all three teams are ranked. The Tar Heels lead the nation in scoring at 85.1 points per game and also in rebounding margin (plus 11.5). Creighton owns the shooting double, leading all Division I schools in field-goal percentage (51.4) and three-point percentage (45.1), while draining 8.7 shots per game (12th) from beyond the arc. Missouri is fourth in scoring (83.4 points), second in field goal percentage (50.9 percent), and tops in assist-turnover ratio.

The Real Top 10

1. Kentucky 20-1

2. Syracuse 21-1

3. Ohio State 18-3

4. North Carolina 17-3

5. Missouri 18-2

6. Kansas 17-3

7. Baylor 18-2

8. Duke 17-3

9. Georgetown 16-3

10. Michigan State 17-4

- Joe JulianoEndText