Two rounds of the NCAA Tournament are now in the books, and here at Bankroll Sports, we’re giving all sorts of heck to the teams and players that were totally missing in action to cost their teams a shot at the National Championship.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week

Kansas Jayhawks C Markieff Morris in disbelief after the #1 team in the land was bounced by an inferior Missouri Valley Conference foe.

Where else can we start than right at the top? The Kansas Jayhawks are going to be looked at as the biggest disappointment of this entire season. They were the #1 team in the land and the #1 overall seed in this tournament, and they knew that they were going to have to face a pair of mid-majors in this tournament before heading to the Sweet 16. It took a strong second half run for the Jayhawks to finally take out #16 Lehigh on Thursday, and it became increasingly clear that this was a squad that was disinterested with playing these small time inferior squads.

Enter the #9 Northern Iowa Panthers. If you want proof that this was an underachieving team, just look at how well the Jayhawks played when desperation finally set in. C Cole Aldrich looked like a man on a mission, and the defense was stifling down the stretch. But the great equalizer in this tournament, the three point shot, finally gave the Panthers a four point lead that they would never relent. Now, HC Bill Self has to answer a lot of questions about why team looked like garbage, and G Sherron Collins has to deal with criticism for shooting 0/6 from downtown in the team’s final game of the season. This was really, really inexcusable Kansas, and you know it.

However, the Jayhawks were the only disappointing group in the Midwest Region. The Georgetown Hoyas had to be considered a trendy selection to come out of this bracket, as they marched all the way to the Big East final before getting knocked off in the dying seconds by West Virginia. It didn’t take long to be bounced from the tournament that really mattered, though. Sure, we’ll listen to the fatigue factor thing, but let’s be realistic here. This first round debacle against the Ohio Bobcats was against a #14 seed who was a #9 in their own mid-major conference. No excuses. None whatsoever.

In fact, let’s just give a little bit of grief to the rest of the Big East. Remember when this league was supposed to have nine, ten, maybe even 11 teams in this tournament? Five of the eight teams were gone in the first three days of this tournament, and one of those teams that made it to the second round, the #2 Villanova Wildcats, nearly became the fifth #2 seed in the history of this tournament to lose to a #15 seed in the first round of the dance.

Here’s ranting on the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10 as well. Three days into the dance, and all four teams out of the MWC were already eliminated. Save watching Xavier in the A-10, watching this conference play ball in March Madness has been incredibly painful. Both the Temple Owls and the Richmond Spiders were crushed in their first round games by higher seeds.

Someone’s going to have to forgive Big East Commissioner John Marinatto if this is what he looks like after yesterday’s NCAA Tournament games from his conference.

It’s bad enough that that’s Buzz Williams, the head coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles, who crashed out of the dance in their most predictable fashion: losing by two points practically at the buzzer. It was par for the course for a team that only suffered one loss by double digits all year long and lost six games in conference by less than a touchdown.

An 11 seed (as the Washington Huskies were) from a power conference (even though there’s a debate about just how “powerful” the Pac-10 was this year) isn’t the end of the world. Upsets happen all the time like that this time of year, and the Big East knew that it wasn’t going to have an 8-0 first round of this tournament in all likelihood.

Even losing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish wasn’t all that big of a deal to the Big East. After all, the Irish were probably the weakest of tournament teams out of this conference, and they were still adapting to a new system and life where their best player (Luke Harangody) was coming off of the bench and not starting.

Notre Dame was probably an overrated #6 seed playing against an Old Dominion squad that was probably an underrated #11. So it was par for the course for the luck of the Irish to run out late in the game against the Monarchs, and again, it wasn’t that big of a deal or that black of an eye to take.

Now… Villanova…. You’re a significantly, significantly different story.

Once upon a time a threat to take over the #1 spot in the AP Poll, the Villanova Wildcats entered this tournament looking to make amends for a bad showing in the Big East Tournament, which wrapped up after just one game following a loss to the aforementioned Golden Eagles. Surely, there was no way that there was even a remote struggle coming for a team that was going to be on the #1 line of the tourney if not for that late season swoon, right?

Wrong.

Nova was acting like a defeated team before it even stepped anywhere near the court in Providence on Thursday. HC Jay Wright benched both G Corey Fisher and G Scottie Reynolds at the outset of the game for a violation of team rules. His Cats fell behind Robert Morris, the Northeast Conference champions early. No big deal, right?

It is a big deal when you’re still behind by nine points late in the game! However, thanks to officiating that allowed the Wildcats back into the game and some great free throw shooting from Reynolds (who had better have had a great day from the charity stripe after going 2/15 from the floor and 1/8 from downtown), somehow, the Cats clawed their way into overtime. From there, they asserted themselves, and finally downed the scrappy Colonials.

It was all over the news during the 2:30 games as well as in that break between the morning and afternoon sessions. Everyone was talking about how Villanova is done and how St. Mary’s is going to pick it off on Saturday and that that was that for the Big East giants.

That statement might’ve been almost right… But maybe that was that for the Big East period.

Hey Georgetown Hoyas, all you had to do was go out and take care of an Ohio Bobcats team that was probably overrated as a #14, as it was the #9 seed in its own lousy conference during the year and really beat no one of any real note outside of the MAC this year. You could’ve restored order in your own conference.

Instead, you fell behind by double digits in the first half, played a miserable defensive game, and ultimately crashed out of the tourney in the most embarrassing way possible.

It’s not even like the Hoyas can say that they were just a victim of the proverbial “March Madness.” This wasn’t a situation where Vanderbilt was in, where it just got unlucky with a crazy shot at the end of the game. There were no crazy shots. There was just sheer domination.

So now, the Big East enters its second day of basketball, and Syracuse, West Virginia, Louisville, and Pittsburgh will hope to make a better impression on the college basketball world than what their conference brethren did yesterday.

The lesson learned, though, is that the big, bad Big East might not be quite as big and bad as we once thought.

After two weeks worth of great Olympics betting action, the festivities in Vancouver have finally come to a close. There’s plenty left to rant and rave about in the American sports scene, none of which have anything to do with the efforts of the US hockey team, which claimed silver medals after losing in overtime to the Canadians in Sunday’s gold medal game.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week
Purdue Boilermakers F Robbie Hummel, who suffered a season-ending injury in the same week that his team lost any hope of a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Last week, we took some time to rant about how poorly the Villanova Wildcats played against bubble teams in the Big East. Now, it’s time for the Georgetown Hoyas to step up and face the music. C’mon guys… Losing at home to Notre Dame, playing without its stud F Luke Harangody? That makes two completely inexcusable and embarrassing losses at home on the season, with the other coming at home against South Florida back on February 3rd. Only managing 15 rebounds as a team against the Irish was quite disgusting, and the end result was just as repulsive for a team that once upon a time believed it was good enough to be on the #1 line in the NCAA Tournament.

Don’t think that you’re getting away from this one, Boston Celtics. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you complaining now that you were playing without your best player, F Paul Pierce against the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night. No offense, but if you took your entire regular starting five out of the lineup, you’d still have a squad that was lined at -4 at home against the Nets. Oh, you don’t believe me? Tell me that you’d rather have Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, Trenton Hassell, and Brook Lopez over Marquis Daniels, Nate Robinson, Glen Davis, Rasheed Wallace, and Tony Allen. Get real fellas. If your boy Ray Allen keeps putting up 3/11 shooting nights, you won’t even survive the first round of the playoffs let alone make a run at the NBA title.

The New Mexico Lobos got arguably their biggest win of the season on Saturday when they knocked off BYU in the closing moments of their game 83-81 to clinch up the Mountain West regular season title. However, that’s not what we’re ranting about. We’re ranting about that ridiculous postgame altercation that HC Steve Alford had with one of the Cougars. Hey Coach, you know better than this. You can’t sit there and yell at a player on the opposing team (or your own team for that matter), “I’m going to tell you real clear… You’re an [expletive]!” That marred a big win for your team, Alford, and you owe your guys a heck of a lot better than that.

As an American, it’s really easy to rant on the Russians, but in this case, there were two boneheads that deserve it. Alexander Ovechkin decided that it was a great idea to bust up a camera after his hockey team was bounced from the Olympics. A great display of sportsmanship in an athletic event that is designed to promote the essence of being a good sport in representing your nation.

However, that wasn’t nearly the funniest, yet disgraceful Russian moment of the Olympics. President Dmitry Medvedev demanded that all of the Russian sports officials that were responsible for the debacle that was the country’s dismal 15 medal performance in the Winter Olympics to resign their posts. He claimed, “I think that the individuals responsible, or several of them, who answer for these preparations, should take the courageous decision to hand in their notice. If we don’t see such decisiveness, we will help them.”

So let’s get this straight, el presidente… You’re going to force out all of your Olympic coaching representatives right after the Vancouver games?

Man, are things going to be difficult for the other countries coming onto Russian soil for the 2014 Games in Sochi…

There’s plenty to rant about this week in the sports world. Not only were the Olympics hot and heavy, but the NBA’s trade deadline has come and gone as well. There’s also just a few weeks left until Selection Sunday. Here at Bankroll Sports, we’re ready to take out the trash and call out the stiffs that wrecked the sports world for the week that was.

Rap Sheet Picture of the Week
Phoenix Suns’ F Amare Stoudemire, who has to be wondering why he’s still stuck in the desert for the duration of the season.

Hey, Canadian Ice Hockey Team… What gives? You’re the host nation, you’re playing on your own ice in front of tens of thousands of your fans, and you’ve clearly got one of the best sets of 23 guys ever assembled on the same ice. Why the heck do you need a shootout to get past Switzerland and then do you lose to your arch rivals, the United States Hockey Team? That’s awfully unacceptable, eh? Now, as the #6 seed in the tournament, you’ve got to take out Germany just to earn the right to get into the quarterfinals of this draw, while the US and three other teams that played better than you did during the group stages are resting and watching.

We’ve already done some ranting when we talked about out NBA Trade Deadline Report Card last week, but there’s no way that we can’t continue to rant on the Phoenix Suns for the way that they handled the Amare Stoudemire situation. Phoenix clearly doesn’t want Stoudemire’s contract hanging around any long, and in spite of the fact that he leads the team in scoring, they talked for three weeks about getting rid of him. That angered the big man and took away some effective games from him. And when all was said and done, Phoenix traded him to… oh that’s right. The Suns never did move him. Now, Phoenix has a few more months of Stoudemire’s contract and, assuming that he doesn’t exercise his $17M option for next year, will be left with nothing but some extra cap space for 2011.

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What’s up with the Houston Rockets anyway? Wasn’t this team supposed to get a heck of a lot better by getting rid of Tracy McGrady and bringing in a bunch of pieces to the puzzle that were supposed to make this a playoff team? Don’t blame Kevin Martin and Jared Jeffries. Martin’s put up 27 combined points in his two games as a Rocket, and Jeffries was one rebound shy of a double-double on Sunday, but all that was accomplished this week was a dud loss in the Bayou and a smack down at the hands of the Pacers at home. That won’t get Houston to the playoffs. The only thing that that will do is move HC Rick Adelman a lot closer to the unemployment lines.

Just two weeks ago, a lot of college basketball pundits thought that the Villanova Wildcats had a gripe to be the overall #1 seed of the upcoming NCAA Tournament (click here for our latest look at the March Madness odds). Now, losses to Pitt on the road and at home against UConn have them spiraling out of control heading towards the Big East Tournament. It’s bad enough that the Cats would probably be on the #2 line if March Madness started today, but coming up is a roadie at the Carrier Dome. Yikes! Things could get a lot worse before they get better for Villanova.

The college basketball season is starting to pick up full steam and is picking up a lot more attention now that college football regular season is in the books. One of the common themes around the nation is that there is a ton of new and rising talent on the hardwood making big names for themselves heading into 2010. Among the headlines this season, we like to point out a group of guys that are shaping out to be a very good class at the point guard position. Of course not to get the confused with shooting guards, these are the guys directing the game and opening up opportunities for their players. Sometimes they do not post the big numbers as do the scorers, but they are equally as valuable. We bring to you a look at the Top 10 point guards in college basketball based on what we have seen thus far in the year.

Be sure check back as we will break down the top 10 shooting guards in our next preview…

#10 – Greivis Vasquez (Maryland Terrapins)

Greivis Vasquez got off to a terrible start this year, but has turned that around over the past few games. Vasquez averaged just 7.5 points through the first 4 games of the year, but has rallied averaging 17 points over the past 5 games. The Maryland Terrapins senior have averaged over 17 points in his last two seasons and is carrying a solid mark of 5.8 assists per game this year. The problem with Vasquez is that he is very inconsistent and just shooting 35% on the year. However, the biggest problem is that he has a big problem with ball control as he has given up 32 turnovers in just 9 games and that part of his game must change.

#9 – Devan Downey (South Carolina Gamecocks)

Devan Downey is a feisty little guy that has not gotten off to a great start this year, but is an excellent player. Downey has carried South Carolina over the last two year’s despite any big success as a team. Downey averaged 20 points, 5 assist, and led the SEC with 3 steals per game last season. Downey is currently averaging 17.6 point per game which is not bad at all considering he has struggled a bit in his most recent outings. However, he still has a good chance to reach 2,000 career points and flirt with 500 assist for his career. Keep an eye on this guy as his stock will rise before all is said and done.

#8 – Kemba Walker (Connecticut Huskies)

Kemba Walker is a guy that understands what it takes to be a point guard. He runs the Huskies offense very well and gets the ball to the right guys. Walker had a decent freshman campaign averaging 9 points and 3 assists per game, but he should improve those numbers a good bit this year. Walker has already had a couple big performances this year and is averaging 5.6 assists and 15 points per game not to mention shooting 50% from behind the arc. He has hinted that he can be a big time player, but may need to develop into a bigger scoring threat before he can really show all his potential.

#7 – Jon Scheyer (Duke Blue Devils)

Blue Devils senior guard Jon Scheyer may like some of the god gifted ability as some of our other guards on our list, but makes up for it with a great knowledge of the game and accurate shooting stroke. Scheyer is the only guy outside of Kyle Singler that returned to the Blue Devils roster this season that had quality playing time last year. So far Scheyer 16 points per game and a very solid 5.3 assists. Another interesting aspect that is growing attention is the fact of how well Scheyer handles the ball. Scheyer has just 5 turnovers in the Blue Devils first 8 games which should have Coach K pleased.

#6 – Nic Wise (Arizona Wildcats)

Despite a disastrous 4-5 start by the Wildcats, Nic Wise has continued to play well. Wise has posted 16 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game this season. The Wildcats senior is one of those guys that just goes out and puts up consistent numbers while rarely having any horrible performances. At the end of last year, Wise scored at least double digits in 14 of his last 15 outings. Wise also sports a career 3 point percentage over 40% which will help his draft status at the end of the year if he continues to play well.

#5 – Jerome Randle (California Golden Bears)

Jerome Randle is a 4 year starter that has reached his prime for the Golden Bears. In fact if California was among the top teams in the nation, Randle may be a household name. Randle not only led the team averaging 18 points last year; he also leads the team this season averaging nearly 20 points per game. Not only is Randle have an excellent touch of the ball, he really finds ways for his guys to get high percentage shots and carries a 5 assists per game average. It is also worth mentioning that Randle leads all of college basketball averaging 93.5% from the free-throw line.

#4 – Scottie Reynolds (Villanova Wildcats)

Scottie Reynolds is a guy that for some reason or another has not received a ton of praise in the national spotlight. Not to say he has not been given credit, but perhaps not as much as he deserves. Reynolds got really hot at the end of last year as has recently started getting hot again. On the year, the Wildcats senior is averaging 16 points, 4.2 assists, and 2 steals per game. Add to the fact Reynolds has scored at least 22 points in each of his last 3 outings, he may be a reason Villanova is another Cinderella type story again in March.

#3 – Kalin Lucas (Michigan State Spartans)

Kalin Lucas holds the top point guard spot in the Big Ten and his importance to the Spartans success is critical. Lucas now in his junior year is averaging 17 points per game with 4.5 assists. Lucas also not known for posting tremendous scoring numbers has shot the ball well this year especially behind the arc where he has knocked down 44% through his first 9 games. It was the Spartans last year who made a late charge in the NCAA Tournament capturing a shot at the National Title before falling to North Carolina. It was also Lucas has knocked down right at 20 points in both of the big games against Connecticut and Kansas during the tournament. Lucas has proved time and time again he is the guy to carry the Spartans when they need it as he will be for the rest of the year.

#2 – John Wall (Kentucky Wildcats)

John Wall is without any doubt the biggest impact freshman in the country and heads up an amazing group of youngsters at Kentucky that could contend for a National Title in John Calipari’s first year as coach. Wall has averaged 18 points per game and ranks 4th in the nation with 7.1 assists per game. Wall has the frame for like a small forward at 6’4, but excellent ball handling skills and ability to slice to the lane quickly. It also is worth mentioning that he has had some great performances against top notch competition like North Carolina and a season high 25 points in a 3 point win over Connecticut. Known a year ago as the #1 recruit in the nation, Wall is on his way to becoming the #1 player in the nation. The freshman has had a great start, but let’s let him prove he can keep it going.

#1 – Sherron Collins (Kansas Jayhawks)

Sherron Collins entered the season as the number 1 point guard in the nation, but he is feeling a lot of pressure from John Wall. However, Collins is an experienced senior that has proven himself in the big games and there is still a long season to be played. Collins is a following a junior campaign in which he averaged 19 points and 5 assist per game even though he is just averaging just 13 points and 4 assist through his first 9 games this season. The thing is that Collins has not had to do much yet this year with Xavier Henry shooting the ball so well, but expect that to change as the season progresses. Also, Collins is still the most complete point guard at this time and understands the game at the college level better than anyone.

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The first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament flashed by so quick it was hard to evaluate how all the teams looked in their games. One of the most interesting aspects of the 2009 NCAA Tournament perhaps could be the lack of upsets compared to recent years. Outside of 12th seeded Arizona and 5th seeded Purdue, all of the remaining teams left in the March Madness venue have at least a 4th seeded ranking or higher. However, this means that all of these heavily favored teams will be squaring off in the next round meaning anything can happen. We take a look at the updated odds to win the 2009 NCAA Basketball Championship with our remaining sixteen teams and who you may what to consider placing a wager on to win it all.

The leading favorites to win the NCAA Tournament are the North Carolina Tarheels. The Tarheels are 3/1 favorites to win it all coming out of the South bracket. North Carolina was predicted by our initial NCAA Tournament predictions to at least make it to the Final Four. The reason is fairly simple and it is the South bracket is perhaps the weakest bracket in the Tournament if there ever were a weak bracket. The Tarheels get Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen and they should be able to take care of business. North Carolina’s lineup is so deep which makes them a favorable team to place a bet on. Ty Lawson is playing extremely well back from his injury and so is the rest of the star studded roster. All year people have regarded North Carolina as being the most talented team in the country and now they only have a few games left to back that claim.

One team receiving the least favorable odds to win the Championship is a team that many thought did not even deserve to be in the big dance. The Arizona Wildcats received severe criticism for being selected into the NCAA Tournament after losing 5 of their last 6 games this season with a mediocre at best record of 19-13. However, Arizona has silenced the critics early on in March Madness upsetting 5th seeded Utah and then beating no. 13 Cleveland State to earn their trip to the sweet sixteen. The Wildcats are receiving 50/1 odds to win the Championship meaning they would be a long shot, but jackpot style winning pick if they could pull of the Title run as heavy underdogs. Arizona may be worth just the slightest interest considering these guys still have a lot to prove. Possibly just placing like the smallest of bets in hopes of the big payoff. On the other hand, history tells us that the big underdogs are not ones to consider for a wager. There has only been one number 12 seed to ever make it to the Elite Eight and never has a number one seed won the National Championship. Then again college basketball seems to always re-write history in the NCAA Tournament.

One of our upset prediction teams to really make some noise in the NCAA Tournament is receiving very good odds to win it all. The Villanova Wildcats looked very solid blowing out UCLA by 20 points to earn a sweet sixteen bid. Villanova seems to be a big underdog to come out of the East bracket, but they just may be the team to pull of the feat. Villanova is receiving 22/1 odds to win the National Championship while also receiving 2.5/1 odds to win the East. Villanova as mentioned before could present a lot of problems for the Duke Blue Devils in their sweet sixteen battle set for this Thursday. If the Wildcats could pull of the victory, they could get a mid-season re-match with Pittsburgh. Villanova looked strong over the Panthers in that victory 67-57 and would be one of the only teams Pittsburgh may really hope they do not face. Anything is possible if Villanova can get the next two big wins considering they would be riding a huge wave of momentum entering the final four which makes 22/1 odds look profitable if everything was to play out.

One final aspect left to consider when determining who to place some money on to win the National Championship is the number 1 seeds and how they will play out. Number 1 seeded teams have backed up their pre-tournament rankings when looking at the history of the NCAA Tournament. 14 times in the last 30 years which is nearly 50% of the team does a number one seed win the National Championship. Last season for the first time ever the Final Four was composed of all number one seeds and that could happen again this year if everything were to play out. Taking a look at the number one seeds you have Pittsburgh at 6/1, Louisville Cardinals at 4/1, Connecticut Huskies at 6/1, and North Carolina Tar Heels at 3/1 odds to win it all. Basically giving fairly descent odds to any of the number 1 seeds you have a feeling will be able to win it all. Legitimate arguments can be made for all of these teams to have good chances to be crowned Champions of College Basketball. The hard thing to do is figuring out which team it will be now and making the most profit off your bet.

Here are the current odds to win the 2009 NCAA baskeball Championship for all the elite 8 teams from BetUS Sportsbook:

• Connecticut      +450
• Louisville      +300  
• Michigan State      +1500  
• Missouri      +1400  
• North Carolina      +250  
• Oklahoma      +1200  
• Pittsburgh      +550  
• Villanova      +900