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CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT REPORTS

by the Staff

PAC-10 TOURNAMENT
Staples Center - Los Angeles, CA
    
Could there be a more wacky big-name conference in the country than this year's Pac-10?

Only three teams played better-than-600 ball in league play - that's California (13-5), Arizona State (12-6) and Washington (11-7) - as six teams in the conference lost 10-or-more games. No wonder the public at large would like to see only one or two Pac-10 teams make it into next week's NCAA Tournament although count us among the folks who believe this conference will get three teams in come Selection Sunday.

Maybe California guard Jerome Randle (18.7 ppg) can get hot and stay hot for Mike Montgomery's crew this week or maybe Washington's do-it-all star Quincy Pondexter (20.2 ppg and 7.8 rpg) can galvanize Lorenzo Romar's crew but don't be shocked if one of the teams with a sub-.500 Pac-10 regular-season record makes a run for it - like UCLA (who went 8-10 in league play in the 2009-10 season).

Heck, you could throw a blanket over these teams to find the best of the bunch over a three-day period.
    

ACC TOURNAMENT
Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, NC

The big question that everyone's asking is whether or not Duke (26-5, 13-3) gets a #1 NCAA Tournament seed if the Blue Devils cop this week's Atlantic Coast Conference Tourney - and the answer better be a resounding"yes"!

Duke snagged the numero uno seed in this mini-tourney thanks to tie-breaker jazz over Maryland (23-7, 13-3) and Mike Krzyzewski's crew is flying high following last weekend's ultra-demolition of archrival North Carolina - heck, if"Coach K" didn't call off the dogs in the second half than the Dookies would have won that game by lots more than 28 points!

Here, the Blue Devils won't swing into action until noon ET on Friday - they will play the winner of Thursday's Virginia-Boston College tilt - and so it's a good time to let you know the Cavaliers are without top stud Sylven Landesberg who's been booted from the squad because of academic issues. Maybe BC can hang around with Duke for awhile but it's quite possible Jon Scheyer (18.9 ppg), Nolan Smith (17.6 ppg) and Kyle Singler (17.2 ppg) won't have to break a sweat until Saturday's semis.

The rest of this ACC field has diverse interests while trying to KO Duke:

Aforementioned Maryland could get as high as a #2 seed with a mini-tourney title here while Virginia Tech and Florida State - both of whom registered tidy 10-6 marks in league play in 2009-10 - could seriously upgrade their respective NCAA Tourney seeds with a surprise title here.

Now that Wake Forest finally snapped its late-year four-game losing skid, the Demon Deacons might be playing a bit more loosey-goosey here while Clemson (21-9, 9-7) still may need to pound out a Round One win against N.C. State to convince NCAA Tournament Committee folks that they are indeed worthy of an at-large spot.

Odd to see North Carolina (16-15, 5-11) with a #10 seed attached to its name - maybe if the Tar Heels can beat Georgia Tech on Thursday night (7 p.m. ET) it would wash away some of the rotten taste of this season.
 

SEC TOURNAMENT
Sommet Center - Nashville, TN

Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt earned the mini-tourney's first-round bye while nabbing the top four seeds but don't be necessarily be surprised if only the UK Wildcats (29-2, 14-2) are the only high seed standing Sunday's championship game. No doubt that John Calipari's crew enters this tourney as prohibitive favorites but - let's say it right here and right now - one of these days the zone defenses regularly being thrown at G John Wall and Company is gonna cause the'Cats a major scare.

In this SEC Tournament, it's a pair of guard-oriented teams that have to survive opening-round games that could get a run going and they include Tennessee (23-7, 11-5) and Arkansas (7-9, 14-17) - both of whom can get hot and stay hot thanks to the Vols' Scotty Hopson (13.1 ppg) and the Hogs' little lefty Courtney Fortson (18.1 ppg). If Tennessee beats LSU in Round I, Bruce Pearl's guys get Ole Miss; if Arkansas knocks off short-handed Georgia in opening-round play, the Razorbacks would move on to play Vandy. Hmmm.
    

BIG 10 TOURNAMENT
Conseco Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN

Let's be honest here:

There are probably only three teams with a real-live shot at capturing this mini-tourney in the Midwest - Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin (in that order) as simply believe Purdue will miss star F Robbie Hummel somewhere over a three-day period while the NCAA-hopeful likes of Illinois and Minnesota simply don't have enough firepower and sure don't look capable of stringing together three or four wins in a row against quality competition.

No question that Ohio State (24-7, 14-4) has the best player in this tourney in Evan Turner (19.5 ppg and 9.4 rpg) but a real key here is that if three-point specialist Jon Diebler (12.6 ppg) gets into a rhythm from beyond the arc, it'll be a case of"lights out" for any of the Buckeyes' foes here. Maybe the best way for Michigan State and/or Wisconsin to beat the Bucks in this mini-tourney is to defuse Diebler and quiet underrated star William Buford (14.3 ppg) and let Turner have his numbers - we'll see.

The M-State Spartans (24-7, 14-4) claim point guard Kalin Lucas (team-best 14.8 ppg) is fine after a late-season ankle injury but can Tom Izzo's team win this tourney with Lucas having to play 37 or 38 minutes a game for three consecutive days?

Wisconsin (23-7, 13-5) always favors that rough-and-tumble approach and nowadays the Badgers are deeper than ever with senior guards Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes more than capable of taking over a game at crunch time.
    

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