The 4th Number 1 Seed

• Prescott

  Kansas, UK, and Syracuse seem to have #1 seeds almost locked up. Hummel's season ending injury probably will cost Purdue a #1 seed. That leaves one spot open. Who gets it?
  
  There are plenty of candidates. Nova, Duke, K-State. This makes the league tournaments a little more interesting. If the league tournaments don't yield a winner, could a BYU, New Mexico, Butler or Gonzaga get a #1 seed?
• golf4life2008

  Duke... mark it down!
• Azubuike24

  

  Butler or Gonzaga? No chance my friend. New Mexico or BYU possibly if one wins out.
  
  Right now, it's Duke's to lose. Nova still has to go to Syracuse and the Big East Tourney. K-State still has to go to Lawrence and the Big 12 Tourney. Purdue still has to play Michigan State and the Big Ten Tourney.
  
  Of the tough games left, Duke at Maryland is by far the most winnable, and in Greensboro, Duke will be a big favorite to win the ACC.
  
  Duke gets the 4th #1 seed.
• burt07

  Yeah I'd have to agree with the Duke sentiments and it's pretty hard to imagine. They still have never overly impressed me this year and I'm a Duke fan. Even with the potential 1 seed I'm not sure if I see a deep run in them, they are very capable of losing an 8/9 game.
• Prescott

  Butler or Gonzaga? No chance my friend. New Mexico or BYU possibly if one wins out.
  
  I agree that it is Duke's to lose, but what if they lose? You have mentioned the pitfalls that face the other contenders. Butler and Gonzaga should win out. Still no chance?
• Azubuike24

  

  Each of the 4 listed, K-State, Purdue, Nova and Duke all have to play the other "best" team in their conference. 3 of the 4 on the road, and the one home game is Purdue's first game without Hummel. That opens it up for the winner of BYU/New Mexico to win out and win the MWC Tourney, which would put them at 31-3. The Mountain West is right below the power 5 conferences (along with the A-10), and a 31-3 champ (preferably New Mexico) might have this resume:
  
  31-3 Overall, 17-2 in the Mountain West, 17-game winning streak
  Top 10 RPI
  Top 50 SOS
  W over New Mexico State (RPI 67)
  W over Louisiana Tech (RPI 79)
  W over California (RPI 24)
  W over New Mexico State (RPI 67)
  W over Texas A&M (RPI 18)
  W over Texas Tech (RPI 51)
  W over Dayton (RPI 43)
  W over BYU (RPI 19)
  W over San Diego State (RPI 38)
  W over UNLV (RPI 44)
  W over BYU (RPI 19)
  2 possible W's over BYU, SDSU and/or UNLV in the MWC Tourney
  
  If they get to this point, and those other 4 teams (Duke, K-State, Villanova and Purdue) all fail to win their conference tournament, New Mexico might be the last #1 seed, and justifiably so.
  
  You could also substitute BYU in, although even if they were to go 31-3, their possible resume would not be as strong as New Mexico's.
• Azubuike24

  

  Prescott wrote: Butler or Gonzaga? No chance my friend. New Mexico or BYU possibly if one wins out.
  
  I agree that it is Duke's to lose, but what if they lose? You have mentioned the pitfalls that face the other contenders. Butler and Gonzaga should win out. Still no chance?

  I say this because look at the seeding history with Butler and Gonzaga. Both have had similar or better years, and although they weren't talked about for #1 seeds, both have a history of being underseeded by the committee, AKA, they don't think as highly of the Horizon or WCC as they might the A-10, C-USA, MWC or even Missouri Valley.
  
  So yes, there is absolutely no chance either of those gets a NUMBER 1. As high as a #2 or #3 if everything goes right for them, yes, NOT a #1.
• Prescott

  Does Wisky get a shot , since they lost some games when Leuer was out with injury?? The Badgers should end the season on a 5-game regular season winning streak.
• centralbucksfan

  Prescott wrote: Does Wisky get a shot , since they lost some games when Leuer was out with injury?? The Badgers should end the season on a 5-game regular season winning streak.

  No, I don't think Wisky has a shot in hell.
  But OSU does IMO. They win out reg season, home games vs UM and Ill, which they should. Which could tie them for Big Ten reg season if things fall right. Then go on to win the Big Ten tourney...OSU could possibly sneak in there when you consider 3 of those losses they had, were without Turner.
  Now a couple teams above would have to faulter...but I honestly don't think its out of the realm of possibility. Right now, its pretty wide open heading down the stretch.
• Scarlet_Fever

  

  What if......
  
  Say Purdue still wins out in the Regular Season and makes it to the Championship game or even wins it in the Big 10 Tourney. Do they still not get a 1 seed? Why wouldn't they. If they can prove they can still win without Hummel they would still deserve it. They are still a very strong team without him.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Scarlet_Fever wrote: What if......
  
  Say Purdue still wins out in the Regular Season and makes it to the Championship game or even wins it in the Big 10 Tourney. Do they still not get a 1 seed? Why wouldn't they. If they can prove they can still win without Hummel they would still deserve it. They are still a very strong team without him.

  Umm, I think that's a pretty obvious yes.
  
  The reason why people are moving Purdue out of the #1 is b/c everyone seems to think they'll lose a game or two down the road without one of their premiere players.
• centralbucksfan

  Scarlet_Fever wrote: What if......
  
  Say Purdue still wins out in the Regular Season and makes it to the Championship game or even wins it in the Big 10 Tourney. Do they still not get a 1 seed? Why wouldn't they. If they can prove they can still win without Hummel they would still deserve it. They are still a very strong team without him.

  I happen to agree with this. All one has to do is look at last year when Hummel missed quite a bit, yet Purdue was still very good...winning the Big Ten tourney and getting to the sweet 16.
  This Sat is going to be very telling. MSU has had the entire week off to prepare for Purdue.
• swamisez

  

  I think Duke will lose their semifinal in the ACC tournament (Clemson, GaTech). That should eliminate them from 1 seed discussion.
  
  Purdue will be decent despite the loss of Hummel, but they will have to win the Big Ten Tournament.
  
  If Villanova finds a way into the Big East Final or wins it, they will get the seed.
• slingshot4ever

  I think if OSU wins out through the Big Ten tourney they may have a shot at it. If not, potentially the top #2 seed which would put them in the same region as the fourth #1 seed.
• reclegend22

  

  You might be playing the reverse psych game here, swami, but if Duke continues to out rebound opponents the way it has all season long, it will win in Greensboro. Since '97, we're 11-1 with three titles when the ACC Tournament is held in the Coliseum. With our track record in the Duke Invitational, I don't see us losing in the semifinals. After the game in LittleJohn, Clemson doesn't worry me (still a formidable opponent, but not one I'm worried over) and Tech isn't coached well enough to win two or three games to get to the finals.
  
  If Duke wins out the regular season (which it should, though Maryland will be a tough, tough challenge on the road -- probably our toughest road game of the season in the ACC), and gets to the ACC finals (whether it wins or not), the Blue Devils have the last four. This is assuming Syracuse or someone other than Nova wins the Big East tourney in New York and anyone but K-State wins the Big XII.
  
  If Duke finishes the season 29-5 and reaches the ACC finals, and neither Nova or K-State win their conference tourneys, New Mexico and BYU won't be lifted past the Devils to a #1, IMO. Ohio State might have a shot, but the Buckeyes will have to win out and win the Big Ten in Indianapolis. Duke has the top rated overall SOS in the country, sits at No. 2 in RPI and ranks No. 1 in the kenpom ratings. If the above scenarios play out, Duke has the pedigree for that fourth spot.