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Kansas Jayhawks - No. 1 West Region (+400)

Records: 30-4 regular season, 14-2 conference, 16-16 ATS, 14-16 Over/Under

First Round Opponent: Niagara (Kansas -19)

The Jayhawks will battle Niagara, who beat Florida A&M 77-69 on Tuesday night.

With the likes of Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush, Kansas has the NCAA’s eighth best field goal shooting percentage.

The Jayhawks are a dangerous team and handed defending national champ Florida a loss earlier in the season. Speaking of which . . .

Florida Gators - No. 1 Midwest Region (+350)

Records: 29-5 regular season, 13-3 conference, 13-13-1 ATS, 15-12 Over/Under

First Round Opponent: Jackson State (Florida -28)

When you’re on top there’s only one way to go. Fortunately for the Gators one of the key ingredients from last year’s championship team—F Joakim Noah—is still around and he is ready to build on both his 2006 tournament MVP performance and his team’s 2006 championship as well.

This season, Noah is averaging 12.1 points, 8.2 boards and 2.4 assists a game.

Possible Upsets

With a field of 64 (after the Florida A&M, Niagara game) there will most certainly be a few higher seeds heading home early. Here are some early exit possibilities:

Midwest: No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Davidson (Maryland -7)

You’ve heard of the Maryland Terrapins no doubt, but you probably haven’t heard of the Davidson Wildcats. That’s ok, but we’ll let you in on a little secret: Although Maryland has a very solid 17-9 ATS record, Davidson’s 21-8-1 is not only the best ATS mark out of all the teams in the tournament, but in all NCAA basketball as well.

Davidson has four players who average double-digit points, including former NBAer Dell Curry’s son Stephen.

Stephen Curry, a freshman G, averages 21.2 points a game and is a key reason that Davidson enters the tourney on a 13 game winning streak. Their 75.5 shooting percentage from the charity strip is 13th best in Division I.

Nevertheless, they will have to be on their toes against Maryland in the opening round.

Midwest: No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Winthrop (ND -4)

Winthrop ran the table in Big South Conference play going 14-0 on the strength of performances from the triumvirate of Michael Jenkins (15.3 ppg), Torrell Martin (14.2 ppg) and Craig Bradshaw (13.3 ppg) and there is talk that they could be this year’s George Mason, a Cinderella team if you will. In 2006/07 Winthrop has a 3-1 ATS record and head into this year’s tournament riding an 18-game winning streak.

The luck of the Fighting Irish might be sorely tested in the opening round.

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