Syracuse-Vermont rematch highlights West

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament and staring at an injury to starting forward Arinze Onuaku, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the West Region as the Orange head into a much-anticipated first-round encounter against Vermont.

The Orange (28-4) will take on the 16th-seeded Catamounts (25-9) Friday night in Buffalo and will hope to reverse course from a shocking defeat to Vermont five years ago. The Catamounts were a No. 13 seed in 2005 when they shocked Syracuse, 60-57, in overtime in a first-round matchup.

"That was the year before I came in. I hadn't committed yet, but everyone in Syracuse was miserable after that loss," Syracuse senior guard Andy Rautins said. "It's definitely going to be a little bit of a payback game for us. We're not taking anybody lightly -- we're going to come out and have a great week of practice, get good preparation in and be well prepared for this game."

Syracuse, making its 33rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, has a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1980. The Orange weren't placed in the East due to the fact that the regional semifinals and final are at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse fell to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, when Onuaku was hurt. He left the game early and was diagnosed with a right quadriceps injury. He's considered day-to-day.

"He has played in a lot of pain before, probably two or three months last year -- he had pain the whole year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I would not sell him short as far as being able to come out and play. If he is strong and feels strong, he may not be able to play 25 or 30 minutes, but maybe he will be able to play 15 or 20, we will have to see."

Vermont earned a spot in the field of 65 by winning the America East Tournament with an 83-70 win over Boston University on Saturday.

The rematch will be heightened thanks to brothers playing on opposite sides as Syracuse forward Kris Joseph meets his sibling Maurice, Vermont's second- leading scorer this season.

"He will probably be guarding someone like Andy," Kris Joseph said. "I wish we played man for a few possessions because I would guard him full court."

Also in Buffalo Thursday night, eighth seeded Gonzaga (26-6) faces No. 9 seed Florida State (22-9). The Bulldogs made it to the Sweet 16 last year before losing to eventual champion North Carolina. This season marks Gonzaga's 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were first-round losers last year to Wisconsin.

Kansas State (26-7) is seeded second in the bracket and will face Sun Belt winner North Texas (24-8) in the first round in Oklahoma City Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats lost three times to Big 12 rival Kansas this year, including Saturday night in the conference title game. Despite this, K-State has a school-record for victories in a season.

Looming is the matchup against the Mean Green, who will go into the first round with an 11-game winning streak. North Texas is making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years.

The K-State/North Texas winner will take on either seventh seed BYU (29-5) or No. 10 seed Florida (21-12). The Cougars have already posted the best record in school history and will be in the NCAA Tournament for a 25th time, but are just 11-27 all time in the event. BYU has eight straight NCAA Tournament losses, last winning such a game in 1993. As for the Gators, this is a return to the Big Dance after a two-year hiatus. Before that, Florida won back-to- back national championships.

Pittsburgh (24-8), one of eight Big East teams in the tourney, is seeded third in the region and has a Friday afternoon matchup against Oakland (26-8), the Summit League champions. The game will be played in Milwaukee. The Panthers are making a school-record ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year, they reached the Elite Eight before falling to Villanova. OU is currently riding a school record 11-game winning streak.

Atlantic-10 powerhouse Xavier (24-8) is seeded sixth and will have a first- round game Friday afternoon against Minnesota (21-13), which made the Big Ten championship game before losing to Ohio State. This is the fifth straight NCAA tourney appearance for the Musketeers, who gained a share of the A-10 regular season crown. The Gophers have won seven of their last 10 games including three over top 15 ranked opponents entering the event.

Vanderbilt (24-8) is seeded fourth and Butler (28-4) fifth. Both will play Thursday in San Jose. The Commodores have a tough task against upstart Murray State. The 13th-seeded Racers (30-4) won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. Butler, the Horizon League champs, will take on Texas-El Paso (26-6), the runner-up in the Conference USA tourney. The Bulldogs enter the tournament on an incredible 20-game winning streak.

The West semifinals are set to take place in Salt Lake City on March 25 with the final two days later.

Wwebmillion NCAA Basketball Betting News


<< NCAA Capsules-East Regional
Lexington, 32-2.Nickname: Wildcats. Coach: John Calipari.Conference: Southeastern. Bid: SEC champion.Region: East. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 100-45, 50 years. Last appearance: 2008.Scoring: Team (79.2); John Wall 16.9; DeMarcus Cousins 15.3; Pa

<< NCAA Capsules-South Regional
Durham, N.C., 29-5.Nickname: Blue Devils. Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.Conference: Atlantic Coast. Bid: ACC champion.Region: South. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 88-30, 33 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (78.4); Jon Scheyer 18.7; Kyle Singler

<< Top-ranked Jayhawks draws top overall NCAA seed
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Look who's lurking deep in the Midwest bracket where Kansas proudly sits as overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.It's none other than Tennessee and Oklahoma State - the ``2'' in that glittering 32-2 record that the Jayhawks

<< Wozniacki cruises, Sharapova bows out at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rolled into the fourth round while former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was a third-round loser Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event. Wozniacki

<< Seton Hall removes Mitchell from basketball team
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall announced it has removed junior forward Robert Mitchell from the basketball team for unspecified reasons. Mitchell, a transfer from Duquesne, started in 15 of the 31 games this season and averag

Kentucky garners No. 1 seed in the East >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Kentucky, which scorched the Southeastern Conference in the regular season and won the conference tourney crown in a tense overtime contest, was named as the top- seeded

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Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hours after winning their record 18th ACC Tournament title on Sunday, the Duke Blue Devils were awarded the No. 1 seed in the South Region in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Duke (29-5), backed by the triumv

Kansas looms large in the Midwest >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas Jayhawks began the 2009-10 college basketball season atop the preseason polls, and so far the voters have been spot on, as the Big 12 champs will carry that top ranking into the NCAA Tournam

NCAA Capsules-West Regional >>
Syracuse, N.Y., 28-4.Nickname: Orangemen. Coach: Jim Boeheim.Conference: Big East. Bid: At large.Region: West. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 50-32, 32 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (81.5); Wesley Johnson 16.0; Andy Rautins 11.7; Kris J

Indiana hoops: Hoosiers far behind state's top 3 >>
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Basketball still rules in Indiana. Even if the Hoosiers no longer rule basketball in the stateThey're not even in the top three.For the 20th time in the past three decades, at least three teams from the state of Indiana have m


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