
With Selection Sunday less than a month away, the excitement that comes with the anticipation of the NCAA Basketball conference tournaments is beginning to swell. If this season has proved anything, it is that the conference schedule has the ability to reveal the true strengths and weaknesses of each team. The familiarity the coaches have with each other’s offensive systems and defensive schemes frequently allow each game to be decided by the matchups on the court.
For all the importance the conference schedule represents, the conference tournament should not be placed upon that pedestal. Far too often teams who are comfortably in the tournament do not have the intense desire to improve their resume in order to obtain a No. 3 seed instead of a No. 4 and are unable to match the intensity of a team that needs to win the tournament in order to secure an automatic bid and steal a spot from a deserving mid-major.
Too many times a coach will be unwilling to risk injury in a meaningless semi-final contest or are more than willing to perhaps, “resist losing” in order to recapture the attention of a highly successful team prior to the National Tournament when a loss is truly permanent. As the conference tournaments approach eyes turn toward perennial top tier teams, even the eyes that regularly do not glance toward college basketball until March.
Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and Arizona are prime examples of the top-tier teams that pique the interest of onlookers. Three of these teams are on top of their conference, as Kentucky trails just Auburn, and all teams are among the top in the nation. Being on top, however, sometimes means you have plenty of room to go down. As the regular season comes to a close, it is time to make a decision on whether to buy or sell these elite teams.