2008 ncca tournament bracket
2008 ncca tournament schedule
NCAA tournament bracket
If you go by seeding alone, then Kansas should have the easiest cakewalk in the Elite Eight games. The Midwest Region's top-seeded Jayhawks (34-3) take on No. 10 Davidson (29-6) Sunday evening in Detroit, with Kansas a 9.5-point betting favorite (over/under: 145) at WagerWeb.com.
However, if you think this game will be a walkover for the Jayhawks, then you haven't been paying attention to Stephen Curry and Co. during this NCAA tournament.
The Wildcats are on an NCAA-high 25-game winning streak and, behind, Curry, have dominated in the second half of their NCAA tournament games, winning them by an average of 14.3 points against Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin.
All this led by Curry. The son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry is averaging 34.3 points in the tournament, best since Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount averaged 35.8 over four games in 1990. And his 103 points are second only to Glenn Robinson of Purdue (108) for a three-game span since seeding began in 1979.
"It's nothing special I'm doing,' Curry said. "We're just reaping the benefit of our system.'
Yet there is more than Curry. Point guard Jason Richards leads the country in assists and can score for himself, too, averaging 12.9 points per game.
"That's the thing, they have other good players," KU's Russell Robinson said. "Even if we stop Curry, that's not going to secure the game for us. We have to guard everyone."
Robinson will likely be the main player assigned to Curry, along with Mario Chalmers, who leads KU in tournament play, averaging 15.7 points per game.Robinson's tight defense helped hold Villanova star Scottie Reynolds to 11 points in Kansas' 72-57 win Friday night. Reynolds was 4-for-13 from the field with four turnovers and no assists. Meanwhile, Robinson had 15 points and a game-high five assists.He was 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
While Davidson has dominated the second half to win its three games, the Jayhawks have owned the entire game in wins against Portland State, UNLV and Villanova. KU hasn't been challenged yet, winning by an average of 19.3 points per game. The common thread for the Jayhawks has been their guard play, led by Robinson, Chalmers and Brandon Rush, who has played aggressively in each game, averaging 15.3 points and 13 shots. With the guards handling the scoring, a KU big man hasn't registered double-digit points since the Portland State game, but KU will have a huge height advantage on Sunday and could look to pound it inside a little more.
Betting trends: Davidson is 8-1 ATS in its last 9 neutral site games . Davidson is 43-19-1 ATS in its last 63 games overall . under is 7-2 in Kansas's last 9 neutral site games under is 20-8 in Kansas's last 28 non-conference games . Davidson is 22-11 ATS this season overall, KU is 21-14 . Davidson is 15-18 vs. the over/under this season, KU is 17-18.
Prediction: One more win will put the Wildcats in very select company. Only two double-digit seeds have reached the Final Four, and George Mason's run in 2006 captivated the entire country. And KU coach Bill Self has had no luck in the regional finals, going 0-4. However, the Jayhawks just have too much length and to
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