Just minutes after the folks at CBS Sports unveiled the NCAA Tournament field Sunday evening, with Kansas as the "No. 1 overall seed," the network's talking heads were almost unanimous about the difficult challenge ahead for the Jayhawks.
Analyst Clark Kellogg looked at the Midwest Region bracket, saw Ohio State, Georgetown and Maryland and declared Kansas had the toughest road to Indianapolis and the Final Four.
Sorry, but that just sounds like hype for a couple of reasons.
First, because at this poinst of the season we expect quality teams to beat quality teams in order to advance. Second, Kansas will never have to play all three of those teams to reach the Final Four. Sure, if seeds hold Jayhawks will have to beat two of the three Kellogg mentioned (OSU, Georgetown and Maryland) but no team has to beat everyone in its region -- and it's hype like that that just makes the anticipation for the first meaningful games Thursday agonizing.
What the toughest region blather might indicate, though, is just where CBS's top play-by-play team (Jim Nantz and Kellogg) end up calling games when the tournament begins.
Also, the CBS folks questioned the move of Syracuse to the West Region at the No. 1 seed. It was a fair question (although the Orange's early exit from the Big East Tournament seemed reason enough), and the chair of the tournament selection committee, Dan Guerrero, the athletic director at UCLA, sidestepped it twice by talking in circles.
Granted, it was not a time for tough questions, and the analysts ensured that by lobbing softballs and not seeking specifics -- especially when Seth Davis asked about teams such as Illinois, Mississippi State and Virginia Tech, which did not make the field. He lumped all three of them into one question, making it all the easier for Guerrero to ramble on about nothing as he gave an answer.
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