Comparing this top-seeded Kansas team to the 2008 Jayhawks who won the national championship? Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon is a good one to ask.
Turgeon’s Aggies just faced Kansas in a semifinal game of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. And Turgeon no doubt keeps track of the Jayhawks more than most, having been a starting guard at KU under Larry Brown in the 1980s.
Turgeon believes the 2010 Jayhawks, who are bigger, just might be a better defensive team than their 2008 counterparts. It showed last week when Texas A&M, then ranked No. 23 in the AP poll, was held without scoring a field goal for more than nine minutes.
On offense, however, Turgeon would give the 2008 national champions an edge.
“(The current Jayhawks) don’t pass and move the ball as well as that team,” Turgeon told The Kansas City Star.
“The depth (of this team), size . . . and, of course, Sherron (Collins) is a special player. But that (2008) team could really pass the ball, and they recognized situations. I think that would be the difference.”
Favorite: Kansas
No team has more depth and balance than the Jayhawks, who are back as the tournament favorite just two years after winning the national title. Senior guard Sherron Collins and junior center Cole Aldrich were subs on the title team and have grown into two of the nation’s best. With Aldrich and twin power forwards Marcus Morris (6-feet-8, 225 pounds) and Markieff Morris (6-9, 232), KU is an impossible matchup for most teams.
Sleeper: Michigan State
This isn’t your momma’s No. 5 seed. Last season’s national runner-up has been a disappointment to coach Tom Izzo (although MSU did tie for the regular-season Big Ten crown), but the Spartans always seem to peak for the NCAA Tournament. If MSU can win two games, Sparty should have some confidence against Kansas, having eliminated the Jayhawks from last year’s tournament.
Upset alert: Houston over Maryland
The No. 13-seeded Cougars will have nothing to lose against fourth-seeded Maryland. If the nation’s leading scorer, Houston guard Aubrey Coleman (25.6), can outplay Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, look out. Houston’s Tom Penders becomes the ninth coach to lead teams from four universities to the NCAA Tournament (George Washington, Texas and Rhode Island). His team will play hard.
Bracket breakdown
Kansas drew the overall No. 1 seed, but the Jayhawks may have one of the tougher roads to Indi- anapolis. After reaching the Sweet 16, the Jayhawks likely will run into big-conference teams with big-time basketball traditions for their next two games, with the possibilities including Michigan State, Maryland, Ohio State, Georgetown, Tennessee and Big 12 rival Oklahoma State.
