NCAAB archive

Go ahead and mark it down now: the North Carolina Tar Heels will open the 2011-12 NCAA basketball season as the No. 1 team in the polls and as the likely betting favorite to win the national title with the news that superstar freshman Harrison Barnes has decided to return to school instead of declaring for the NBA draft.

Fellow studs Tyler Zeller and John Henson already have said they were coming back to Chapel Hill as well, so that means the Heels will bring back all five starters from last year’s ACC regular-season championship and Elite Eight team. Barnes, who would have been a lock Top 5 pick in the draft, co-led North Carolina (29-8, 14-2 ACC) in scoring with Zeller during the regular season, averaging 15.7 points. Barnes also sank a team-high 67 3-pointers, shooting 35 percent. Overall the Heels bring back their top seven scorers from last year. And heralded freshmen P.J. Hairston and James McAdoo arrive on campus as well. McAdoo was MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic.

The only team that could now threaten North Carolina’s status as the overwhelming preseason national title favorite is Kentucky. That’s if DeAndre Liggins, Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight all decide to remain in school as well. Of course UK beat North Carolina this past season in the Elite Eight. The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is Sunday. They can withdraw their names from the draft by May 8 to preserve their eligibility. Three possible top picks — Barnes, Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Baylor’s Perry Jones – have already pulled out of draft consideration. An impending NBA lockout probably played a role in those decisions.

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Before the 2011 NCAA Tournament began, the favorite to be this year’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player was Kansas star and Big 12 Player of the Year Marcus Morris. Right behind him was the national freshman of the year Jared Sullinger, who led Ohio State to the No. 1 overall seed in this Big Dance. KU and OSU had the shortest odds to win the national title, so it made perfect sense those two players, the best on their respective teams, were the MOP favorites.

But Kansas and Ohio State are long gone, as are the other two No. 1 seeds. In fact, this is the first time in NCAA Tournament history that neither a No. 1 or No. 2 seed is in the Final Four. But one of the national player of the year candidates, UConn’s Kemba Walker, is still playing. And Walker is the co-favorite for MOP with Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight at 2/1. Interestingly, those two will face off and should be guarding each other most of Saturday night for the right to face VCU or Butler on Monday for the title.

Walker has been the tournament’s biggest star so far, averaging 26.8 points and 6.8 assists in the four games. He has actually been unstoppable for about a month, leading the Huskies to an unprecedented five wins in five days on the way to the Big East Tournament title. Knight, on the other hand, hasn’t dominated in this tournament but has come through in the clutch. He is averaging 15.8 points and 4.3 assists. But numbers don’t do him justice. In the opening round, Knight hit a driving layup in the final seconds to beat Princeton – it was his only two points of the game. In the Sweet 16, when he was held to nine points, Knight hit the game-winning 15-foot jumper with five seconds left.

The only other player on this prop with less than double digits against is Butler guard Shelvin Mack at 13/2. While Matt Howard (12/1) has been the guy in the clutch for Butler, Mack leads the team in scoring at 21.3 points per game.

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