The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

GERY WOELFEL

I recently chatted with an NBA player – who shall remain anonymous – and asked him about the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Normally loquacious when talking about the college game, he was surprisingly subdued on this occasion. To him, this NCAA Tournament doesn’t have the luster of past ones.

One of the reasons for his ambivalence about the tournament is that he didn’t feel like there were any exceptional teams. And he’s probably correct in that assessment.

Whoever wins this tournament isn’t going to be mentioned in the same breath with some of John Wooden’s extraordinary UCLA squads or Bobby Knight’s brilliant Indiana teams.

But perhaps the lack of a one-for-the-ages team makes this tournament all the more appealing. While history dictates a No. 1 or No. 2 seed will likely win the national title, I have a hunch this could be one of those years where that won’t happen.

Certainly, there isn’t any clear-cut favorite – as noted oddsmaker Danny Sheridan points out. Sheridan has six – count, ’em, six -- teams with 10/1 or better odds:

Kansas at 3/1, Kentucky, my pick with the talented and entertaining John Wall, at 4/1, Syracuse at 6/1; Duke at 8/1, West Virginia at 10/1 and Ohio State at 10/1.

For more insight into the tournament, I queried three Milwaukee Bucks officials who have finger on the college basketball pulse: player personnel director Dave Babcock, scouting director Billy McKinney, and assistant coach Kelvin Sampson, a two-time national Coach of the Year recipient at Oklahoma who also led Oklahoma and Indiana to 13 NCAA Tournaments.

McKinney, Sampson and Babcock offered up their picks to win the national title along with their “sleeper’’ team:

Sampson

FINAL FOUR: Kansas, Syracuse, Duke and Kentucky.

FINAL: Kansas and Kentucky.

CHAMPION: “Kansas will win it. They’re on a mission. They are one team that hasn’t had the highs and lows this season. They’ve been consistent.’’

MY SLEEPER PICK (Not 1 or 2 seed): “Wisconsin. They have a senior point guard (Trevon Hughes), they have some bigs who can go out and stretch the defense and they play hard. They’re a tough out.’’

Babcock

FINAL FOUR: Butler, Villanova, Kentucky and Kansas.

FINAL: Kentucky and Kansas.

CHAMPION: “Kentucky. John Wall is a star and he’s playing with some good inside players. They’re really a young team, but they seem destined to win it.’’

MY SLEEPER PICK: “Butler. I think Gordon Hayward is a star player and they got some good inside players like (Matt) Howard and their point guard (Shelvin) Mack is a tough kid. I think they could do some damage.’’

McKinney

FINAL FOUR: Kansas, Syracuse, Duke and Kentucky.

FINAL: Kansas and Kentucky.

CHAMPION: “The young Kentucky team finds ways to win, but I’d be hard pressed to go against Kansas with their experienced guys like (Sherron) Collins and (Cole) Aldrich. They’ve been there and know what needs to be done..’’

MY SLEEPER PICK: “I’m debating between Georgetown and Michigan State. Let’s go with the Big Ten team. I’m a Big Ten man (McKinney was a star guard for Northwestern). They got the experience and, coming in as a five seed, they don’t have the pressure they’ve had before as one of the top seeds. They could play well enough to sneak in there. I think experience counts so much in the NCCA Tournament and they have guys who have been there.’’