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March Madness top teams bring talent and, for some, baggage

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-16)Basketball Hub167

Kansas and Alabama are no strangers to playing for nationalchampionships.

For the Jayhawks, another high-expectations trip to MarchMadness is a rite of spring. For the Crimson Tide, well, this pathto glory travels through some unfamiliar ground — the basketballcourt.

Alabama rolls in as the top overall seed in an NCAA Tournamentthat feels both familiar and foreign this season. Yes, there areplenty of heartwarming stories and unbelievable upsets to come whenthe action begins Tuesday with the first of four play-in games.

But this was also a season clouded with police blotters atAlabama and Texas, injuries at Houston and UCLA, some unsightlylosses at Kansas, and enough twists and turns at the top of thefield to make this as unpredictable a bracket as ever.

“I’m not sure we would’ve predicted this,” Alabama coach NateOats said of the top seeding that belongs to the Crimson Tide forthe first time.

Alabama’s ability to set aside distractions — namely, theinevitable questions that will be directed at its star, BrandonMiller, and others about an ongoing murder case against a formermember of the team — could have as big an impact on the CrimsonTide’s chances as anything.

But all these teams, especially at the top, have theirissues.

It starts with Houston, the 1 seed in the Midwest, which wascruising along until Saturday, when its star guard, Marcus Sasser,fell awkwardly and left the game with a groin injury.

Sasser didn’t play in his team’s conference title game andHouston lost. How quickly he gets back to form could dictatewhether the Cougars make the Final Four, which will take place atNRG Stadium, not far from their home arena.

Or take the Jayhawks, who looked like the top overall seed for atime. Two double-digit losses to Texas knocked them down a fewnotches. They are top seeded, but will play in the West, not theMidwest — one of those rare teams that might have preferred apossible trip down the road to Kansas City over a flight to LasVegas for the Sweet 16. Not helping the situation was the recentillness of coach Bill Self, who was feeling chest tightness andchecked himself into the hospital before the Big 12 Tournament. Hewas released Sunday and is expected to be with the Jayhawks thisweek.

“They mark it how they feel and we’re just going to do what weneed to do to get where we need to be,” Kansas forward KJ Adamssaid.

There are issues one notch down the bracket, too.

No. 2 UCLA has been dealing with injuries all season. Mostrecently, guard Jaylen Clark (Achilles) and big man Adem Bona(shoulder) have gone down. Clark won’t be back; Bona might. Ittakes a hunk out of a team that still has the core of a roster thatlost to Gonzaga on a buzzer-beater from near midcourt at the FinalFour two years ago.

Another 2 seed, Texas, has had months to bounce back from thefiring of coach Chris Beard, whose fiancee called in a domesticdispute that led to the coach’s arrest. Charges were eventuallydropped. By then, Rodney Terry had taken over the team and it foundits footing, though the ugliness of the episode is bound to berehashed during basketball’s biggest month.

Back among the No. 1 seeds, Purdue has a 7-foot-4 playmaker,Zach Edey, leading the way and also has a little baggage of itsown. Coach Matt Painter’s program has now made the tournament 14times in his 18 years but has advanced as far as the Elite Eightonly once. This is the first time one of Painter’s teams has comein as a top seed, though.

The coach is as aware as anyone how a trip to the Final Fourmight just cover up a lot of those old blemishes.

“Obviously, I know,” Painter said, “you get judged on what youdo in the tournament.”

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