Logan: Forget the seeds, this year's all about parity

In this season of unparalleled parity in college basketball, there are no super teams. The NCAA selection committee might have ranked the field from 1 to 68, but they’re just numbers without a great deal of meaning.

Ohio State, Kansas, Pitt and Duke go in as the No. 1 regional seeds in that order, but if there’s ever a year when none of the top seeds might make it to the Final Four in Houston, this is it. The office shredder could get a workout the first week with busted brackets.

Instead of trying to figure out the brackets, it might be easier to head for Las Vegas and search for a sports book that offers a proposition for the Big East against the field to produce an eventual champion. With a record-breaking 11 teams in the field, the odds certainly favor the nation’s toughest conference to get one team through to the final.

With four Big East teams (Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova and Marquette) plus Ohio State, North Carolina, Kentucky and mid-major toughies Xavier and George Mason grouped together, the East Regional looks like a brutal battleground. That quadrant also includes Pac-10 Tournament champ Washington plus dangerous Ivy champion Princeton.

The West Regional is on the same side of the bracket and will meet the East winner in the national semifinals. By the looks of it, defending national champion Duke might have the easiest road of any No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four. Fourth- seed Texas has gone downhill lately, and second-seeded San Diego State remains suspect for the level of competition in the Mountain West. Third-seeded Connecticut poses the most danger to the Blue Devils. If the Huskies can win five games in five days in the Big East Tournament, the NCAAs should be a snap, with three weeks to play a maximum of six games.

In the Southwest Regional, Kansas is headed for a major showdown with Big East Tournament runner-up Louisville in the Sweet 16. The Jayhawks have size, but Rick Pitino’s Cardinals have numbers and an aggressive pressing defense. On the other side of that bracket, Georgetown got a generous sixth seed considering the injury to guard Chris Wright. The Hoyas have said he’ll be ready, but we’ll see. If No. 2 Notre Dame gets past Texas A & M in the third round, it might well run into in-state neighbor Purdue in the Sweet 16.

The Southeast Regional, which includes Pitt and St. John’s, undoubtedly is second-toughest behind the East. It features an interesting second-round opener matching Butler, last season’s national runner-up, against Old Dominion of the CAA. Either one could test Pitt in the third round. The 5-12 matchup between Kansas State of the Big 12 and Utah State of the Western Athletic Conference has some upset potential, but many are touting 13th-seeded Belmont as a live underdog against fourth-seeded Wisconsin of the Big Ten.

On the other side of the bracket, sixth-seeded St. John’s faces what amounts to two potential road games in the Denver subregional, drawing Gonzaga in the second-round opener Thursday and, if it reaches the third round, BYU and Jimmer Fredette, the nation’s leading scorer, in the third round. If the Red Storm can survive the season-ending injury to forward D.J. Kennedy, though, this is a weaker Gonzaga team than in the past, and BYU is a one-man show now that Brandon Davies is suspended.

If St. John’s makes it to the Sweet 16 in New Orleans, look who might be waiting. Coach Steve Lavin’s old UCLA team has to get past Michigan State and Florida, but it’s possible. Anything is possible in this tournament.