What to Make of a Stumble Before the Tournament?

March Madness has already come before Selection Sunday. Many top teams have lost earlier than expected in their conference tournaments. I breakdown each team and tell you what I think the loss means come tournament time.

Syracuse - Lost to Cincinnati 71-68 in the Big East semifinals

Syracuse come into the Big East tournament with the #1 seed, but had never won it with the top seed before. That continued this year as they ran into a hot-shooting Cincinnati team. Syracuse would probably beat Cincinnati 8 or 9 times out of 10, but not last night. Syracuse will still get a #1 seed in the tournament, but the loss cost them any chance of getting the #1 overall seed. What the loss did show is that this team is more vulnerable then their record shows. The Orange have been in a lot of close games this season, but they have come out the victors in most of them. Syracuse has the record they have because they play consistently great basketball, but I would be the first to tell you that if the Orange run into another hot team in the tournament, they could get upset.

Kansas - Lost to Baylor 81-72 in the Big 12 semifinals

Kansas came in the Big 12 tournament as the #1 seed and had a matchup with Baylor, who they had beaten handily both times during the regular season. Baylor got revenge in this one, playing tough basketball from start to finish. Kansas head coach Bill Self was the first to acknowledge how good Baylor was. After the game, he said, "Make no mistake about it. They beat us tonight. They were better than us, no question. That's a good basketball team. They're very talented." Those were nice words coach, but what does that mean about your basketball team. I still think Kansas is the most complete team in that conference. A conference that I think is the best in college basketball this year by a considerable margin. Kansas may have lost their chance at a #1 seed, but this is still a team I wouldn't want to face in the tournament.

Duke - Lost to Florida State 62-59 in the ACC semifinals

Duke came into the matchup with Florida State having split the regular season matchups. So everyone expected this one to be another thriller. Duke is the traditional ACC power, but it was Florida State that built the double-digit second half lead. The Blue Devils rallied, but the Seminoles stayed calm and held on for the win. After the game, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski stated that he thought that Florida State's Michael Snaer was the best competitor in the conference. What does that mean for his Dukies? Well I think still a very good team, but they have their flaws. They don't play great defense and rely on the three a lot. For Duke, it is all about who they get in the tournament. Given the right matchup, they could make a run, but given the wrong one, they could be out earlier than expected.