Kentucky's Anthony Davis Honored As Top Player

Atlanta Tipoff Club

Throughout its storied history on the hardwood, Kentucky had yet to win the sport’s most prestigious award. That streak ended Sunday when freshman forward/center Anthony Davis was named winner of the 2012 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T as the Men’s College Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced. He joins Texas’ Kevin Durant (2007) as the only freshmen to win the award. Davis was honored at the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Guardians of the Game Awards Program at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La.

Other finalists for the award included Draymond Green (Michigan State), Doug McDermott (Creighton) and Thomas Robinson (Kansas).

Davis, who racked up conference awards for his regular‐season performance, including SEC Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a first‐team All-SEC selection, averaged 14.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season, leading the Wildcats to an SEC regular-season championship. Entering the 2012 NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, Kentucky has relied on the solid play of Davis, who has averaged 15.2 points and 11.2 rebounds in the tournament, and matched his regular‐season average of 4.6 blocks per game. Kentucky defeated Louisville Saturday 69‐61 to make its first NCAA championship game berth since 1998. MORE....

Kansas' Bill Self Wins Naismith Coach Of The Year

Atlanta Tipoff Club

NEW ORLEANS — Kansas head coach Bill Self was named the 2012 Naismith Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Sunday. This accolade makes Kansas the only university to have three different Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year winners, as Self joins 1988 winner Larry Brown and 1997 winner Roy Williams. Self edged out finalists Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), John Calipari (Kentucky) and Frank Haith (Missouri) to win the most prestigious national award presented annually to the top men’s college basketball coach.

Self was selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The academy based its criteria on coaching performances this season. The vote was tabulated and certified by the accounting firm of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP. HA&W is the largest independent accounting firm in Georgia and one of the top 50 firms in the United States.

“Bill has done a remarkable coaching job this season and deserves all the accolades that come his way,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “There’s always something special about adding another chapter of Kansas basketball to the Naismith Awards family.” CONTINUE....

Kentucky Will Face Kansas In The NCAA Title Game

Kansas and Kentucky survived the Final Four semifinals Saturday night to advance to Monday's NCAA championship game. Kansas edged Ohio State, while Kentucky eliminated Louisville.

Kentucky's Anthony Davis Is Associated Press' Player Of The Year

Anthony Davis is The Associated Press' college basketball Player of the Year, the first Kentucky player and second freshman to win the award. Frank Haith capped his first season at Missouri by being selected AP's Coach of the Year.

NCAA Men's Basketball Field Is Set

Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina and Michigan State lead the way as the top seeds in the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.

Related articles

• NCAA Bracket 2012: No. 1 Seeds Are Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina, Michigan State (sbnation.com)
• Selection Sunday: Let the Madness Begin (blogher.com)

Kentucky Snares No. 1 Overall Seed

The Associated Press

This time around, the madness began before the brackets even came out.

Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina all earned top seeding for the NCAA tournament Sunday despite weekend losses that brought even more intrigue to the three-week, 67-game tournament better known as March Madness.

Michigan State earned the other No. 1 seed and was the only one of the four top-billed teams to win its conference tournament. The Spartans defeated Ohio State 68-64 in the Big Ten title game — a contest widely viewed as the game for the last No. 1 seed, even if selection committee chairman Jeff Hathaway wouldn’t quite go there.

“As it turned out, this game put the No. 1 seed into the field,” he said.

While No. 2 seeds Kansas, Duke, Missouri and Ohio State wonder whether they could’ve been rated higher, teams such as Drexel, Seton Hall, Mississippi State and Pac-12 regular-season champion Washington think about what might have been. Those bubble teams were left out, and all will be wondering how Iona, California and South Florida made it.

In the moments immediately after the brackets came out, the Iona-Drexel debate was getting the most traction. MORE....

Sources: Auburn’s Varez Ward At Center Of Federal Point-Shaving Probe

By Charles Robinson - Yahoo! Sports

Suspended Auburn University point guard Varez Ward is under investigation by federal authorities in an ongoing point-shaving probe, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

Three sources with knowledge of the case said the FBI has been investigating Ward since late February after he and guard Chris Denson were suspended by the Tigers prior to a Feb. 25 home game against Arkansas. Two sources said Denson was also questioned as part of the point-shaving investigation, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to the team after sitting out the loss to the Razorbacks. The sources said additional players have been questioned in the case about whether Ward – who has not been with the team since being suspended – attempted to enlist them in a possible scheme. The sources said at least two games are under scrutiny: a 68-50 loss to Alabama on Feb. 7 and a 56-53 loss to Arkansas on Jan. 25. CONTINUE....

Related articles

• Report: Auburn Guard Varez Ward Investigated By FBI For Point-Shaving (tracking.si.com)
• Report: FBI probing AU's Varez Ward for point shaving (thegrio.com)
• Report: FBI Investigating Auburn Point Guard For Alleged Point-Shaving [College Basketball] (deadspin.com)

NCAA Tournament Selection Chairman: Kentucky, Syracuse Have NCAA Edge

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

CBSSports.com wire reports

Even the chairman of the tight-lipped NCAA selection committee can't deny this simple fact: Heading into this week's conference tournaments, there's Kentucky and Syracuse, and then everybody else.

In a teleconference to preview Sunday's release of the NCAA tournament pairings, committee chairman Jeff Hathaway all but handed two of the four top seeds to the Wildcats and Orange, each of whom entered their conference tournaments with a record of 30-1.

"I think we all agree that if the season ended today, we know who the two best teams are," he said Wednesday. "If you're looking at 3 and 4 on the first line and the entire second line, we have the same handful of teams in mind but where they would be laced will be a tremendous debate."

Though Hathaway, the former athletic director at defending national champion Connecticut, did not get specific, among those lumped into consideration for the other top seeds are Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio State and Michigan State.

The brackets come out Sunday evening, with the tournament starting Tuesday. MORE....

USA Today / ESPN Men's College Basketball Coaches Poll - March 5, 2012 (CBSSports.com)

Rankings updated (03/05/2012)
Rank	Teams (first-place votes)	Schedules/Results	Points	Prev
1	Kentucky (31) Overall: 30-1 Conference: 16-0 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		775	1
2	Syracuse Overall: 30-1 Conference: 17-1 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		744	2
3	Kansas Overall: 26-5 Conference: 16-2 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		703	4
4	North Carolina Overall: 27-4 Conference: 14-2 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		690	6
5	Missouri Overall: 27-4 Conference: 14-4 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		620	8
6	Duke Overall: 26-5 Conference: 13-3 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		604	3
7	Ohio State Overall: 25-6 Conference: 13-5 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		575	11
8	Michigan State Overall: 24-7 Conference: 13-5 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		540	5
9	Marquette Overall: 25-6 Conference: 14-4 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		537	7
10	Murray State Overall: 30-1 Conference: 17-1 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		526	9
11	Baylor Overall: 25-6 Conference: 12-6 Statistics | Schedule | Roster	03/08 vs. Kansas State 12:30 PM EST	422	10
12	Wisconsin Overall: 23-8 Conference: 12-6 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		417	15
13	Michigan Overall: 23-8 Conference: 13-5 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		397	16
14	Georgetown Overall: 22-7 Conference: 12-6 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		369	12
15	Indiana Overall: 24-7 Conference: 11-7 Statistics | Schedule | Roster	03/08 vs. Penn State 1:55 PM EST	287	20
16	Wichita State Overall: 27-5 Conference: 17-3 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		241	14
17	Florida State Overall: 21-9 Conference: 12-4 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		199	22
18	St. Mary's Overall: 26-5 Conference: 15-2 Statistics | Schedule | Roster	03/05 vs. Gonzaga 9:00 PM EST	198	21
19	Florida Overall: 22-9 Conference: 10-6 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		187	13
20	UNLV Overall: 25-7 Conference: 9-5 Statistics | Schedule | Roster	03/08 Wyoming 11:30 PM EST	181	17
21	San Diego State Overall: 24-6 Conference: 10-4 Statistics | Schedule | Roster	03/08 vs. Boise State 3:00 PM EST	165	23
22	Creighton Overall: 28-5 Conference: 17-4 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		164	24
23	Notre Dame Overall: 21-10 Conference: 13-5 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		134	19
24	Temple Overall: 24-6 Conference: 13-3 Statistics | Schedule | Roster		112	25
25	Gonzaga Overall: 25-5 Conference: 14-3 Statistics | Schedule | Roster	03/05 vs. St. Mary's 9:00 PM EST	80	26
Others Receiving Votes: Louisville (22-9) 60; New Mexico (24-6) 26; Iowa State (22-9) 24; Memphis (23-8) 24; Drexel (27-5) 21; Virginia (22-8) 18; Kansas State (21-9) 11; Mississippi State (21-10) 8; Saint Louis (24-6) 6; Nevada (25-5) 3; Virginia Commonwealth (27-6) 3; Harvard (26-4) 2; Middle Tennessee (25-6) 1; Montana (23-6) 1