The Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN have released their 2009 preseason coaches’ polls.

Kansas is the overwhelming No. 1 in both polls. The Jayhawks, coming off a 27-8 season where they advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament, are in search of a second national title in three years. Michigan State and Texas are No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in both polls. The Spartans return seven of their top nine scorers after advancing to the national championship game last season. The Longhorns are expected to challenge Kansas in the Big 12. Kentucky and Villanova round out the AP’s Top 5, while North Carolina and Kentucky complete the USA Today/ESPN Top 5.

Dayton, the Atlantic 10′s preseason favorite, occupies the No. 21 spot in the AP Poll and No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN poll. Xavier received votes in both polls.

Click here to read about the Associated Press Poll.

Click here for the USA Today/ESPN Poll.

CC

Good read from Dick Weiss in today’s Daily News as he sits down with Kentucky coach John Calipari to talk about college basketball recruiting:

Calipari has long been intrigued with the idea of cleaning up recruiting by eliminating the July observation period, but allowing college coaches to evaluate prospects during select weekends in the spring and fall, when school is in session.

Among other things, he feels that would give coaches a chance to recharge their batteries, spend time with their families and develop their own players on campus. At the same time, it would limit the out-of-control influence some travel-team coaches have in recruiting and the growing infestation of agents and runners – many with ties to those same travel-team coaches – at major events in Las Vegas, Augusta (Ga.), Kansas City and Orlando during this 15-day summer hoops madness.

“We should be like football coaches,” Calipari said here yesterday while six high class travel-team games swirled around him at the annual AAU Summer Showcase in the Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. “They take five or six weeks off in the summer. We should have our camps in June. July should be a dark month, no phone calls, nothing, completely dark.

“You do your recruiting in April and September, evaluate against each other. My time would be better spent on campus with our guys. We would save a lot of money and put recruiting back in the hands of high school coaches.”

Calipari says he would even advocate the elimination of elite camps that have sprung up on the campuses of top programs, to prevent BCS schools from gaining an advantage over mid-majors and lower Division I programs in recruiting.

Interesting topics for discussion, though I’m not sure Calipari should be the spokesperson for cleaning up the college game. Take a look at his track record and also notice that he’s making these comments while attending an AAU event in Orlando that happens to be taking place in July. It would be like Terrell Owens, live from the new Cowboys Stadium, lecturing us on teamwork with Tony Romo by his side.

But anyone who follows college basketball and knows anything about the high school/AAU circuit will find this article to be an intriguing read.

CC

Super quick picks today following last night’s classic in Boston between Villanova and Pittsburgh. Final score: Villanova 78, Pittsburgh 76. An instant classic. Hard to believe that any of the remaining five games of this tournament could be any better than that one. One of those truly great games that only the NCAA tournament can produce.

What about today’s games?

In the Midwest Regional out in Indianapolis (2:20 p.m.), I’ll take Louisville (No. 1) by five over Michigan State (No. 2). And in the South Regional down in Memphis (5:05 p.m.), I like North Carolina (No. 1) by three over Oklahoma (No. 2).

Charles Costello

Quick picks for today’s Elite 8 games:

West Regional: Glendale, Arizona

No. 1 Connecticut (30-4) over No. 3 Missouri (31-6), 4:40 p.m.

Missouri has been impressive, most recently in knocking off No. 2 Memphis. The Tigers’ high-octane offense will meet its match today against the Huskies, a team that put aside reports of possible recruiting violations to beat Purdue Thursday night. Missouri’s offensive attack is relentless so UConn will need everyone on board today. But the Huskies are better, and more balanced, than any team Missouri has met in the tournament. Connecticut advances to the Final Four with a four-point win over the Tigers.

East Regional: Boston, Massachusetts

No. 3 Villanova (29-7) over No. 1 Pittsburgh (31-4), 7:05 p.m.

This could be an Elite 8 classic. The Wildcats have played as well as any team in the tournament. They absolutely manhandled Duke, and blew out UCLA one game earlier. Today they go up against DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Levance Fields, and the Panthers. While Pittsburgh was my pick for the Final Four, I have to go with Villanova today. The Panthers have been shaky throughout the tournament. This after an early exit from the Big East Tournament. The Wildcats come in hot and they stay hot with a two-point win over Pittsburgh.

Charles Costello

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Stories from last night’s Sweet 16 games: 1) Villanova is playing its best basketball of the season, better than anyone else in the tournament, and the Wildcats cruise to a blowout win over Duke. 2) Connecticut puts newly-revealed recruiting mess aside to advance to the Elite 8 with a win over Purdue. 3) Pittsburgh survives despite gutsy effort by Xavier, setting up what should be a classic matchup with Villanova. 4) Missouri moves one game closer to its first Final Four with a win over Memphis.

As for tonight, here are my predictions:

Midwest Regional: Indianapolis, Indiana

No. 1 Louisville (30-5) over No. 12 Arizona (21-13), 7:07

Nobody expected Arizona to get this far. After tonight, nobody will remember they got this far. The Cardinals by nine over the Wildcats.

No. 2 Michigan State (28-6) over No. 3 Kansas (27-7), 9:37

I thought this would be West Virginia-Michigan State with the Spartans exiting the tournament. Now that the Mountaineers disappointed, I’ll take Michigan State by one over Kansas in the night’s closest game, one that should go right down to the final buzzer.

South Regional: Memphis, Tennessee

No. 3 Syracuse (28-9) over No. 2 Oklahoma (29-5), 7:27

Syracuse was one of my Final Four picks. Tonight, the Orange get head coach Jim Boeheim his 800th career victory with a two-point win over Blake Griffin and the Sooners.

No. 1 North Carolina (30-4) over No. 4 Gonzaga (28-5), 9:57

Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough will be too much for Gonzaga as the Tar Heels will advance with an eight-point win over the Bulldogs.

Enjoy the games.

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Here are my predictions for tonight’s East Regional and West Regional Semifinal games:

East Regional: Boston, Massachusetts

No. 1 Pittsburgh (30-4) over No. 4 Xavier (27-7), 7:27 p.m.

Xavier’s an easy team to root for tonight with their ties to the Atlantic 10 and underdog status. But Pittsburgh’s too big and too good to lose here. Though their wins in the first two rounds have been less than convincing, the Panthers were the best regular season team in the Big East, which also happens to be the best conference in college basketball. This is about as far as I thought the Musketeers would go. Pittsburgh moves on with a seven-point win.

No. 3 Villanova (28-7) over No. 2 Duke (30-6), 9:57 p.m.

As soon as I published my predictions for the tournament, I regretted not going with Villanova over Pittsburgh in the Elite 8. After an opening round scare, the Wildcats looked great in their dismantling of UCLA on Sunday. Away from Philadelphia and with stiffer competition tonight, expect the Wildcats, a veteran club that’s well-coached and disciplined, to rise to the challenge. This is not one of the better Duke teams that Mike Krzyzewski has brought to the Big Dance. Though I expect this one to be ultra-competitive, the battle tested ‘Cats will prevail. Villanova by two over the Blue Devils.

West Regional: Glendale, Arizona

No. 1 UConn (29-4) over No. 5 Purdue (27-9), 7:07 p.m.

This season hasn’t been an easy one for Jim Calhoun and the Huskies. First, Jerome Dyson went down with a season-ending injury. Then came the postgame fireworks between Calhoun and a political activist who was more concerned with political activism than basketball. The six-overtime loss to Syracuse in the Huskies’ Big East tournament opener. Next, instead of patrolling the sidelines for UConn’s first-round game last Thursday, Calhoun was in the hospital. And now this: Allegations of recruiting violations involving a recruit, who ended up never playing for UConn, and an agent, a former student manager at the school. None of that will matter tonight. Everyone seems to be looking ahead to the highly anticipated UConn-Memphis showdown, and with good reason. This is the biggest mismatch of the night. UConn by double digits over the Boilermakers.

No. 2 Memphis (33-3) over No. 3 Missouri (30-6), 10:07 p.m.

Memphis is back. One year after their run to the championship game, the Tigers return to big-time tournament action. And their season won’t end tonight. Not with more talent, not with the potential showdown with UConn on the horizon. Questions always follow Memphis: conference schedule, free-throw shooting, to name a couple. But they’re skilled and they’ve been there before. On top of that, I just don’t know what to think of Missouri. After all, I did have Marquette beating them in the second round. Memphis by five is the pick.

Back tomorrow with predictions for Friday night’s games.

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

This is March Madness.

Thirty two games over the next two days.  Sixteen games on tap for Saturday and Sunday. Eight sites, four regions, and 64 teams dreaming that this year could be their “One Shining Moment.”

It all concludes 18 days from now on April 6 in Detroit when a new champion will cut down the nets. Sixty three games will be played with only one team winning its last game of the year. And, oh yeah, a whole lot of bracketology.

It’s the most exciting three weeks in sports, and it all starts today, in a matter of hours.

So here are my picks for this year’s Final Four and NCAA Champion:

East Region: PITTSBURGH. This was a tough one because I’ve always been a fan of Villanova and the Panthers loss in their first game of the Big East tournament concerns me, but they’re big and they’ve been consistently good all year. Beating UConn twice and surviving the Big East schedule en route to a 28-win season is impressive. The pick is Pittsburgh over Villanova in an Elite 8 classic.

South Region: SYRACUSE. As far as I’m concerned, Syracuse was the most impressive team to emerge from any of the conference tournaments. The Orange had an epic six-overtime win over Connecticut, an overtime win the following night over West Virginia, and then a gutsy performance in the championship game against Louisville. Syracuse always scares me come tournament time. They’re well coached and they’re peaking at just the right time. Syracuse over North Carolina in the Elite 8.

Midwest Region: LOUISVILLE. Big East Champions. Nothing more needs to be said. Sixteen conference wins and they’ve won 10 in a row. This is the best conference in college basketball and Louisville knocked off Providence, Villanova, and Syracuse to win it. I see a matchup with conference rival West Virginia in the Elite 8 game, with the Cardinals advancing to the Final Four.

West Region: CONNECTICUT. This isn’t because I’m from Connecticut, it’s because UConn has an easy draw until the Elite 8 when they will get quite a challenge from Memphis. If Jerome Dyson didn’t get hurt UConn would be considered the best team in the nation. Still, Memphis may not be as good as last year and the Huskies played a much more grueling schedule in the Big East, winning 15 conference games. UConn and Memphis should be a classic matchup, but UConn prevails.

Final Four: CONNECTICUT over Louisville and PITTSBURGH over Syracuse.

NCAA Champion: CONNECTICUT. Pittsburgh beat UConn twice this year. The Panthers were impressive in both wins. And I have a lot of respect for Pitt’s size, grit, and ability. UConn is not the best team in the country, but then again, who is? The tournament seems to be wide open this year. And this is an experienced team that has big-game players. Hasheem Thabeet is the key in that championship game. He’s struggled against Pitt this year. April 6 is his chance, and UConn’s chance, for redemption. Jim Calhoun and the Huskies win it all.

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s four Big East teams in the Final Four. Hey, it’s the best conference in college basketball. And I know I picked three number one seeds, but the only other team I considered was three-seed Villanova. I also have six of the Elite 8 teams coming from the Big East.

Atlantic 10 predictions: Temple falls to Arizona State and Dayton loses to West Virginia in opening round games tomorrow, while Xavier beats Portland State tomorrow and advances to the Sweet 16 with a win over Florida State on Sunday. The Muskateers will fall to Pittsburgh next Thursday.

Enjoy the games and good luck with your pools.