Will the contenders stand up?

By Doug Graham Sports Central Columnist

Would someone please step up and begin to take over the last weeks of the college basketball season? It would really help those of us who are entirely too confused when faced with the decision of filling out a bracket come tournament time.

This begs the question, is there a dominant team out there?

Pittsburgh looked like it for a while before they were exposed. Julius Page doesn't come to play in big games, Brandin Knight isn't the team-leader that he should be as a returning point guard and they flat-out get beat underneath the basket. Besides, the Panthers have a little problem known as winning a big game on the road, a quality that you're going to need in the tournament. To top everything off, they have played a fairly soft schedule for a team ranked in the top-10.

Okay, so we knew all that, but Pittsburgh looked as if they were going to roll into a No. 1 seed, even after that loss to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. Too bad they had to go to Notre Dame and then to Seton Hall.

Let's be realistic, though, they weren't even a Final Four-caliber team to begin with. They just had the easiest road, and they blew it.

The current No. 1 team is Arizona. The Wildcats are back on top after a quick stumble. There are problems with this Arizona team that keep them from being a stand out dominant basketball team.

Luke Walton, losing to Stanford and robbing a candy machine, doesn't make for a likely triumvirate inside a national contender.

Louisville was the talk of the nation until Saint Louis Cincinnati smacked Rick Pitino and company in the face, hard. Surprising losses? Obviously, but you know what? Those kind of surprising losses in conference play happen every year. We aren't talking about a lousy conference like the ACC. This is C-USA.

Before someone steps up and calls that last part crazy, look at the conferences. Wake Forest has emerged as the top team out of the ACC, yet they got beat up by Marquette a few weeks ago. C-USA has been developing the past few seasons and is becoming one of the better conferences in college basketball that will only get better as teams get to sell players on the idea of beating Pitino every year. Is the conference on the same level as the Big 12 or the SEC? Not yet, but the ACC is having a down year and hopefully that will be shown come tournament time when they have three selections and C-USA has four.

Louisville rebounded nicely after the loss to St. Louis. They went on the road in front of the biggest crowd in Wisconsin basketball history and beat Marquette in a game that makes you understand why Dick Vitale uses the words "super, scintillating, and sensational" to describe college basketball. The idea of Louisville in the Final Four still needs to be sold a little more, Elite Eight probably, but they'll need the right teams in front of them to make it to the Final Four.

Reece Gaines just keeps getting better, though. For National Player of the Year, you have to start looking at Gaines. The three-point shot he took at the end of the Marquette game, was there any doubt when it left his hand? A little lengthy, but it didn't matter. The kid can flat-out play. By the way, while we're on this topic, Marquette comes to Louisville and gets the win, book it.

If you find yourself sinking into the feeling that Texas and Oklahoma are two very strong basketball teams, you shouldn't feel alone or worried. Hollis Price can play the game, doing just about everything on the court for Oklahoma. T.J. Ford is the same way for that Longhorns team. Both teams could go deep in March.

The problem is that they will likely square-off in the in the Big 12 Championship game on Selection Sunday. The game could end up being meaningless, or Texas and Oklahoma will find themselves battling it out to see which of them will start the tournament as a No. 1 seed and which a No. 2. They might beat each other up to the point where both teams find themselves susceptible to an upset. The rivalry has always been intense and bitter on the football field, now that rivalry means something on the basketball court, as well.

Or they'll both find themselves in the Final Four. Vague, yes, but can you be anything but vague at this point? Not until you sit down with a pen, no, pencil in hand to fill in your bracket can you cease to be vague about this season.

The Florida Gators aren't bad. Let's clear up that misconception right now. They weren't overrated, and at the time, they did deserve their No. 1 ranking. They might be young in certain areas, but who isn't? Billy Donovan has done more with less in the past, so who is to say that Donovan won't have this team ready to play in March? Besides, those alternative black jerseys and the way those Gators color code their arena, snazzy.

Yeah, so their visit to Rupp Arena as a No. 1 didn't work out as planned. Every team needs to be the mole in a Whack-A-Mole game at some point during the season. Call it a growing experience, or call it whatever you want, it was a loss. Ranking or no ranking, though, the Gators weren't going to go into Kentucky and beat that team. If the Gators hadn't won on the road against Kansas and Mississippi State, you could be worried, but they'll be ready.

Oh, by the way, Kentucky is a good team. It wasn't that expected this year, but Tubby Smith has that team working on all cylinders. The loss at Louisville in December was a wake-up call in two different ways. First, Louisville was going to contend this season, but secondly, it let a Kentucky basketball team in early season cruise control take a look at themselves. It forced them to choose where they wanted to end up and now after an up-and-down start to the season with some big wins and some bad losses, Kentucky finds themselves perfect in the SEC.

So, where will everything end up? Who knows? The field is as wide-open as it ever has been this season. The homestretch of this college basketball season will be interesting, who is going to step up and takeover the field, propelling themselves to the Final Four?

Right now, look at Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Louisville. As for surprise teams? Syracuse is starting to play as a team at the perfect time in the season, as well as Marquette and Xavier. Although these teams might not contend for the Final Four, they should make some noise in the tournament, possibly knocking off some of these teams perceived as the beasts.

And please, could someone shake Duke awake in time for the ACC Tournament? It just won't be the same if that team isn't playing a role in how the title is decided.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.