Conference play is about halfway through, and that means that we are well on our way to the 2012 March Madness schedule! Check out some of the teams that are well on their way to success in the dance and how they shake out on the odds to win the NCAA Tournament!

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It is clear that the team with the most talent in the country is the Kentucky Wildcats (Odds To Win National Championship: 7 to 2 @ Bovada Sportsbook). Sure, Head Coach John Calipari has never found a way to win the big one, but he took a team last year that was largely considered to be a year away from being a real contender and made it a Final Four team. This year’s team is even more talented. Anthony Davis is one of the best big men in the game, and he is just one of the many future NBA stars that are donning the blue and white right now. The question is in the backcourt, where there are nothing but youngsters. Doron Lamb, the big time returner of the bunch is going to have to have a big time NCAA Tournament for the Cats to win it all. That being said though, UK is still well on its way to being the top overall seed in March Madness, and we would be shocked to see them be anything but the favorites to win it all when the brackets are released in a few short weeks.

We still tend to think that the Ohio State Buckeyes (2012 March Madness Odds: 9 to 2 @ Bovada Sportsbook) are as good as advertised as well. Jared Sullinger is just a man amongst boys for the most part, and William Buford is rounding into one of the best guards in the Big Ten. Teams are having a hard time challenging the Buckeyes, especially in Columbus, and there are already some huge wins that have been racked up against some of the best teams in the land this year both at home and on the road. Last year’s shocking exit in the Sweet 16 (to none other than this Kentucky team) is going to be burned into the minds of everyone at Ohio State, and the desire is going to be there to make it a heck of a lot further than that this time around in the dance.

List Of NCAA Tournament Basketball National Champions (Since 2000)
2011 NCAA Tournament Champions: Connecticut Huskies
2010 NCAA Tournament Champions: Duke Blue Devils
2009 NCAA Tournament Champions: North Carolina Tar Heels
2008 NCAA Tournament Champions: Kansas Jayhawks
2007 NCAA Tournament Champions: Florida Gators
2006 NCAA Tournament Champions: Florida Gators
2005 NCAA Tournament Champions: North Carolina Tar Heels
2004 NCAA Tournament Champions: Connecticut Huskies
2003 NCAA Tournament Champions: Syracuse Orange
2002 NCAA Tournament Champions: Maryland Terrapins
2001 NCAA Tournament Champions: Duke Blue Devils
2000 NCAA Tournament Champions: Michigan State Spartans

There is no doubt that in terms of sheer talent, the North Carolina Tar Heels (2012 NCAA Basketball Championship Odds: 11 to 2 @ Bovada Sportsbook) are about as good as it gets as well. This team has the best frontcourt in the country with John Henson, Tyler Zeller, and Harrison Barnes, but the truth of the matter is that the backcourt just isn’t there now that Dexter Strickland is out for the season. The Tar Heels have days where they look dominating, and days when they aren’t so hot. They only have four losses on the year, but that fourth one to the Duke Blue Devils might be the one that comes back and stings them when it comes time to see who will be a No. 1 seed on the brackets this year. North Carolina absolutely can still win the NCAA Tournament though, and there aren’t all that many teams in the land that we reasonably think can say that.

We go from a team that has a dominating frontcourt to one that has a dominating backcourt. At 30 to 1, we love taking the Florida Gators (Odds to win the NCAA Basketball Championship: 30 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook). Sure, Head Coach Billy Donovan and the gang were beaten and beaten soundly at Rupp Arena by Kentucky, but there was no shame in that loss. UF has a good history in the NCAA Tournament, and Kenny Boynton, Bradley Beal, and the rest of a tremendously deep backcourt picked up a lot of experience in last year’s dance. We all know that guard play is the key to the NCAA Tournament, and if that’s what it really comes down to, we like the chances that the blue and orange have of a deep run.

There are always those teams that you look at and wonder why they have odds that are just so ridiculous. Enter the Temple Owls (Odds to win the 2012 NCAA Basketball Championship: 200 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook). Sure, we know that the Owls have had a terrible history in the NCAA Tournament, and we know that they are nowhere near a lock to get into the dance quite yet. However, they have the best team in the Atlantic 10, likely will win the conference tournament, and might be in the Top 5 seeds when the brackets are released. Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez are experienced guards that can put up some big time numbers, and the Owls have already proven that they can beat some of the best in the country when they took down Duke at the Liacouras Center not all that long ago. Temple has Sweet 16 potential, and as we have seen in the past from some of these smaller schools with experienced players, anything can happen from there.

Odds to Win the 2012 NCAA Tournament @ Bovada Sportsbook (as of 2/9/12):
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Kentucky Wildcats 7 to 2
Ohio State Buckeyes 9 to 2
North Carolina Tar Heels 11 to 2
Syracuse Orange 6 to 1
Duke Blue Devils 10 to 1
Kansas Jayhawks 12 to 1
Missouri Tigers 12 to 1
Baylor Bears 18 to 1
Michigan State Spartans 25 to 1
Florida Gators 30 to 1
Georgetown Hoyas 30 to 1
Louisville Cardinals 30 to 1
Connecticut Huskies 35 to 1
Indiana Hoosiers 40 to 1
Marquette Golden Eagles 40 to 1
UNLV Runnin’ Rebels 40 to 1
Vanderbilt Commodores 40 to 1
Wisconsin Badgers 40 to 1
Florida State Seminoles 50 to 1
Virginia Cavaliers 50 to 1
West Virginia Mountaineers 60 to 1
Gonzaga Bulldogs 65 to 1
Kansas State Wildcats 65 to 1
Memphis Tigers 65 to 1
Michigan Wolverines 65 to 1
Texas Longhorns 65 to 1
Creighton Blue Jays 75 to 1
Harvard Crimson 75 to 1
Illinois Fighting Illini 75 to 1
Mississippi State Bulldogs 75 to 1
Pittsburgh Panthers 75 to 1
Purdue Boilermakers 75 to 1
St. Louis Billikens 75 to 1
San Diego State Aztecs 75 to 1
St. Mary’s Gaels 75 to 1
Washington Huskies 75 to 1
Xavier Musketeers 75 to 1
Alabama Crimson Tide 100 to 1
California Golden Bears 100 to 1
Cincinnati Bearcats 100 to 1
Miami Hurricanes 100 to 1
New Mexico Lobos 100 to 1
UCLA Bruins 100 to 1
Wichita State Shockers 100 to 1
Arizona Wildcats 125 to 1
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 125 to 1
Seton Hall Pirates 125 to 1
BYU Cougars 150 to 1
Minnesota Golden Gophers 150 to 1
North Carolina State Wolfpack 150 to 1
Oklahoma Sooners 150 to 1
Stanford Cardinal 150 to 1
VCU Rams 150 to 1
Ole Miss Rebels 200 to 1
Oregon Ducks 200 to 1
Temple Owls 200 to 1
Virginia Tech Hokies 200 to 1
Colorado Buffaloes 250 to 1
Texas A&M Aggies 250 to 1
Arkansas Razorbacks 300 to 1
Butler Bulldogs 300 to 1
LSU Tigers 300 to 1
Maryland Terrapins 300 to 1
Oklahoma State Cowboys 300 to 1
Tennessee Volunteers 300 to 1
Washington State Cougars 300 to 1
Iowa Hawkeyes 500 to 1
South Florida Bulls 500 to 1
Villanova Wildcats 500 to 1
Wake Forest Demon Deacons 500 to 1

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Let’s get one thing straight before I get started with this little rant: Mississippi State and Minnesota don’t deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament in they don’t win their respective conferences on Sunday. But neither do Illinois, Florida, Rhode Island, Seton Hall, or any other teams that are sitting on this proverbial “bubble” that we have come to know and love.

Come to think of it, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, and probably about 12 other teams shouldn’t get the right to play for the National Championship either.

And you want to expand this field to 96 teams next year???

Regardless of whether I like it or not, the Golden Gophers and Bulldogs are both going to get to win their way onto the dance floor the old fashioned way: by winning their conference tournaments.

These two teams should both take lessons from the teams before them. Washington was considered a bubble team until it removed all doubt by winning the Pac-10. San Diego State could say the same thing with the Mountain West.

The other lesson that Mississippi State and Minnesota should take into consideration: Don’t complain if you don’t get into the field.

The Golden Gophers have some unsightly losses on their resume, including a 28-point defeat to Michigan which capped a season sweep for the Wolverines over Minnesota, a loss at Northwestern, and ‘L’s to Portland and Miami. Winning more than one legitimate road game (@ Illinois) in conference would’ve helped quite a bit, too.

Hey Mississippi State, why the heck are you losing at home to Rider? It doesn’t matter that that loss came on the first night of the regular season. It’s Rider! Tournament teams don’t lose to Western Kentucky or to Arkansas, Alabama, or Auburn in conference play. The only road wins in SEC play came at Ole Miss, LSU, and South Carolina.

Don’t get me wrong… Anyone that wins their conference tournament is deserving of a spot in the field of 65. It’s all of these bubble teams that annoy the heck out of me.

I’ll admit this much: I smirked just a bit when Utah State and UTEP both lost their conference finals, which is probably going to take a bid away from one of these teams that doesn’t deserve to go dancing.

And once again, I’d love nothing more than to see the Dawgs and Gophers take care of business, pull upsets in their conference finals, and take automatic bids to the dance. Then there will be two more teams deserving of their tickets to the NCAA Tournament, while more teams will be left at home, complaining that the system doesn’t work and that there should be more teams allowed in the NCAA Tournament.

But don’t worry, all of you 21-10 teams. When the field expands to 96 teams, you’ll all be in the tournament. Then all we’ll have complaining is all of the 18-14 teams why they’re not allowed to play for college basketball’s biggest prize.