NCAA Basketball Betting

Tournament Seeds Not All Set

The Kansas Jayhawks don't know right now who they'll be playing in the first round of this year's NCAA Tournament - but their opponent will be determined later on Tuesday night after the Florida A&M Rattlers take on the favored Niagara Purple Eagles in the '07 Play-In Game at the University of Dayton Arena in Ohio.

Oddsmakers opened the Purple Eagles as 6-point favorites in this contest, but that line was quickly moved to Niagara -9 by noon on Monday. That will provide little solace to Niagara, however - the team and their fans were upset to be relegated to the opening-round contest, instead of being put directly into the field.

The Purple Eagles picked up their third tournament berth (and second trip to the Big Dance in three years) by defeating the Siena Saints 83-79 in the championship game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). That was Niagara's 11th-straight victory, and they ended their season with a 22-11 record. Tyrone Lewis led the way with 24 points for the Purple Eagles in the title game, while Lorenzo Miles had 21 points, and Clif Brown had a team-high 16 rebounds.

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Niagara had actually finished second in the final regular-season standings in the MAAC - they were 13-5 against conference opponents, while the first-place Marist Red Foxes were 14-4. Marist was knocked out of the MAAC Tournament by Siena 86-78, and they now will have to settle for a spot in the NIT this season.

Charron Fisher picked up 13 points and 12 rebounds for Niagara in their win over Siena, but he led the team with a 21.0 PPG average during the season. Brown was the team's leading rebounder, with 9.8 per game to go along with 16.0 points.

And those two will be expected to be in top form when the Purple Eagles take on the Rattlers on Tuesday night. Florida A&M defeated the Delaware State Hornets 58-56 last week to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship. That result could be considered an upset - Delaware State was the top team in the MEAC this year, going 16-2 against all conference opponents and 21-12 overall.

Florida A&M finished second in the conference standings at 12-6 (and 21-13 overall), but a 22-point, 13-rebound performance from Brian Greene in the title game clinched them a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Joe Ballard had 12 points.

Rome Sanders was held to just five points against Delaware State, but he led the team this season with a 15.3 PPG average. Greene averaged 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game this season, while Leslie Robinson averaged 11.3 points.

The winner of Tuesday night's opening round game will join Northwestern State, Siena, UNC Asheville, Oakland, and Monmouth on the list of teams that have survived the Play-In Game. Florida A&M is on that list as well - they got past Lehigh 72-57 in the Play-In Game in 2004, then went on to lose to Kentucky. Of course, no Play-In winner (or any No. 16 seed) has ever knocked out a top seed.

The Jayhawks will take on the opening-round survivor at 7:10pm ET on Friday night at the United Center in Chicago. Expect a line for that game to be posted late on Tuesday, and expect No. 1 Kansas to be listed as a huge favorite as well.