Mountaineers kick offense in gear to return to champ list:

Based on today’s AP Top 25, 13 teams now have the six basic credentials that 17 of the last 19 champions have possessed:

1) They came from a Power conference (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC or Pac 10)
2) They went to the previous year's tourney
3) Their coach had at least five tourney appearances
4) They scored at least 77 points a game
5) Their average margin of victory was 10 points or more
6) They were seeded No. 1 through No. 4

Last week, 12 teams met the criteria above. West Virginia returned to the champ list thanks to a 90- point overtime win that pushed its scoring average above 77 points a game. Check it out:

<IMG SRC=/blog/champ_122809.gif>

All the teams with “Y’s” highlighted in blue under “Old Rules” have the six attributes cited above. That includes: Kansas, Texas, Purdue, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke, Villanova, North Carolina, Michigan State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Washington and Clemson.

This year, we’re tracking a seventh champ criterion. Sixteen of 19 champions have possessed all the qualities listed above—and were led by a coach that had been to the Elite Eight in a previous year. If we re- examine our top 25 teams by adding the requirement that their coach have an Elite Eight appearance on his resume, four squads drop out: Purdue, Tennessee, Washington and Clemson. That leaves us with nine teams that have the numbers to cut down the nets in 2010: Kansas, Texas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke, Villanova, North Carolina, Michigan State, and Ohio State.
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Mountaineers kick offense in gear to return to champ list: Based on today’s AP Top 25, 13 teams now have the six basic credentials that 17 of the last 19 champions have possessed: 1) They came from a Power conference (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC or Pac 10) 2) They went to the previous year's tourney 3) Their coach had at least five tourney appearances 4) They scored at least 77 points a game 5) Their average margin of victory was 10 points or more 6) They were seeded No. 1 through No. 4 Last week, 12 teams met the criteria above. West Virginia returned to the champ list thanks to a 90- point overtime win that pushed its scoring average above 77 points a game. Check it out: <IMG SRC=/blog/champ_122809.gif> All the teams with “Y’s” highlighted in blue under “Old Rules” have the six attributes cited above. That includes: Kansas, Texas, Purdue, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke, Villanova, North Carolina, Michigan State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Washington and Clemson. This year, we’re tracking a seventh champ criterion. Sixteen of 19 champions have possessed all the qualities listed above—and were led by a coach that had been to the Elite Eight in a previous year. If we re- examine our top 25 teams by adding the requirement that their coach have an Elite Eight appearance on his resume, four squads drop out: Purdue, Tennessee, Washington and Clemson. That leaves us with nine teams that have the numbers to cut down the nets in 2010: Kansas, Texas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke, Villanova, North Carolina, Michigan State, and Ohio State.