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Less than a week before the NCAA Tournament’s 68-team bracket is unveiled we’ve got a pretty good notion as to the programs that will be bagging No.’s 1 and 2 seeds.

Barring anything too stunning that takes place in this week’s conference tournaments, top-ranked Kansas (Big 12), No. 2 Michigan State (Big Ten), No. 3 Virginia (ACC) and No. 4 Villanova (Big East) each would seem to be in strong position to nab top regional seeds when the bracket is announced on CBS from New York City next Sunday night.
 
And those conferences could be in line for two seeds – at least – by way of Xavier (Big East), North Carolina (ACC), Indiana (Big Ten) and Oklahoma (Big 12).
 
The updated Power 16 . . .

Rank (Last week’s rank)
Record
Comment
1. Kansas (1)
27-4
The Jayhawks have won 11 in a row with five of those away from Lawrence.
2. Michigan St. (2)
26-5
The Spartans’ six consecutive victories have come by an average margin of 20 points.
3. Virginia (3)
24-6
The Cavaliers’ six losses have come by a cumulative margin of 22 points.
4. Villanova (4)
27-4
Josh Hart was one of four unanimous all-Big East selections.
5. Xavier (5)
26-4
The only program to beat the Musketeers in the past seven weeks has been Creighton.
6. North Carolina (6)
25-6
The Tar Heels’ win in Durham may have soothed some of the sting of that harsh loss to Duke in Chapel Hill – and it gave them the ACC title outright.
7. Indiana (7)
25-6
The Hoosiers secured a Big Ten title with a Big Bang – wins at Iowa and at home against Maryland.
8. Oregon (12)
25-6
A pleasant visit to Southern California secured the program’s first conference title in 14 years.
9. Texas A&M (11)
24-7
Six wins in a row gave the Aggies a piece of the SEC’s regular-season championship.
10. Utah (8)
24-7
The Utes will take a seven-game winning streak into Las Vegas for the Pac 12. Tournament.
11. Oklahoma (13)
24-6
The Sooners finished three games out of first place but it was still no surprised to see Buddy Hield selected as the Big 12 Player of the Year.
12. Kentucky (15)
23-8
All things considered, there won’t be a better backcourt in the NCAA tournament than the one the Wildcats will put on the floor.
13. Maryland (9)
24-7
The Terps have back-peddled into the Big Ten Tournament with four losses in six games.
14. Purdue (16)
23-7
The Boilermakers take their longest Big Ten winning streak (three) into the conference tournament.
15. Miami (10)
24-6
The Hurricanes’ 15-point loss at Virginia Tech cost them a share of an ACC
16.  Arizona (NR)
24-7
Wins over Cal and Stanford in Tucson put the Wildcats on the right path to Las Vegas this week.

ON THE CUSP: Alabama-Birmingham 26-5, Arkansas-Little Rock 27-4, Cal 22-9, Cincinnati 22-9, Dayton 24-6, Houston 22-8, Iowa 21-9, Louisville 23-8, Monmouth 27-6, Saint Joseph’s 24-7, Saint Mary’s 26-4, SMU 25-5, Valparaiso 26-5, West Virginia 24-7, Wichita State 24-8 and Wisconsin 20-10.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (Feb. 29-March 6)

*Perry Ellis (Kansas): The senior forward averaged 21.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ Big 12 wins over Texas and Iowa State.

*Brice Johnson (North Carolina): Johnson averaged 16.0 points and 15.5 rebounds as the Tar Heels closed the regular season with victories against Syracuse and Duke.

*Jamal Murray (Kentucky): The 6-5 freshman hit eight of 14 shots from behind the arc while averaging 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the Wildcats’ SEC victories against Florida and LSU.

*Denzel Valentine (Michigan State): The 6-5 senior inched ever closer to John R. Wooden Award hardware while averaging 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 10.5 assists in the Spartans’ wins over Rutgers and Ohio State.

*Gabe York (Arizona): He scored 19 points, including the game-deciding 3-pointer, against Cal then knocked in nine 3s while scoring 32 points as the Wildcats close Pac 12 competition by rolling past Stanford.

Follow Frank on twitter @FrankieBur. Also make sure to follow his website at www.burlisononbasketball.com. College coaching staffs interested in Burlison’s scouting service should contact him at [email protected].

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