Trietley: Ohio State tops the list of Final Four candidates

The game Monday night between No. 4 Pitt and No. 3 Syracuse had a Final Four feel to it. Two Big… The game Monday night between No. 4 Pitt and No. 3 Syracuse had a Final Four feel to it. Two Big East programs with incalculable depth, impeccable coaching and seemingly no weaknesses collided.

But will Pitt or Syracuse make it to Houston? There are six teams that have risen above the rest — and they don’t call it the Final Six. That doesn’t even have alliteration. So which four will advance?

No. 1 Ohio State: In

Statistically speaking, Ohio State can barely outrebound Southeast Missouri State. The Buckeyes are 150th in the nation in rebounding. But if you’ve seen them play this year, you know that nobody can stop Jared Sullinger. Teams can limit his touches, double-team him or place a beehive under the rim, but he’s still going to end up with a double-double.

Combine Sullinger with some of the best passers and perimeter shooters in the country, and you have a Final Four team.

No. 2 Kansas: Out

The Jayhawks look fantastic on paper. They have size and skill. They rebound. They score more than 83 points per game. Yet I don’t think they can make it to Houston. Can you tell I have a love-hate relationship with stats?

Kansas put up 113 points against the Longwood Lancers. Congratulations. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Lancers will be an Elite Eight opponent. Kansas beat UCLA by one, USC by two, Nebraska by three, California by five and Iowa State by five and Michigan by seven in overtime. Some — mostly Midwesterners — call this “coming through in the clutch,” but it also shows the Jayhawks’ proclivity to play down to the level of their opponents. That’s going to hurt them at some point, probably in the Tournament.

No. 3 Syracuse: In

Yes, Pitt beat them 74-66, but the Orange played without their leading scorer, Kris Joseph. All in all, Syracuse was the Panthers’ mirror image for most of the game.

Rick Jackson mesmerized me on Monday. The Big East’s top rebounder bumped back Gary McGhee for layups more than once. Even though McGhee outrebounded Jackson 13-11, the Orange forward impressed me more, and I’m shocked Syracuse didn’t feed him the ball more in the second half. That man is a mammoth.

No. 4 Pitt: In

The Panthers don’t have a weakness. Think of a skill set you’d like to have on your team ­— well, Pitt has it. Brad Wanamaker cuts to the rim. Ashton Gibbs hits shots from the perimeter. Gilbert Brown is a freak physically with his leaping ability to go along with highligh reel slam dunks and blocks. And the team can roll its bench in Big East play. The Panthers showed Monday they can beat anyone — even a team eerily similar to them. This is the year.

No. 5 Duke: Out

The Duke program fascinates me. Its performance in the regular season rarely wavers, but in March it will either bow out early or win it all, and you never know ahead of time what kind of year it will be.

In a down year for the ACC, Duke played its toughest games early in the season. The Blue Devils nearly lost to Marquette at a neutral site and bested Michigan State — a team that isn’t as good as most people thought early in the season — by just five.

It’s tough to assess the Blue Devils when they play 14-straight unranked opponents to conclude the regular season, but they just look like a group that’s going to run into a Big East team in the tournament and lose.

No. 6 San Diego State: In

The undefeated No. 6 Aztecs aren’t ranked too high. They almost upset Tennessee in the first round of the Tournament last season, but lost by three to a Volunteers team that went to the Elite Eight. Don’t worry — they’re better this year.

A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle called San Diego State’s forwards “guards in big bodies.” This was best demonstrated in a big win at Gonzaga in November, during which 6-foot-8 forward Billy White went 14-for-18 from the floor, hit 2 of 2 from deep, had two steals, pulled down seven offensive boards and scored 30 points.

Chances are the Aztecs will lose a few games in conference play, drop in the polls and earn a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the Tournament. But with a good bounce or two, they’ll join Pitt, Syracuse and Ohio State in the Final Four. It wouldn’t be the NCAA Tournament without the unexpected.