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The Big East Tournament kicks off this week, and regular season champions Syracuse are still the number one pick. Syracuse's size continues to prove too much for opponents, and their style of play continues to impress. The Panthers have a tough tournament ahead of them - they'll most likely end up facing Notre Dame and either West Virginia or Louisville to get to the final, and any of those matchups could spell disaster for Pittsburgh. The Panthers have the game to grit their teeth and tough it out and come out on top. First in the conference in scoring defense and third in field goal percentage defense, the Panthers have the offense to win it all, but sports book cappers know that how their path unfolds will determine their success. Oddsmakers are also keeping a close eye on Lousiville. While the Cardinals were the no. 1 seed last year, Louisville will have to win four games in four days to make it two in a row.

In off-the-court College Basketball happenings, it is being reported that some conferences have discontinued the practice of giving gift packages for teams that make the conference and NCAA tournaments. The Big Ten, MAC, and Pac-10 have taken the cost cutting measure in an effort to reduce overall spending - an effort that could reduce budgets by as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Teams aren't the only ones that will no longer be receiving free swag - the move includes a halt to gift packages for VIP and media (why the media is even accepting gifts, I have no idea).

The Olympic hockey odds have Team Russia and Team Canada in the Olympic men’s ice hockey gold medal game. The Canadians are 9 to 5 favorites to win the gold and the Russians are 11 to 4 favorites to be there as well. But Team Canada needed a shoot-out to beat Switzerland and then got beaten by the Americans. With their goaltending in question, Canada will not be playing in the gold medal game.

Sweden is a 5 to 1 favorite to win gold, but they lack the toughness needed to win in a championship game. They hammered their way to a win over Finland in the preliminary round, and the Fins are a talented team, but Finland cannot compare to a beating by the Russians or the Americans.

Team USA is a 7 to 2 favorite to win the gold, but those odds will change as the tournament progresses. Team USA is a gritty bunch of defensemen and a talented corps of forwards backed up by one of the best goalies in the world in Ryan Miller. The key to the Americans’ success is that you never know who will score, and you never know how they will do it.

The gold medal game for the 2010 Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament will be one of the best gold medal games played in a long time. It will be better than the Team USA versus Canada match-up in 2002 or the Finland versus Sweden game in 2006. It will pit the speed and toughness of Russians Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin against the tough defensive play of Americans Jack Johnson and Brooks Orpick. It will be an epic goaltending battle between the two best goalies in the world; Ryan Miller and Evgeni Nabokov. It will be a hockey game that no hockey fan in the world will want to miss.

Pick: Team USA versus Team Russia

Bookmaker Review: Kentucky Wildcats 24-1, 9-1 1^st in SEC #2 National Ranking

Coach John Calipari is in his first year at Kentucky and unlike his predecessors, has produced in a way reminiscent of Kentucky tradition. Coach Cal has become the man to play for if you are a top point guard in this country. With Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans and now John Wall all playing for him in the last few years, Rose was a #1 overall pick and Evans was #2.

Wall is the consensus number #1 pick by experts this year and has averaged 17 points, 6.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game for the Wildcats as a freshman and has dazzled with slick passes and acrobatic drives to the lane and an ability to take over in crunch time.

Freshmen G Eric Bledsoe and F DeMarcus Cousins are also key players on this Wildcats squad. Cousins has been an absolute beast this season with a huge athletic frame with a decent low post repertoire even as a freshman. He’s averaging 15.9 points and 10.2 boards a game.The sky is the limit with him and he will likely be a top 7 pick in the draft. Bledsoe plays the same position as Wall and may stay for another season, but he too is unstoppable at times at the guard position. Junior Forward Patrick Patterson is the lone hold over from the Billy Gillespe days and has produced for Coach Calipari. Patterson has worked on his shot this past year and has added some range to an already impressive post game and tenacious rebounding.

Kentucky is a loaded team that can only beat itself this year. This is the best team in the country right now and this team will only get better as they play more. They are my pick for the 2010 NCAA crown.