Some may consider it blasphemous to integrate formulas into a rant about college hoops, but I’m an engineering grad – so what do you expect?

With finals less than two months away, and March Madness about to take center stage, there’s no better time than the present to talk formulas.  There’s also no better time to address the NCAA National Player of the Year race.  And I can accomplish that in one succinct expression:

NCAA Player of the Year = Kemba Walker

See how easy that was?

But perhaps there will be a need for further analysis.  Therefore, let’s incorporate some additional formulaic expressions:

Kemba Walker > Jared Sullinger

Ben Hansbrough < Kemba Walker

Kemba Walker > Jajuan Johnson

Nolan Smith < Kemba Walker

Big East = Best Conference in NCAA Basketball

Walker's ankle-breaking stepback the knocked Pitt out of the Big East Tournament...

Let’s look at the reasons that these expression are true, and why the UConn guard should walk away with the award:

Size plays to his advantage.  Kemba is listed at 6’1″ (which probably means that he is shorter than that) and 172 pounds.  Yet, his domination of games resembles that of someone who is a foot taller than he is.  How difficult is it to be a top-notch scorer in the deepest conference in college basketball when you are barely six foot tall?  His ability to separate himself from his defender is reminiscent of Allen Iverson, another rare performer who destroyed the Big East and was roughly of the same stature as Walker.

His team’s dependency upon him is greater than any other team’s dependency upon one player.  Walker plays for a top-20 team, and they have knocked off some serious giants including Michigan State, Kentucky, Texas, and Tennessee – and those only comprise their list of non-conference slayings.  Connecticut lost nine games, all of which came with Big East play (9-9 conference record).  Without Walker in the lineup, just how many fewer wins (in conference and out-of-conference) would they have amassed?

Kemba’s performance in the clutch has been unrivaled this season.  What do Michigan State, Texas, Villanova and Pittsburgh all have in common?  They each fell victim to the Walker’s almost legendary late-game heroics.  Walker’s ability to convert big shots with the game on the line on a consistent basis is something that really hasn’t been witnessed at the collegiate level.  The Bronx native has excelled in this position, despite the fact that his reputation as an elite end-of-game performer precedes him.  Since his first couple of big game-winners, he’s been a marked man during game-defining possessions, but has continued to step up and knock down the shots.

Here’s why he should beat out the other candidates:

Ben Hansbrough (voted Big East Player of the Year ahead of Walker)

Walker scored more points per game for a less explosive offensive team.  The current Notre Dame roster has five players that are averaging at least 9.6 points per game.  UConn?  Only two.  Hansbrough almost has a player averaging as many points as he does (Tim Ambromaitis is at 15.3, while Hansbrough is at 18.7).  Walker puts up 23.4, while Jeremy Lamb is second on the team with a mere 10.2 ppg.

Jared Sullinger

Something tells me that Ohio State would be just fine without Sullinger.  Now, of course, they wouldn’t be a team that ascended to the #1 spot in the poll – but, the remaining cast of Buckeyes would have found its way into the Big Dance.  Do I even have to go there with UConn?

Nolan Smith

Nolan Smith has been great, but he has consistent help from Kyle Singler.

Smith has been nothing short of a life-saver for Duke.  With Kyrie Irving active, the Blue Devils looked extremely dangerous.  But with the freshman wonder out, Duke needed Smith’s steady hand and aggression to bridge the gap.  But Smith also gets to take a break from time to time, thanks to the frontcourt versatility of Kyle Singler.  That’s a luxury that Kemba wishes that he had.

Jajuan Johnson     

Need I say Moore?  As in E’Twaun Moore?  How can Johnson be so highly regarded as a potential player of the year candidate when he plays alongside a guy averaging 18-5-3 – and who also makes the biggest plays for Purdue at the end of most games.

Jimmer Fredette

I intentionally saved this one for last.  The Jimmer has had a great season.  He’s putting up 28 points per game, and throwing in over 4 assists just for good measure.  But the biggest knock on his candidacy would have to be the cold-hearted fact the Mountain West is not comparable to the Big East (no conference is for that matter).  If BYU was in the nation’s deepest conference, could Fredette have his team in as good of a position as Walker has his at the moment?  Sure, this is a hypothetical argument, but it is one to attempt to made a balanced comparison between the two.  They have a strong win over Arizona (who was a much different team at the time of their game) on their resume, however, losses to New Mexico (twice) and UCLA might suggest otherwise.  And even though Fredette is cleraly the offensive juggernaut on this team, BYU has managed to produce two other double-figure scorers.

Unfortunately, we all know that Kemba won’t win the award.  I can’t recall there ever being a case where a National Player of the Year didn’t get selected as the player of the year in his own conference.

But aside from the SportsCenter clips, and embedded in the hearts and minds of college hoops fans across the nation, there is a clear cut winner for this award. 

His name = Kemba.

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