Any one of four Western Conference teams could win this year's NBA championship.

Sadly enough, though, none of them are named the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz, who open their first-round playoff series today at Sacramento against the Kings, are no longer one of those elite teams with a legitimate chance to win the league title.

In fact, most folks figure the eighth-seeded Jazz will be fortunate if they manage to win as much as one game against a deep, high-scoring Sacramento lineup that posted the league's best record (61-21) this season, earning the Kings the No. 1 seed in the West and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.