With about a month of the College Basketball Season complete, it’s never too early to be looking at resumes and who’s on the bubble. Who has been the most impressive team so far? Most disappointing? Early bubble teams?
Final Four Favorites
Villanova - The defending National Champs seemed to go under the radar for most of the offseason. They’re currently #1 in the AP Poll after an 9-0 start. The defending champs recorded a most impressive win at Purdue earlier in the season and they have shown us why they should be favorites to make it back to the Final Four.
Kansas - After starting the season with an overtime loss in Hawaii to Indiana, the Jayhawks rebounded by getting a close win over an undermanned Duke team in New York. The Jayhawks still look to be the kings of the Big 12 with Perry Ellis running the show.
Baylor - The Bears may have the best resume in all of College Basketball at this point with wins over Michigan State, Oregon, Louisville and Xavier. If there’s a team out there that can dethrone Kansas in the Big 12, it may just be the boys from Waco.
UCLA - UCLA is back baby! This is a team that can put up 90-100 points night in and night out. They now have two quality wins over Texas A&M and a big one in Lexington over then #1 Kentucky. This may just be the best offense in all the land, let’s see if they can keep this pace up heading into Pac 12 play.
Duke - Injured? Yes. Getting healthy? Certainly. Duke started the season as #1 for a reason and it’s because when healthy, they are the best all around team. From ultra talented freshmen to seasoned veterans, Duke is still the National Championship favorites. Oh by the way, we still haven’t seen Harry Giles play yet. Mmhmm… that’s kinda scary.
Indiana - Are the Hoosiers for real? They certainly looked for real when they beat Kansas and North Carolina, but they didn’t exactly look for real when they lost to Fort Wayne. That’s right. Fort Wayne. The Hoosiers can run the floor with anyone and that should make them a team that could certainly get to Phoenix in April.
North Carolina - The Tar Heels started the season 7-0 with all seven of those wins coming by 15 or more points, but then they ran into a buzzsaw Indiana team in Bloomington. They’ve rebounded from that loss with wins over Radford and Davidson, but the Tar Heels, who are undoubtedly talented, are still looking to find their identity as they hope to make back to the Final Four.
Gonzaga - This may just be the best team Mark Few has ever had at Gonzaga. Why? They are D-E-E-P. They have one of the better resumes out there currently with quality wins over San Diego State, Florida, Iowa State and Arizona.
Kentucky - Yes they lost at home for the first time in forever, but as we stated earlier, UCLA is a for real. My point, don’t overreact BBN. Kentucky is still a very talented team, but as usual, very young. But they showed us how good they were with that blowout win over Michigan State.
Don’t Dare Underestimate These Teams
South Carolina - The Gamecocks missed the Tournament last year because they lacked strong non-conference wins. Well, they won’t let that be the reason they miss it this year as they’ve gotten early wins over Syracuse and Michigan. South Carolina looks to be really talented again this season, let’s wait and see what they do in SEC play against the likes of Kentucky and Florida before we give you a true reading on them.
Virginia - Virginia looks very good again, and as always, superb defensively. But if they want to prove themselves as a National Title contender, they need to show us something against solid competition. The best win they have is either Ohio State or Providence and they lost their only game against a top team in West Virginia.
West Virginia - Speaking of the Mountaineers… Press Virginia is in full swing again. In their last game against Western Carolina, they forced 34 (!!!) turnovers. 34 turnovers! Are they as good as Kansas or Baylor, probably just below them, but if you can force 34 turnovers every game, I guarantee you you’ll win.
Oregon - Yes the Ducks are off to a slow start after losses to Baylor and Georgetown, but this team is too talented to be looked over. Dillon Brooks is still getting healthy, and once he’s a 100%, Oregon will likely be contending for a top seed again.
Creighton - Hey guys, Creighton is undefeated. I tell you this because it seems like no one realizes that. Not only are they unbeaten, but they have beaten quality teams in Wisconsin and North Carolina State too. The Blue Jays can certainly pose a threat to Villanova in the Big East.
Teams That Have Disappointed
Michigan State - Listen, I have no doubt Tom Izzo will turn this team around and it will be at the very least a Sweet Sixteen team, but so far, they haven’t looked good at all. In the early part of the season, they have lost to Arizona, Kentucky by 21, Baylor and Duke. Oh, and did I mention they came within a point of losing to Florida Gulf Coast and nearly blew a big second half lead to Wichita State.
Connecticut - Are you kidding me UConn? Are you kidding me Kevin Ollie? I don’t know what this is UConn is trying to sell to us, but it’s not good basketball. UConn started the season ranked 18th in the Polls, and then they went on to lose to Wagner & Northeastern to begin the season, nearly lost to Loyola Marymount, and then lost two more games to Oklahoma State and Oregon. They did just get a win over Syracuse which is solid, but UConn is awful right now.
Rhode Island - I had a lot of high hopes for Rhode Island entering the season, and I must not have been the only one considering they started the season in the Top 25. They haven’t been awful, but they haven’t looked great either. They competed with Duke, but never really looked like they were in position to win that game. They followed that up with losses to Valparaiso and Providence. Hopefully the Rhodys can get it pointed in the right direction when A10 play gets started.
Ohio State - Okay, I didn’t think the Buckeyes were suddenly going to be advancing to the Elite Eight and contending for a Final Four, but I did think they’d be in the Tournament this year and contend with leading teams in the Big Ten. They contended with Virginia before losing by two, but they haven’t looked very convincing in their other wins. They won by single digits against North Carolina Central, Providence, Fairleigh Dickinson AND they lost at home to Florida Atlantic as 22 point favorites.
San Diego State - The Aztecs we’ve come to know and love of late are… the be kind… gone. They fooled around and nearly lost to San Diego to begin the season, they they were blown out and didn’t even look competitive against Gonzaga. Then after three straight wins, they’ve lost two straight to Loyola Chicago and Grand Canyon. LOYOLA CHICAGO AND GRAND CANYON!!!
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