Alright I got finals happening right now so these rankings are gonna be kind of quick. So much happened since last Wednesday that it kind of wreaked havoc on my national championship picture. In a tweet last Friday, I declared my five national champion contenders to be Arizona, Duke, Michigan State, Villanova and Xavier, and in classic fashion, 4 of those teams lost. So yeah this week has kind of made me look like an idiot, but it's okay because it isn't March yet. Here are the rankings:
1. West Virginia
The Mountaineers have a menacing defense, and now that their offense is coming around in the forms of players like Jevon Carter and Teddy Allen, they really don't have any holes. The problem with West Virginia has been finding the right type of offense to complement Press Virginia, and they might have it this year.
2. Virginia
Speaking of great defense, Virginia is right up there as well. I've already talked about the swagger this year's team has compared to previous years, so I won't sing the same song twice. The point is that Tony Bennett is finally letting his team off the leash a little bit and the results have been remarkable.
3. Villanova
The only reason Villanova isn't #1 is because their defense hasn't been strong in Big East play. The Wildcats just allowed 90 points to Marquette. Marquette is a fantastic offensive team, but 90 points is unacceptable for Villanova. Villanova is currently outscoring teams to win games, and they cannot rely on that consistently if they want to be successful later in the year.
4. Purdue
I watched Purdue yesterday, and I was extremely impressed. They currently look like the most solid team in the Big Ten, which isn't necessarily saying much this year, but still impressive nonetheless. Purdue is almost like a less talented version of the 2015 Kentucky team. They just hit you constantly with different players that you might have never heard of. But I think you're doing yourself a disservice if you aren't familiar with the Boilermakers this year.
5. Michigan State
Michigan State got whipped by Ohio State on Saturday, thus the drop to 5 in the rankings. I'm willing to throw this game out considering every team is losing a ton already, but the loss doesn't concern me as much as the way they lost does. They only shot 39% in the game, but they kinda gave up defensively. They need to bounce back against Rutgers tonight.
6. Wichita State
The Shockers are starting to pick up speed in the American, boasting a 3-0 record. Markis McDuffie is back and fully healthy and that has alleviated some of Wichita State's offensive struggles. They're giving up 60.7 ppg in conference play so the defense is coming along as well. I think the Shockers are back to being at least a viable team among the nation's elite again.
7. Oklahoma
They lost to West Virginia on Saturday, and Trae Young looked shook despite having 29 points. They followed up, though, with an impressive win over Texas Tech, a team good enough to be in the top 10 in the country. We all know Oklahoma rises and falls with Young, but that has most definitely proven viable to this point.
8. Duke
Duke played another game consisting of terrible defense, and they suffered the consequences in their North Carolina State loss. Players like Braxton Beverly and TORIN DORN torched them, and that should never happen to a team as talented as Duke. I still think Duke will be fine, but they have to improve defensively before the postseason or this team is finished.
9. Xavier
Xavier has survived by winning close games against teams that they should beat by 40. The habit ultimately caught up with them when they lost at Providence on Friday. Luckily, Trevon Bluiett and co. has opportunity to right the ship tonight against Villanova.
10. Texas Tech
I was sold for Texas Tech being a 1-seed in bracketology this week, but then they lost to Oklahoma. I think we all overreacted to the Kansas win. We thought Kansas was really good like other years, but it just isn't the case this year. So that means the Red Raiders' win isn't as impressive as it would've been last year. Despite their blunder in Norman, Tech is still a tough-minded group led by Keenan Evans and head coach Chris Beard. They'll stick around.
No comments:
Post a Comment