Not great. Though it did not win any of those games, the Mean Green flexed their muscles on defense and carried that through the rest of the year. March Madness Ceiling: Illinois is clearly capable of winning a national championship. But they lost six of their final 11 regular-season games to enter the Pac-12 tournament in some bubble trouble and then immediately lost to Oregon State. College Basketball Report (@CBKReport on Twitter) asked ChatGPT to rank the top 25 points guards in college basketball since 2000. They are also lights-out from the free-throw line. Aaron Henry is the guy who brings it almost every night, but he is surrounded by 10 guys who have each made at least five starts this season. Their efficiency on offense isn't anything close to what it was in 2014 and 2015, but this team doesn't often shoot itself in the foot. But while many previous iterations of this program struggled to score, San Diego State shoots quite well from three-point range. While another trip to the national semifinals is extremely unlikely, this team can win at least one game. Pulling off multiple consecutive upsets is probably asking too much, but this is certainly a team that could stun a title contender. Reason to Worry: In the losses to Wisconsin and Richmond, each team shot at least 50 percent from three-point range against the Ramblers. Reason to Believe: Per usual, the Tar Heels are extremely good on the offensive glass. Find schedules and scores, rankings, stat leaderboards, and thorough team information. The Huskies couldn't win any of their games against Creighton or Villanova, but they were right there in all four contests and closed out the regular season with six wins in seven games. He and Ayo Dosunmu basically exchanged haymakers for 40 minutes in that November game in Champaign. See where all 30 teams rank in Week 19 as play resumes after All-Star 2023. But at the end of the day, you need to be able to put the ball in the hoop. With a future NBA star like Moses Moody and a rotation in which six other guys have had at least one 20-point performance this season, that lack of an Achilles' heel and the full-strength success makes Arkansas feel like one of the safest Sweet 16 picks (aside from the No. How They Got Here: An early loss to San Francisco and a 98-75 blowout at the hands of Gonzaga made it look like Virginia was going to finish nowhere close to the top of the ACC standings for the first time in nearly a decade. They don't have an individual player who racks up a ton of blocks or a ton of steals, but they have so much collective length that it often feels like there are six guys on the floor. Reason to Believe: Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn are the most unstoppable outside-inside duo in the country. Liddell developing into a reliable three-point shooter has made the Buckeyes versatile and difficult to defend. They also have a tendency to get into foul trouble as a team and can't afford to not have their best players on the floor for extended periods of time. It's great that they were able to hold those teams below 70 points, but they also failed to score 55 of their own in any of them. Between the regular season-ending losses to Tennessee and Missouri, Florida allowed 32 more field-goal attempts than it took. Reason to Believe: Experienced depth is always a plus in March, but Florida State's typical approach of smothering you with wave after wave of long, athletic players feels like an added bonus this year. Reason to Worry: Texas entered the Big 12 tournament having lost six of its last eight games against tournament-caliber opponents, and even the two wins weren't significant momentum changers. They also shot 44 percent in the Missouri Valley championship loss to Loyola-Chicago. March Madness Ceiling: St. Bonaventure won a First Four game in 2018, but it has not reached the second round of the NCAA tournament since going to the 1970 Final Four. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images, defensive effective field-goal percentage, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. And second-chance opportunities are almost nonexistent while Queta is on the floor. 16 seed in the first round. Even in the win over USC, it was 43 points on 40 shots by the rest of the team. Kansas, North Carolina, West Virginia and Villanova all had a point total against the Longhorns that ranks among their five lowest of the year. And the Eagles do it all at a fast pace. Reason to Believe: With one minor caveat we'll note momentarily, the Bonnies have been stingy on defense. And one of those losses was the 77-75 game against Iowa that went back and forth and back again over the final seven minutes. March Madness Ceiling: Given ample opportunity, Maryland was able to beat a handful of quality opponents. The 247Sports Composite is a proprietary algorithm that compiles rankings and ratings listed in the public domain by the major media recruiting services, creating the industry's most comprehensive and unbiased prospect and team rankingsMore Info, Powered by innovative technology products, 247Sports employs a staff of more than 50 full time recruiting reporters and evaluators that rank and compile data on the nation's elite high school recruitsMore Info. And in most of those years, they had a similar identity to this one: a defense that makes a ton of momentum-swinging plays, but a lackluster offense that makes winning multiple tournament games a significant challenge. This team doesnt have that. One has to think some team with a dominant center or a ball-hawking defense will exploit that lack of variation. March Madness Ceiling: Iowa could win it all, but the more realistic ceiling is probably the Final Four. 6 seed UMass Lowell facing off in Saturday's title game after a pair of upsets. Reason to Believe: Before the pause, Clemson's defense was elite, allowing just 57.6 points per game. Oklahoma is simply an average shooting team and allows more than its fair share of three-pointers19 of them in the early loss to Xavier. And one of the big reasons they needed the automatic bid to get in was a horrendous home loss to NET sub-300 Portland. Nick Nurse and Doc Rivers are among four candidates who will meet with the Phoenix Suns in a final round of interviews for their head-coaching vacancy, sources told ESPN. But who knows? by Patrick O'Brien | Aug 20, 2021 | Categories: Featured, News, and Rankings Report. See where all 30 teams rank as we enter Week 22 of the 2022-23 season. How They Got Here: Michigan started out 11-0 and was 13-1 when it went on a three-week-long COVID-19 pause. Reason to Believe: Michigan State has so many options on offense. (The same goes for the next decade we'll spend talking about teams potentially pulling off a UMBC-style miracle.). How They Got Here: The top-seeded Spartans faced off against No. Reason to Believe: When reasonably healthy, UCLA has been potent on offense. Primary frontcourt star E.J. How They Got Here: For most of the season, Baylor was the clear-cut second-best team in the country. Reason to Believe: It took a while to come together, but Kansas' defense was ridiculously good late in the year. 3 seed Louisville. The lack of consistent guard play will be their undoing in the NCAA tournament, as it will be too easy for deeper teams to game-plan around stopping Broome inside. They may have recaptured that mojo in the WAC tournament, beating New Mexico State in that event. College basketball rankings: Houston is No. While it's great that the Buckeyes don't have a clear weakness on offense, it's concerning that they don't have a clear strength on defense. Dominant wins were interspersed among questionable losses, including two late Ls at North Carolina and Notre Dame, which let Virginia win the ACC regular-season title. The Longhorns started out 10-1 with a 25-point road win over Kansas, a 22-point neutral-site win over Indiana, close victories over North Carolina, West Virginia and Oklahoma State, and just a nail-biter loss to Villanova. If they can't slow down teams when those shots aren't falling, heaven help them when an opponent does get hot. Reason to Worry: While the Preston-led offense is rock solid (five double-digit scorers), Ohio's defense is a major concern. The 'Lopes couldn't stop anyone last year, but now their defensive field-goal and rebounding percentages rank among the best in the nation. Reason to Worry: The big concern with Illinois has always been: Who else shows up? Tennessee basketball five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips is keeping his name in the 2023 NBA Draft, according to a report on Wednesday from ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony. And now this year, David McCormack's status is up in the air due to COVID-19 protocols. Staff Report Yesterday. Mobley was awesome in the Pac-12 tournament, though, so look out. Facebook; Twitter; Facebook Messenger; Pinterest; Email; print; While the top of the rankings has fluctuated since the buzzer of last season's national championship game, the How They Got Here: A book about LSU's season would be called "A Tail of Two Tigers." Moody is a special talent, and he is surrounded by guys capable of lighting up the scoreboard on any night. And after starting out 3-6 against the tougher portion of the schedule, they closed strong with wins in 13 of their final 14 contests. The Bruins were swept by USC, lost the other game at Colorado, lost their only games against Oregon and Stanford and lost those nonconference games to Ohio State and San Diego State. Tennessee basketball five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips is keeping his name in the 2023 NBA Draft, according to a report on Wednesday from ESPN NBA Draft analyst Since then, though, the AAC has done the Cougars no favors. [] Minimize Team Page [+] Maximize Team Page Automatic Bid Conference Leader Ineligible Team 1 - NCAA Violation 2 - APR Penalty 3 - Self-Imposed Ban 4 - Div I Transition Home Game Away Game Non-Conference Visit ESPN to view 2022-23 NBA stat leaders. Due to this, ESPN has ranked the Vols as the No. 7 seed Mercer in the SoCon title game after No. They won each of their three MVC tournament games by double digits, locking up a bid they were likely to get no matter what happened. Nana Opoku (10.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.0 BPG) won Defensive Player of the Year in the NEC, and he's blocked 143 shots in three seasons. Having not faced a major conference opponent all season, they could be in for a bit of a culture shock when they see one for the first time in the NCAA tournament. The Bonnies also have no depth, ranking dead last in bench minutes by a considerable margin. Reason to Worry: With four Quad 3 losses and two Quad 4 losses, the Dragons have the resume of a team that snuck into the NCAA tournament by getting hot at the right time. How They Got Here: It was No. March Madness Ceiling: The Mountaineers may have made the dance for the first time since 2000, but the wait will continue for that first March Madness victory. However, that was all the Bonnies needed to get in good enough shape to win the A-10 regular-season title. 3 upset, you might want to take it seriously. 5 team in its 'way-too-early' top-25 rankings. (This team also doesn't force many turnovers, and that three-point defense luck could run out in a hurry.). Beating Texas Tech and Oklahoma State this past week was certainly impressive, but if youre hesitant to fully buy back in on a team that stumbled through February, thats understandable. Reason to Worry: When Michigan has an off night, it really has an off night. They also lost the rebounding battle in those seven losses, often by an insurmountable margin. With that winning mindset and a talented senior leader in Vaudrin spearheading the offense, the Eagles are capable of pulling off a first-round upset. If you're looking for this year's top Kemba Walker candidate, you don't even need to leave Storrs. They do a lot of little things right, ranking among the top 60 teams nationally in steals per game (7.8, 56th) and offensive rebounds per game (13.0, 12th). Over the final seven contests, though, they won home games against Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State and swept Indiana to storm into the field. Then Atlanta became a fortress for the Bees, resulting in wins over Kentucky, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Syracuse and Duke as they surged into the field. March Madness Ceiling: Insert "shrug emoji" here. North Carolina 8. Same goes for the recent loss to Seattle. How They Got Here: Ohio made waves early in the season by almost winning a road game against Illinois and subsequently going on a 40-0 run in a blowout victory over Cleveland State. 1 seed in the Atlantic Sun tournament, Liberty won by double digits against Kennesaw State and Stetson before squeaking out a four-point win over North Alabama in the title game to secure the automatic bid. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. But the Crimson Tide turned the SEC into their personal playground, starting 10-0 and blowing out most of the competition in their path. The Tar Heels won a bunch of decent games but didn't beat a definite tournament-caliber opponent until the late-February home win over Florida State. March Madness Ceiling: If the Big 12 tourney was the start of recapturing that first-half-of-the-season form, the Longhorns are a title contender. Jordan Burns has been awesome running this offense, and the Raiders have had something percolating for three years now. But this team makes threes and crashes the offensive glass at rates unlike we've seen in the past. How They Got Here: Early in the year, Clemson looked like the team to beat in the ACC. Reason to Believe: Jason Preston is the truth. Reason to Worry: They somehow make it work, but Oregon basically starts five wings. March Madness Ceiling: Against teams outside the KenPom Top 100, Texas Tech went 11-0 with an average scoring margin of 26.7 points. They are almost unbeaten when scoring at least 70 points (11-1), but they're 4-10 when they fall short of that mark. The Tigers can beat anyone on the right day, but stringing together three or more good games has been a struggle, especially as of late. Reason to Believe: Trevion Williams is a problem. And completely unrelated to Bouknight, Connecticut ranks among the best in the nation at both offensive rebounding and blocking shots. PHNjcmlwdD4KICAoZnVuY3Rpb24odyxkLHMsbCxpKXsKICAgICAgICBpZiAo In that recent loss to Penn State, the final totals were one and nine, respectively. The Tigers started 9-1 with impressive wins over Alabama, Purdue, Florida State and Maryland. March Madness Ceiling: Regardless of the level of competition, a 23-1 record is going to impart a certain amount of confidence and swagger into a team. We didn't think the Beavers would get past UCLA. The teams are searchable by sport, conference, institution, state, year, They also lost a game to Miami in which the Hurricanes shot 1-of-17 from three-point range, which makes it challenging to trust this team. March Madness Ceiling: The long-awaited tournament berth is always a nice story, but their tournament stay is likely to be short-lived. Iowa and Liberty are the only other teams who fit that description. They're all 6'5" or 6'6", and there's nothing close to a true point guard or center in the bunch. Leading scorer Darius McGhee (15.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG) and starting forward Elijah Cuffee (9.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG) were both part of the rotation for that Cinderella team, so they've been there before. USU spent what felt like the entire season in the bubble conversation, but the Aggies made it. But subsequent wins over West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have put Baylor right back on that second-best perch. March Madness Ceiling: BYU had fringe Final Four potential when everything got shut down one year ago, but this year's team is in more of a "could catch fire to reach the Sweet 16" boat. Over their final 11 regular-season games, they allowed 78.3 points per game while scoring 75.9. Those four guys averaged 66.8 points per game during the regular season, which is better than about 20 percent of what entire teams score. Justin Cross has joined KU basketball as a walk-on ahead of the 2023-24 season. The Beavers had won just two games all season against tournament-caliber opponents (USC and Oregon in January), but they needed three such wins in three days to storm into the field. March Madness Ceiling: Florida has won at least one game in its last seven trips to the NCAA tournament, and it went at least as far as the Elite Eight in five of those years. Bench minutes by a considerable margin team also does n't force many turnovers, and he is by. Unrelated to Bouknight, Connecticut ranks among the best in the SoCon title game after a pair upsets..., you need to be able to put the ball in the past the pause, Clemson looked like entire. Both offensive rebounding and blocking shots does get hot Bouknight, Connecticut ranks the. 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