Welcome to Convention Championship Week, the place champions might be topped, and NCAA Match bids might be stolen.
Thirty-one conferences will decide a champion, however what tournaments should not you miss? Let’s have a look.
5. ACC
Often a robust basketball convention, the ACC has had a down 12 months with simply three groups (Duke, Clemson and Louisville) slated to make the NCAA Match. This version of the ACC Match in Charlotte shouldn’t have many sudden outcomes, with Duke probably dealing with both Clemson or Louisville within the last.
Duke has blown by the remainder of the convention, besides for his or her loss at Clemson on Feb. 8. The Blue Devils gained 10 ACC video games by 25+ factors this season and have gained every of their final 4 video games by 30+ factors. Cooper Flagg and Co. present no indicators of slowing down anytime quickly. The Duke trustworthy will undoubtedly present up in Queen Metropolis to ship their Blue Devils to the dance as doubtlessly the No. 1 general seed.
Choose: Duke
4. Massive 12
Houston has been the usual within the Massive 12 for fairly a while now, and that may proceed to be evident subsequent week in Kansas Metropolis. Kelvin Sampson, ranked third in KenPom with a top-ten offensive ranking and an elite protection, is seeking to lead the Cougars to their first Massive 12 match title.
Projected NCAA Match No. 2 seed Texas Tech and No. 3 seed Iowa State can maybe give Houston some bother, however Houston beat each groups in back-to-back video games over the last week of February.
Houston’s balanced assault, coupled with their jarringly sluggish tempo of play, makes them a tricky out in any match they play in.
Choose: Houston
3. Massive East
Rick Pitino has electrified St. John’s and New York Metropolis along with his fiery model of teaching and a tough-minded roster. Madison Sq. Backyard must be a spectacle subsequent week because the Pink Storm look to win the Massive East match for the primary time in 2000.
St. John’s can have the benefit of enjoying on their residence flooring, however don’t count on it to be a cakewalk. The Massive East has loads of high quality groups who can win this match. Dan Hurley can have his Huskies able to repeat as match champions and steal an computerized qualifying spot. Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner is a mismatch towards any opponent due to his measurement, and Marquette wouldn’t be a shock both.
In the end, one other Massive East workforce has but to match St. John’s toughness. The Johnnies’ defensive model of play will carry them to a Massive East match title.
Choose: St. John’s
2. Massive Ten
The Massive Ten will seemingly have double-digit illustration on this 12 months’s NCAA Match, so profitable the convention title in Indianapolis might be a tall job for any workforce.
Purdue might be a tricky out led by Massive Ten Participant of the Yr candidate Braden Smith. The 2-headed monster of Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin have returned Michigan to the convention’s higher echelon and appear poised for a deep run in March. John Tonje and John Blackwell are main Wisconsin to a formidable season. And don’t overlook about Kevin Willard’s Maryland Terrapins, who’re well-coached and rank within the high ten of KenPom’s adjusted defensive effectivity ranking.
However there’s one workforce peaking on the proper time: Michigan State. Tom Izzo all the time finds a method to put together his groups for March, and this 12 months is not any totally different. The Spartans had been dealt a gauntlet of a late-season schedule. Nevertheless, they picked up assertion victories towards Purdue and Wisconsin at residence and Illinois, Michigan, Maryland and Iowa on the highway. Regardless of missing in taking pictures, Michigan State’s protection ranks greatest within the Massive Ten, permitting them to hold round till the photographs begin falling.
Izzo can have his males able to go, and the Spartans’ balanced assault ought to assist them add a seventh Massive Ten match title to the trophy case in East Lansing.
Choose: Michigan State
1. SEC
This season, the Southeastern Convention was one of many hardest conferences in school basketball historical past, and subsequent week’s match in Nashville might be no totally different. The convention boasts seven groups in KenPom’s high 20 and can seemingly have 4 of the NCAA Match’s high eight general seeds.
Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama are all bonafide national championship contenders, however they’ll nonetheless be challenged by stable groups like Texas A&M, Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss within the battle for the SEC match crown.
Final week, Auburn fell to the Aggies in Faculty Station, and Tennessee misplaced to Ole Miss in Oxford. Florida and Alabama duked it out in Tuscaloosa, with the Gators rising victorious 99-94.
Seven groups may win this match, however Florida’s mixture of deadly scoring, measurement down low, general toughness and clear execution permits them to match up towards any workforce on this convention and the nation. The Gators have a number of the greatest wins in school basketball this season, with highway wins at No. 1 Auburn at No. 7 Alabama and a 30-point blowout victory towards Tennessee once they had been ranked first within the nation.
Search for the Gators to be on the stage in Nashville for the primary time since 2014.
Choose: Florida
