Ranking the Field

I don’t know about everyone else, but my body is shot after sitting on my couch for 4 days straight watching college basketball. I’m still hungover from St. Patty’s day, my eyes hurt, my voice is hoarse and I’m fairly certain I have hemorrhoids from making live bets on the crapper–worth it.

There were some great games, there were some shit games, but I hope we all cherished every one for what it’s worth rather than judging them (no matter how ugly Arkansas/New Mexico State was). Instead of recapping every single game, let’s take a look at the 16 teams remaining and judge them like we’ve done the officiating all weekend long. Let’s make this shorter than the ridiculous reviews we were forced to sit through for 4 days straight.

1. Kansas

Many people will try to convince us this should be Gonzaga, I’m not buying it. Gonzaga is winning games in spite of shooting 54% from the free throw line while Kansas shot 95% to put Creighton away. They get it done on both ends of the floor and have held their opponents to single digit offensive rebounds in the first two rounds of the tournament.

2. Gonzaga

Most peoples’ number one overall seed struggled with Georgia State for 35 minutes before pulling away and played the game of the tournament so far against a frisky Memphis team. Even with Chet Holmgren struggling Saturday night, the depth and tenacity of the bulldogs pushed the pace against an overmatched Tiger team. Say what you want about Drew Timme, but on a team with a potential lottery pick in Chet Holmgren, he’s been the best player in the tournament with 32 points in the first round and 25 Saturday. We’re starting to see some benefits with the extra Covid year, NIL and the transfer portal with guys playing through their senior year, and Timme’s story is no different. You may not like him, he might not be a flashy NBA prospect, but he’s the best player in the tournament and has another year of eligibility.

3. Arizona

They might’ve been higher in these rankings if they could’ve put TCU away, but instead they blew a 9 point lead late and needed a clutch 3 from Bennedict Mathurin, an equalizing dunk and overtime to put away the Horned Frogs (kids, just go for the layup instead of trying to dunk a buzzer beater). I won’t knock them for going through some adversity, but you definitely can’t justify ranking them higher than the other two teams on this list.

4. Villanova

I really debated putting them higher on this list, but gave the nod to Arizona based off the talent on each teams roster. I put a future on them simply because of their free throw percentage, and am doubling down on it after watching them hit clutch free throw after clutch free throw to put away Ohio State.

5. Texas Tech

The Tech/Notre Dame under might’ve been the lock of the century. I was shocked to see their score in the first round against a frisky Montana State team (97-62), but it showed they can play at any pace you want to play at, and they’ll still lock you down on defense. I like them in an upset to spoil coach K’s retirement tour.

6. Houston

I’ve been saying Houston has the potential to be a top-10 team all year long, and they’ve shown it in the first two rounds, outscoring the talented UAB offense and beating Illinois with their defense. They’ve got an experienced backcourt with Marcus Sasser ad Kyler Edwards, a rim protector/boardman in Josh Carlton and Jamal Shead has shown court range this tournament. Hopefully Kelvin Sampson doesn’t go past the shirtless celebration if they upset Arizona.

7. Arkansas

Stop hating on a team that snuck past a really good Vermont team and played in the ugliest game so far in the tournament against New Mexico State. Similar to Texas Tech, they’ve shown they can beat you at any pace you want to play at, even if that pace is completely out of control and nobody can make a damn shot. They’ll have a tough time matching up against the Zags. I assume Jaylin Williams will guard Drew Timme, but Chet Holmgren will cause problems for the Hogs…To hell with that, double down on the Arkansas Final Four bet. If Gonzaga wants to shoot 54% from the line, they’re going to struggle against aggressive defenses such as Arkansas. They’ve got to muddy that game up, but I like their chances.

8. Purdue

I was so disgusted with the officiating in the Texas/Purdue game I had to turn it off with 7 minutes left. Purdue was in the bonus 8 MINUTES INTO THE SECOND HALF. The Boilermakers shot FORTY-SIX FREE THROWS…ridiculous. Jaden Ivey is incredible and will, without a doubt, be a NBA lottery pick. Zach Edey will be a matchup nightmare for anyone, and if he’s cold a previous All-American stud, Trevion Williams, will take his place. They have an incredible draw to get to the Final Four and the talent to win it all.

9. Providence

This is more of a tip of the cap to the teams left rather than a shot at the Friars. Every media outlet in the country has been calling Providence frauds, how they’re the luckiest team in the country and will be exploited in the tournament…except your favorite blog. We’ve stood up for Providence at every turn (except when we took them to get bounced by South Dakota State in the first round in our bracket) and now they’re in the sweet 16. They’ll probably get ousted by Kansas though.

10. Michigan

God bless Juwan Howard, and God bless the Michigan Wolverines. Everyone was quick to point the finger after he defended himself after he was ASSAULTED by Greg Gard, but nobody is giving him a kudos for consoling a Tennessee player after a heartbreaking loss. They’ve got a tough test ahead in Villanova, but if Hunter Dickenson can continue to play at this level and cut down on the doy-doy plays, this team is dangerous. Go Blue.

11. Miami

They had a couple home slip-ups to Virginia and Va. Tech late in the season, but the Hurricanes won 4 road games to get into the tournament and have, arguably, the two best wins in the tournament over USC and a dominating performance against Auburn. Granted, the Tigers were atrocious and shot themselves in the foot with a ton of missed layups and turnovers, but Miami capitalized on every opportunity and hit free throws to put the game away as their fans mockingly chanted “ACC”. Although I bet on Auburn, I can appreciate a good SEC slap in the face. It JuSt MeAnS mOrE…yeah…you’re lone surviving team is Arkansas.

12. North Carolina

I know they’re technically not, but North Carolina feels like the hottest team in the country. All they did at the end of the regular season was rattle off 6 wins in a row, including a road win to spoil Coach K’s retirement tour in Cameron Indoor. They survived a late push by Baylor to get a favorable matchup against UCLA.

13. UCLA

I feel like we’re all hating on UCLA for a loss they had 2 months ago against ASU, losing to UofA in the Pac-12 final and squeaking by a frisky Akron team. They beat the brakes off a good Saint Mary’s team and have a decent draw to a final four with Baylor and Kentucky out of their way, I still like UNC to pull a win out of the fire.

14. Saint Peter’s

Hand up, I had Kentucky winning it all in our bracket blog and called the Peacocks the 4th best team in the MAAC. I was wrong. They hung around long enough against Kentucky to pull off the upset, and looked like the better team the entire game against Murray State, carried by their defense.

15. Iowa State

I love the Cyclones, I promise. I have family ties to Ames and am ecstatic they went from their worst season in program history to the sweet 16, but I’m not sure how feasible this “win ugly” approach is in the long run. I’ll enjoy this run as long as it lasts, but ISU was fortunate to play a team who just fired their coach in LSU and a Wisconsin team who lost their three point specialist and Freshman sensation Chucky Hepburn.

16. Duke

Okay settle down, it’s just a joke. The Blue Devils didn’t cover against Cal State Fullerton because of a meaningless last second layup, and I will hold that against them. They also looked vulnerable at the end of the season against a UNC team (who I guess is good?!) and a hot Va. Tech team. Michigan State has been inconsistent all year long, so I’m not overly impressed by that win either. I am impressed with the maturity of Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr. to be the calming presence in a win or go home game played at a frenetic pace. Their biggest test of the season will be Thursday against Texas Tech.

I hope everyone enjoyed the first weekend as much as I did, with the season winding down we’ll have to shift our attention to the NFL draft! Some of these trades and signings remind us football is king. Love you, bye.