With Choice Sunday set March 16, Insanity looms. Glorious males’s groups abound, however which of them will make a run to the Remaining 4 and win a nationwide title?
Let’s make the case for groups which have the most effective shot at chopping down the nets on the Alamodome in San Antonio. Plus, we make a case for a darkish horse.
(All odds by way of DraftKings. Information are by Monday’s play.)
Auburn Tigers (27-2) | +340 to win, -145 to succeed in Remaining 4
On paper, Auburn’s greatest energy is its offense, ranked first in adjusted effectivity, per KenPom. Nonetheless, if the Tigers win the nationwide championship, it will likely be due to their veteran management. Older, extra skilled groups have demonstrated larger success in March due to their means to know the stress that comes with event video games.
The Tigers suffered an upset to Yale within the first spherical of final season’s event, however Coach of the Yr contender Bruce Pearl has his workforce, led by seniors Johni Broome (workforce’s main scorer at 18.4 PPG), Miles Kelly and Chad Baker-Mazara, taking part in at an elite degree towards the toughest schedule within the nation.
Duke Blue Devils (27-3) | +350 to win, -150 to succeed in Remaining 4
Duke is the one workforce ranked in KenPom’s prime 5 in offensive- and defensive-adjusted effectivity. Wood Award candidate Cooper Flagg, a freshman standout averaging 19.6 factors, has led the Blue Devils along with his outstanding playmaking skills. Hold an eye fixed additionally on freshman sharpshooter Kon Knueppel (13.6 PPG) and freshman rim protector Khaman Maluach (6.5 RPG).
Junior guard Tyrese Proctor and graduate switch Sion James within the backcourt lend stability and ball safety. Nonetheless, Duke has not performed the hardest of schedules in a down yr for the ACC, so how will it fare towards extra examined groups?
Florida Gators (25-4) | +950 to win, +165 to succeed in Remaining 4
If veteran backcourts translate to success in March, head coach Todd Golden ought to be ok with his workforce’s prospects. The three-headed monster of Walter Clayton Jr. (16.9 PPG), Will Richard (13.6 PPG) and Alijah Martin (14.7 PPG) has propelled the Gators to this system’s finest season since they had been No. 1 total seed within the 2014 NCAA Match and misplaced within the Remaining 4 to eventual champion UConn.
Florida boasts the fifth-best scoring average (83.8) and second-best scoring defense (67.2) within the traditionally sturdy SEC, and has battled by harm whereas Martin and ahead Alex Condon missed a number of video games. With the emergence of sophomore Tommy Haugh (9.1 PPG) and return of middle Micah Handlogten (6.2 RPG), the Gators will enter the event as a top-two seed with main depth and an offensive assault that may rival that of any workforce.
Houston Cougars (26-4) | +750 to win, +150 to succeed in Remaining 4
As ordinary, head coach Kelvin Sampson has a workforce that prioritizes protection. Houston has the third-best defensive effectivity score within the nation and eighth-best offensive score, per KenPom. Plus, the Cougars are the second-best workforce within the nation, per Haslametrics.
Nonetheless, the important thing to Houston’s success is its deliberate tempo (fourth slowest within the nation in KenPom’s adjusted tempo score). When the video games get tight within the late rounds, the Cougars are constructed to grind it out.
Alabama Crimson Tide (23-6) | +1200 to win, +225 to succeed in Remaining 4
Per KenPom, Alabama is ranked first in adjusted tempo, which has contributed to its top-five offensive assault. After a Remaining 4 run final season, Mark Sears (19.1 PPG) and Grant Nelson (11.8 PPG) are once more main a robust, veteran workforce. Can the Tide dangle with the elite groups even when the pictures usually are not falling?
Tennessee Volunteers (24-5) | +1200 to win , +225 to succeed in Remaining 4
A veteran and dynamic Tennessee squad, led by Zakai Zeigler (13.7 PPG) and switch Chaz Lanier (17.8 PPG), appears to assist coach Rick Barnes attain his first Remaining 4 since he led Texas to the ultimate weekend in 2003. The Volunteers are using excessive after a buzzer-beater win towards Alabama in Knoxville on Saturday. They goal to hold that momentum, and the highest defensive effectivity score within the nation (per KenPom), into the SEC event in Nashville subsequent week and all through March.
DARK HORSE: St. John’s Pink Storm (26-4) | +2500 to win, +450 to succeed in Remaining 4
With a win towards Seton Corridor, the Johnnies clinched their first outright Huge East regular-season title since 1985. For the Pink Storm, it begins and ends on protection, as they’ve the nation’s second-best adjusted defensive effectivity score (per KenPom).
St. John’s offense will not be fairly as much as par, rating simply 71st, however high-impact switch Kadary Richmond (12.8 PPG) and All-American candidate RJ Luis Jr. (17.8 PPG) lead a nasty and difficult workforce that may hold it shut with anyone.
In March, you need folks in your workforce who’ve been there earlier than. Coach Rick Pitino is the one coach within the historical past of school basketball to guide three faculties to the Remaining 4, and the one coach to win a championship at two completely different universities (Kentucky in 1996 and Louisville in 2013.)
