Let me make this clear from the beginning: This is not a power ranking. This is not a list of the 8 finest groups in college basketball as I see it, nor is it essential of a list of the groups that I anticipate to be the 8 finest a month from now.
This is a list of the 8 groups that are most efficient in winning the championship game in 7 weeks. It’s a pledge that the group that end up lowering the internet inside State Farm Stadium is a group that is someplace on this list.
Let’s get to it.
1. Connecticut Huskies (24-3, 14-2)
Do not let Tuesday night’s upset loss at Creighton sway you here: UConn has actually still been the very best group in college basketball this season and they’re the group probably to reduce the webs in Phoenix.
If it occurs, the Huskies will end up being the sport’s very first repeat nationwide champ given that Billy Donovan and Florida did the deed in 2006 and 2007.
There’s a simple case to be made that this year’s UConn team is in fact more powerful (and by a good margin) than the one which had a traditionally dominant go to the NCAA competition title in 2023.
Danny Hurley’s group definitely seems much better on offense. Tristen Newton, who was the group’s most significant enigma this time a year back, has actually become a do-it-all First Team All-American prospect. Freshman Stephon Castle has actually made a full-fledged star turn and is developing himself as a most likely leading 10 choice in the upcoming NBA Draft. Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer is the master of the dagger 3 and the guy opposing fan bases like to dislike. Alex Karaban is the glue guy who can play like a star on any offered night. And Donovan Clingan (when he’s been healthy) is the efficient force in the middle.
There are a number of locations where this group might improve defensively in between now and the last weeks of the competition, however in general, there’s simply not a load to quibble here.
Image by Michael Hickey/Getty Images 2. Purdue Boilermakers (23-3, 12-3)
If you took Purdue’s precise profile and connected it to the name “Duke Blue Devils” or perhaps “Michigan State Spartans,” there would be nobody questioning their status as the No. 1 or No. 2 existing competitor to win the entire thing in early April.
Purdue’s credibility constantly precedes itself.
Matt Painter and the Boilermakers have actually been a single-digit seed in each of the last 8 NCAA competitions and a leading 4-seed in each of the last 6. They’ve advanced past the Sweet 16 simply twice that period, been gotten rid of by a worse-seeded group 6 times, and in the last 3 years have actually seen their seasons end by the hand of a 13-seed, a 15-seed and, many notoriously, a 16-seed.
Still,
