Sức mạnh bóng rổ NCAA lịch thi đấu 2023
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Selection Sunday has finally arrived, and with it the 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament field has been set Show
After months of arguing about NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, KenPom. com ratings, quadrant-based records, strengths of schedule and the like, none of that junk matters anymore There will, of course, be a few more hours or days of complaining about who got left out or unfairly seeded, but too bad, so sad. We've got our field, and it's time to move on to the real fun. picking the brackets Based on a combination of player talent, current roster health, marquee wins, biggest weaknesses and a healthy dose of gut feeling/eye test, we have ranked all 68 NCAA tournament teams Generally speaking, if you're trying to decide which team to choose in a matchup, the higher-ranked team would be our suggestion. There are matchup-based exceptions to that rule of thumb, but the teams at the top of our list are the ones with the least troubling Achilles' heels. Thus, they are the ones most likely to reach the Final Four Before we dive in, a thank-you must be extended to Joel Reuter. B/R's MLB power rankings guru was a huge help and contributed to this piece amid spring training and World Baseball Classic chaos. He now knows more about the Cinderella candidates than 99 percent of the population. So if he tweets out a recommendation on a potential No. 15 over No. 2 upset, you might want to take it seriously Make your picks. Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run 68. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights1 of 68 Record. 19-15 (10-6 in NEC) Star Player. The undersized guard tandem of 5'8" Demetre Roberts (16. 7 PPG, 4. 3 APG) and 5'9" Grant Singleton (14. 3 PPG, 3. 3 APG) lead the Knights' offensive attack. They spent four years playing together at D-II Saint Thomas Aquinas under coach Tobin Anderson before following him to FDU after he took the job ahead of the 2022-23 season Biggest Wins. The Knights played just four games above the Quad 4 level all season, and their only victory was a 97-80 win over Saint Joseph's (NET. 200) in December. In fact, they didn't even win the NEC title game, losing by one point to a Merrimack squad that is ineligible for the NCAA tournament as it is still in the four-year transition period after moving up from the D-II level Reason to Worry. The total lack of exposure against quality teams is troubling, and the Knights were demolished by Pittsburgh (83-61) in their only game above the Quad 3 level. They also only have one player in the rotation who is taller than 6'7", so matching up against a team with any sort of size is going to be a major issue March Madness Ceiling. The Knights have never won an NCAA tournament game, and that trend will almost certainly continue Written by Joel Reuter 67. Texas Southern Tigers2 of 68 Record. 14-20 (7-11 in SWAC) Star Player. Four Tigers average at least 10 points per game, but the one who always averages nine rebounds is Joirdon Karl Nicholas. He had a double-double in upsetting SWAC No. 1 seed Alcorn State in the quarterfinals, and he'll need to be large and in charge in order for Texas Southern to have any hope of pulling off a first-round miracle Biggest Wins. All season long, we railed on Arizona State for losing to Texas Southern. But, hey look, it's merely a road loss to a tournament team. Aside from that, though, the Tigers did not beat a single KenPom top 225 opponent prior to upsetting Grambling State in the SWAC title game Reason to Worry. They suffered 20 losses. Need we say more? If so, the offense is just plain bad, both in terms of putting the ball through the hoop and avoiding giving the ball to the other teams. And in 10 previous trips to the dance, the Tigers have never made it to the round of 32 March Madness Ceiling. There have been some dangerous Texas Southern teams who went out and collected a dozen "buy game" checks during a loss-filled nonconference slate before running rampant through the SWAC season. But this is not one of those teams. The Tigers got hot when it mattered most, but this is barely a top 300 team on KenPom that should have no hope against a No. 1 seed 66. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks3 of 68 Record. 19-16 (10-8 in OVC) Star Player. Sophomore Phillip Russell earned first-team All-OVC honors by averaging 18. 2 points and 5. 0 assists. The 5'10" guard from St. Louis also led the team with 80 made threes at a solid 36. 2 percent clip, and he scored 30 points three different times. That said, it's senior guard Chris Harris who has been shouldering the scoring load lately, averaging 22. 4 points over his last seven games Biggest Wins. The Redhawks' only win over a NET Top 200 team came in their season opener back on Nov. 7 when they beat South Florida by three points on the road. They did play a good Missouri team tough in December, hanging around thanks to a 13-of-26 showing from beyond the arc before ultimately losing by seven points Reason to Worry. The Redhawks rank seventh in KenPom's adjusted tempo, and that fast-paced style helps them get up over 60 shots per game. The trouble is, they shoot just 43. 6 percent from the floor, one of the worst team shooting percentages in the country March Madness Ceiling. Southeast Missouri State has been to the NCAA tournament just once back in 2000, and the Redhawks have never won a tournament game. Expect that trend to continue Written by Joel Reuter 65. Howard Bison4 of 68 Record. 22-12 (11-3 in MEAC) Star Player. For a lot of teams, the choice here is a tough call. But not for Howard. It's the Elijah Hawkins show, as he leads the Bison in points, assists and steals, all by a wide margin. He was held to 10 points or fewer in each MEAC tournament game, though, so we'll see if he bounces back for the big tournament Biggest Wins. Howard had a three-game sweep of Norfolk State, including the MEAC title game. Obviously, the last win was the biggest one. The Bison also picked up a road win over Harvard. But against the KenPom top 150, they went 0-5, losing each of those games by double digits Reason to Worry. To put it lightly, it has been a tough decade for the MEAC. Since Norfolk State's historic win over Missouri in 2012, the league champion has been blown out six times in the first round and has lost three times in the First Four. And from a Howard-specific perspective, this is one of the most turnover-prone teams in the nation. It even posted a minus-10 turnover margin in the conference championship win over Norfolk State March Madness Ceiling. Even after winning 14 of its final 16 games, Howard is still ranked outside the top 200 on KenPom. Of course, UMBC was just barely in the top 200 when it pulled off the upset that will forever make us shrug and say "you never know. " But if Howard makes it to the round of 32, it would be a colossal surprise 64. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders5 of 68 Record. 23-10 (14-4 in Southland) Star Player. Despite standing at just 6'5", 208 pounds, Isaac Mushila came just a few rebounds short of averaging a double-double for the second year in a row. After posting 13. 2 points and 9. 4 rebounds per contest as a junior, he upped his production to 14. 4 points and 9. 7 rebounds this season to earn All-Southland honors. He had 12 double-doubles on the year Biggest Wins. The Islanders played some tough teams with road games against Arizona, Mississippi State and Oklahoma State, but they lost those three games by a combined 80 points and had just one win above the Quad 4 level all season. They did go 3-0 against Southland regular-season runner-up Northwestern State, including a 75-71 victory in the conference tournament title game to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament for a second straight season Reason to Worry. The track record against quality teams is lackluster, to say the least, with that 80-point margin of deficit, and this is undoubtedly one of the worst defensive teams in the tournament field. The Islanders check in at No. 229 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency and allowed more than 80 points five times against middling Southland opponents. That could mean 100-plus against a major conference foe March Madness Ceiling. The Islanders failed to make it out of the First Four game last season, and an early exit likely awaits once again in 2023 Written by Joel Reuter 63. Northern Kentucky Norse6 of 68 Record. 22-12 (14-6 in Horizon) Star Player. Guard Marques Warrick ranked fourth in the Horizon League with 19. 1 points per game, and he made 86 threes while shooting 39. 1 percent from beyond the arc. The 6'2" junior tallied at least five three-pointers nine different times, and he poured in a season-high 45 points against Tennessee Tech back in November. The Norse are 13-2 on the year when he scores at least 20 points Biggest Wins. The Norse beat a 20-win Cincinnati team in November, limiting the Bearcats to 33. 9 percent shooting en route to a 64-51 victory. They beat No. 1 seed Youngstown State by 12 points in the Horizon League tournament semifinals and then squeaked out a two-point win over Cleveland State in the title game to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament field for the third time in the last seven years Reason to Worry. The Norse rank No. 358 in KenPom's adjusted tempo, but grinding the game to a halt might not be possible against a more athletic high-level opponent that wants to push the pace. They also rank outside the top 250 nationally in field-goal percentage, which could make climbing back into the game extremely difficult if they fall behind early March Madness Ceiling. This team is capable of driving an opponent nuts with its slow pace of play, but the Norse lack the offensive firepower and efficiency to be a serious upset threat Written by Joel Reuter 62. UNC-Asheville Bulldogs7 of 68 Record. 27-7 (16-2 in Big South) Star Player. Drew Pember is one of the best mid-major players in the country. A 3-star recruit who started his college career at Tennessee, the 6'10" forward averaged 21. 2 points, 9. 4 rebounds and 2. 3 blocks on his way to Big South Player of the Year honors. He scored 40 points in a win over UCF earlier this year, and he also has a 48-point performance on his stat sheet Biggest Wins. The aforementioned road victory over UCF in the season opener on Nov. 7 is a Quad 1 win, and that Knights team played well early in the season with a 13-4 record before fading during conference play. That's the only quality win on the Bulldogs' resume, but they are rolling heading into the tournament with an 18-1 record in their last 19 games Reason to Worry. The Bulldogs were smoked by Arkansas (85-51) and Dayton (79-56) in their only other games above the Quad 3 level, which raises some obvious questions about their ability to hang with a tournament-caliber team March Madness Ceiling. Even if Pember puts up his third 40-point game of the season, that still might not be enough for the Bulldogs to survive their opening game Written by Joel Reuter 61. Vermont Catamounts8 of 68 Record. 23-10 (14-2 in America East) Star Player. You don't often see a player who leads his team in both rebounds and assists by a wide margin, but Vermont has one of those stars in Robin Duncan. He's not much of a scorer, but the 6'5" point forward has his fingerprints on everything this team does Biggest Wins. Vermont faced a handful of quality teams in nonconference play, and did come within two points of a road win over USC. But aside from maybe the one-point win at Colgate, no wins worth mentioning. The biggest win was pulling away from UMass Lowell in the America East championship game Reason to Worry. It didn't slow them down at all in America East play, but this is an undersized team that could get pushed around by a bigger, stronger foe. Vermont also has not been an impactful team on defense, save for doing a great job on the glass. But, again, we question whether that holds up against "real" competition. Case in point. Saint Mary's grabbed 41. 4 percent of possible offensive rebounds against the Catamounts in November March Madness Ceiling. Vermont making the tournament and having some Cinderella potential is almost a rite of passage at this point, earning a No. 13 seed in each of 2017, 2019 and 2022. But this year's team is nowhere near as good as those previous iterations. They're much closer to the 2010 and 2012 versions that got No. 16 seeds. And, either way, the 'Mounts haven't won a first-round game since 2005 when T. J. Sorrentine hit that famous shot "from the parking lot. " 60. Montana State Bobcats9 of 68 Record. 25-9 (15-3 in Big Sky) Star Player. RaeQuan Battle is a former 4-star prospect and top-100 recruit who began his collegiate career at the University of Washington before transferring to Montana State prior to the 2021-22 season. The 6'5" forward has taken his game to another level this year, leading the team with 17. 4 points per game. He won Big Sky tournament MVP honors and tallied 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting in the title game against Northern Arizona Biggest Wins. The biggest win of the year was the 85-78 victory over Northern Arizona on Wednesday that sent the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. That came after they survived double overtime against Weber State in the semifinals, and they roll into March Madness riding an eight-game winning streak Reason to Worry. Blowout losses to Arizona (85-64) and Oregon (81-51) are likely a good gauge of how this team stacks up to high-level opponents, and that doesn't bode well for their NCAA tournament upside. They lack the offensive firepower to claw back into a game if they fall behind early, and their defense struggled mightily when tested during their nonconference slate March Madness Ceiling. The Bobcats lost by 35 points in the First Round against Texas Tech as a No. 14 seed last season, and if those games against Arizona and Oregon are any indication, a similar fate awaits this year Written by Joel Reuter 59. Kennesaw State Owls10 of 68 Record. 26-8 (15-3 in ASUN) Star Player. Guard Chris Youngblood leads the Owls in scoring (14. 7 PPG), and he is a lethal shooter from the outside with 79 made threes and a 41. 1 percent rate from beyond the arc. The 6'4" junior is one of three players on the team who averages in double figures, though the X-factor here might be guard Brandon Stroud, who won ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and will be tasked with guarding the other team's star Biggest Wins. The Owls beat a very good Liberty team twice, including a 67-66 victory in the ASUN title game to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time. It has been an impressive turnaround for a team that finished 1-28 during the 2019-20 season when Amir Abdur-Rahim was in his first year as head coach. The team went 0-4 in Quad 1 matchups but gained some valuable early experience Reason to Worry. The Owls have three losses against teams ranked outside the NET Top 200, and they dropped their four games against Quad 1 opponents by a combined 61 points. That's not great. They defend the three-point shot well (33. 4 percent), which was the key to their success against Liberty, but they don't have the size to match up with a more physical opponent March Madness Ceiling. This team has come a long way in four years, but the Owls still face a major uphill battle in their first trip to March Madness Written by Joel Reuter 58. UC Santa Barbara Gauchos11 of 68 Record. 27-7 (15-5 in Big West) Star Player. Ajay Mitchell is a big-time talent on a Big West roster. The sophomore point guard averages better than 16 points and five assists per game while also leading the Gauchos in steals. He went for 20, 24 and 28 points in the Big West tournament and could be gearing up for a special March performance Biggest Wins. UCSB got to avoid the conference's No. 1 seed, UC Irvine, in the tournament, but it did win a road game against the Anteaters in January. Aside from that and the championship victory over Cal St. Fullerton, the neutral-site win over Fresno State was as good as it got Reason to Worry. The Gauchos routinely get gouged on defense, including twice allowing an opponent to score at least 86 points in regulation this month. And not only did they not beat anyone worth mentioning, they also didn't even face a tournament-caliber foe. UCSB did make the dance two years ago and came oh so close to upsetting Creighton, but this team could be in for a bit of a rude awakening March Madness Ceiling. Listen, I'm not saying Mitchell is the next CJ McCollum or Max Abmas. However, he is the exact type of "take a game over" guard we have seen orchestrate a massive upset in the past, and he has been sizzling as of late. If he and big man Miles Norris get into a groove, stranger things have certainly happened 57. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns12 of 68 Record. 26-7 (13-5 in Sun Belt) Star Player. Forward Jordan Brown was a 5-star recruit and the No. 16 overall player in the 2018 recruiting class as a California prep standout. He started his college career at Nevada and then played a season at Arizona before transferring again to Louisiana for the 2021-22 season. The 6'11" post player is averaging 19. 4 points and 8. 7 rebounds while shooting 57. 0 percent from the floor Biggest Wins. The biggest win of the season for the Ragin' Cajuns was undoubtedly the 71-66 victory over South Alabama in the Sun Belt title game that punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. They went 3-0 against the Jaguars on the year, with the regular-season road win against them their only victory above the Quad 3 level Reason to Worry. Brown is a terrific player, but he has gotten himself into foul trouble on multiple occasions and fouled out of five games. The Ragin' Cajuns lost two of the three games when he scored under 10 points, and if an opposing defense can take him out of the game, it would be a major blow offensively. This is also not a particularly good defensive team March Madness Ceiling. Never say never, but this team has had very little exposure to tournament-caliber opponents and could be overwhelmed in its opener Written by Joel Reuter 56. Colgate Raiders13 of 68 Record. 26-8 (17-1 in Patriot) Star Player. Oliver Lynch-Daniels has knocked down an absurd 77-of-153 attempts from distance this year, and the Raiders lead the nation with a 40. 3 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc. That said, it's senior guard Tucker Richardson who makes the offense go, averaging 13. 9 points, 5. 8 assists and 5. 2 rebounds per game. The Patriot League Player of the Year had a 14-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in the conference tournament title game against Lafayette Biggest Wins. In the NCAA tournament field for the fourth time in five years, the Raiders are still looking for their first March Madness win, though they lost by just single digits in 2019 and 2022. Their best win this season was an 80-68 victory on the road against Syracuse back in November when Richardson poured in a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting Reason to Worry. Outside of a 93-66 loss to Auburn in December, the Raiders have not played anything resembling a tournament-caliber opponent all season, so their eye-popping perimeter numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt. They will only go as far as their outside shooting carries them with a defense that ranks No. 232 in KenPom's defensive efficiency March Madness Ceiling. The Raiders lost by seven points to No. 3 seed Wisconsin and future NBA lottery pick Johnny Davis in the First Round last year, and this team is cut from a similar mold, so never say never on an upset if the threes are falling Written by Joel Reuter 55. Furman Paladins14 of 68 Record. 27-7 (15-3 in SoCon) Star Player. The fifth-year senior duo of Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell (18. 0 PPG, 3. 5 RPG, 3. 0 APG) both earned first-team All-Southern Conference honors, with Slawson taking home Player of the Year in the conference for a stat-sheet stuffing season. He finished in the top 10 in the conference in points (15. 7 PPG, fifth), rebounding (7. 1 RPG, fifth), assists (3. 2 APG, seventh), steals (1. 6 SPG, fifth) and blocks (1. 6 BPG, second) Biggest Wins. The Paladins went 14-1 in their last 15 games, squeezing out an overtime win against Western Carolina in the conference tournament semifinals before knocking off Chattanooga in the title game to clinch their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1980. They did not have any wins against a Top 100 NET team, and their only victory above the Quad 3 line was a road win against UNC Greensboro Reason to Worry. Ranking 11th in the nation in three-point attempts per game (27. 5) and 157th in three-point percentage (34. 7 percent) feels like a recipe for disaster. The Paladins lead the nation with a 60. 1 percent shooting clip on two-point attempts, but if they fall behind early, they'll have to hope the three ball is falling. They also rank a dismal No. 184 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency March Madness Ceiling. Furman succeeded on the strength of an offense that averaged 82. 1 points per game, but those buckets are not going to come as easy against higher-level competition. The team's defensive shortcomings could mean an early deficit and a quick exit Written by Joel Reuter 54. Princeton Tigers15 of 68 Record. 21-8 (10-4 in Ivy League) Star Player. Tosan Evbuomwan has yet to record a triple-double in his college career, but wouldn't it be something if he finally pulled it off in the NCAA tournament? He entered the Ivy League tournament averaging 14. 5 points, 6. 2 rebounds and 4. 8 assists per game for the year, and he put up lines of 21-6-4 against Penn and 21-5-4 in the championship against Yale Biggest Wins. Prior to beating Yale on Sunday, Princeton was 0-4 against the KenPom top 100, including getting swept by the Bulldogs during the regular season. But if you're going to have just one big win all season, pretty smart of these Ivy Leaguers to save it for the most important game. The Tigers did put up good fights in close losses to Iona and Hofstra Reason to Worry. Princeton doesn't have any glaring weaknesses, but nothing's really a strength, either. The Tigers are in the 100-150 range in both offensive and defensive efficiency, which puts them in Duquesne/Charlotte territory. And against a top-tier opponent, that doesn't bode well March Madness Ceiling. With all due respect to Princeton and one of the neatest names in the tournament (Zach Martini), it's hard to see this team winning a game. Yale was much more likely to pull off a first-round upset. But maybe the Tigers can pull off a stunner for their first tournament victory since 1998 53. Pittsburgh Panthers16 of 68 Record. 22-11 (14-6 in ACC) Star Player. Blake Hinson missed the entire 2020-21 with an undisclosed medical condition and then left Iowa State just before the start of 2021-22, missing that entire campaign as well. But he has been so critical for Pittsburgh, having led the team in both points and rebounds. And he set the tone early with a 27-point, 13-rebound performance in his season debut after a 32-month gap between games played Biggest Wins. Who would've ever thought we'd live to see the day when a season sweep of North Carolina was just an OK accomplishment? Pittsburgh did that and got road wins over Northwestern and NC State, and solid home wins over Virginia and Miami. Their metrics were mighty questionable from a bracketology perspective, but there's no denying the Panthers had a good number of solid victories Reason to Worry. The defense is bad and getting worse. Pitt had a top-75 defense on KenPom in mid-February, but then it was gashed repeatedly, mostly by bottom-half-of-the-ACC teams. And though the offense is pretty potent, it has been a significant challenge to overcome those shortcomings on the defensive end March Madness Ceiling. Just being in the tournament should feel like a miracle for Pittsburgh after six consecutive losing seasons and an offseason spent wondering if Jeff Capel can do enough this year to save his job. But now that the Panthers are here, why not go out and win a game or two? The strong offense, mediocre defense combo is something to avoid when picking your Final Four, but they absolutely could get hot and pull off an upset 52. Iona Gaels17 of 68 Record. 27-7 (17-3 in MAAC) Star Player. Three Gaels average better than 15 points per game. Walter Clayton Jr. , Daniss Jenkins and Nelly Junior Joseph. Clayton and Jenkins do a little bit of everything, but NJJ is the star leading the team in rebounds and blocks. He had 11 and four, respectively, in the MAAC championship against Marist, while Clayton and Jenkins racked up 44 points. Scary good trio Biggest Wins. Rick Pitino put together a solid nonconference schedule for Iona, resulting in wins over Saint Louis, Vermont, Princeton, Penn and Seattle. Nothing noteworthy there, but it's better than anything they faced in the MAAC for the past two months Reason to Worry. Is the defense actually better than when it allowed 82-plus points in nonconference losses to Hofstra, Santa Clara, New Mexico and SMU, or does it just look like the Gaels improved while running rampant through the MAAC? Probably a little of A and a little of B, but it's fair to worry how they'll hold up on that end when facing a KenPom top-50 team for the first time all season March Madness Ceiling. Since winning a game under Jim Valvano back in 1980, Iona has gone 0-13 in the NCAA tournament. And yet, every time they get in, we end up talking ourselves into the Gaels as a sleeper team. Is this finally the year they get the big upset, or is this going to be yet another case of the boy who cried "Cinderella"? All I know is I'm not betting against Pitino 51. Arizona State Sun Devils18 of 68 Record. 22-12 (11-9 in Pac-12) Star Player. Sixth-year senior Desmond Cambridge Jr. isn't the most efficient scorer in the world (or even in Arizona State's backcourt), but he leads the Sun Devils in both points and steals. In each of the seven biggest wins noted below, he scored in double figures Biggest Wins. Hands down, the best win was the Feb. 25 game at Arizona that ended on a Cambridge 60-foot heave at the buzzer. If that miracle shot doesn't fall, ASU isn't even in the tournament. The Sun Devils also picked up a great neutral-site wins over Creighton, albeit during the oft-cited three-game stretch in which the Bluejays were without big man Ryan Kalkbrenner. Beyond that, there were also wins away from home over Oregon, Colorado, Michigan, USC and VCU Reason to Worry. Take your pick, really. The offense ranks well outside the top 100 in KenPom's adjusted efficiency, with an effective field-goal percentage hovering around 300th in the nation. Rebounding has also been a significant issue. And, again, we wouldn't even be talking about this team if an improbable prayer hadn't been answered in Tucson March Madness Ceiling. Arizona State has not made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament since 2009, and that drought is unlikely to end this year. The Sun Devils make enough momentum-shifting plays on defense (blocks and steals) to potentially pull off a first-round upset, but an offense that was held to 70 points or fewer in 12 of the final 13 games of the regular season is quite unlikely to sniff the second weekend of the tournament 50. Grand Canyon Antelopes19 of 68 Record. 24-11 (11-7 in WAC) Star Player. After putting up big numbers at Presbyterian, Ray Harrison transferred out to the desert and continued to thrive for Grand Canyon, averaging better than 17 points per game for a third consecutive season. And he went off in the WAC title game against Southern Utah, finishing with 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists Biggest Wins. GCU did have a win over a tournament team, but not an at-large tournament team. The Antelopes won a home game against Montana State to open the season. The more impressive wins were the overtime victory at Sam Houston State and the subsequent win over SHSU in the WAC semifinals. The Bearkats were a serious threat to do some damage as a No. 12 or No. 13 seed, but Grand Canyon kept that from happening Reason to Worry. When GCU got in two years ago, it had a stout defense and promptly allowed 86 points in a loss to Iowa. This year, the defense is. what's the opposite of stout? Pilsner? Whatever it is, it's not good. The Lopes just barely climbed into the top 200 in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom after winning the WAC tournament March Madness Ceiling. This will be Bryce Drew's fifth trip to the NCAA tournament as a coach, but he had more tournament wins as a player (two) than he does on the sideline (zero). Maybe that changes. Goodness knows Harrison could go wild again and lead one of the bigger upsets ever seen. But even if he scores 30, it may come in a game where the defense allows 90. A one-game stay seems likely 49. Charleston Cougars20 of 68 Record. 31-3 (16-2 in CAA) Star Player. Dalton Bolon was a three-time All-American at D-II West Liberty before joining Charleston as a grad transfer for the 2021-22 season, but he played in just three games last year before suffering a significant eye injury. The 24-year-old received a medical hardship waiver and has returned to average 12. 3 points and 4. 2 rebounds en route to first-team All-CAA honors Biggest Wins. The Cougars have a pair of Quad 2 victories against Kent State and Towson, but they have mostly been steamrolling lesser competition for most of the year. They enter the NCAA tournament riding a 10-game winning streak, and they also rattled off a 20-game winning streak earlier this year before suffering back-to-back losses at the end of January and beginning of February Reason to Worry. The only real test the Cougars faced this year was against North Carolina in their second game of the season, and they lost 102-86 despite shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor while out-rebounding the Tar Heels. They threw their best punch at a quality opponent and still lost by double digits. The combination of ranking second in the nation in three-point attempts per game (30. 2) and 226th in three-point percentage (33. 4 percent) is alarming, though they are a solid offensive rebounding team March Madness Ceiling. With a well-rounded team that ranks in the top 100 in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency, this is one of the better mid-major teams in the country. If the threes are falling, the Cougars are more than capable of pulling off an upset or two Written by Joel Reuter 48. VCU Rams21 of 68 Record. 27-7 (15-3 in A-10) Star Player. Where would the Rams be without Ace Baldwin? Between this season and last, the point guard has averaged 12. 0 points, 5. 7 assists and 2. 4 steals per game. In the early February win over Saint Louis, he put up 37 points. Two weeks later against Fordham, he had 10 assists and six steals Biggest Wins. Who could have guessed that the November wins over Pittsburgh, Kennesaw State and Vanderbilt would age as well as they did? VCU also had three wins over both Saint Louis and Davidson and a pair of wins away from home against Dayton. Nothing great on there, but a solid list Reason to Worry. VCU's combination of drawing fouls and forcing turnovers is second to none. But when an opponent is able to minimize the fouls and/or turnovers that it commits, there's not much else to worry about. The offense is mediocre, at best, and this is not a good rebounding team March Madness Ceiling. A one-bid Atlantic 10 just feels. wrong. But at least the league is putting its best foot forward by getting VCU into the Dance. The Rams have gone just 3-8 overall in the Dance since that magical "First Four to Final Four" run back in 2011, but that turnover-forcing defense is a permanent threat to do some damage. There's pretty much always at least one double-digit seed in the Sweet 16, and this could be that team 47. Drake Bulldogs22 of 68 Record. 27-7 (15-5 in MVC) Star Player. Sophomore Tucker DeVries turned down offers from Air Force, Creighton, Florida, Iowa State and South Dakota State as a 4-star recruit to play for his dad at Drake. The MIssouri Valley Conference Player of the Year averaged 19. 0 points and 5. 6 rebounds while shooting 38. 7 percent from beyond the arc, and he had 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting against Bradley in the MVC title game Biggest Wins. The Bulldogs beat a Mississippi State team that was 11-0 and ranked No. 15 in the AP poll at the time back on Dec. 20, holding the SEC opponent to just 52 points on 38. 5 percent shooting while forcing 17 turnovers. They were also 3-3 in Quad 2 games, going 2-1 on the year against a good Bradley squad, including a 77-51 blowout to clinch the automatic bid Reason to Worry. Drake plays a slow-tempo style and suffered five of its seven losses in games where it allowed 65 or more points. If the Bulldogs can't control the pace of the game and slow down the opposition, they could have a hard time keeping up with a more athletic opponent March Madness Ceiling. The Bulldogs are capable of pulling off an upset if a defense that ranks No. 43 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency comes to play and successfully grinds the opposition to a halt Written by Joel Reuter 46. Nevada Wolf Pack23 of 68 Record. 22-10 (12-6 in MWC) Star Player. Nevada has employed a one-two-three punch of point guard Kenan Blackshear, shooting guard Jarod Lucas and stretch 5 Will Baker, with that trio combining for about 45 points per game. It all runs through Blackshear, though. He's not much of a shooter, but he's a great distributor and defender who (along with Lucas) thrives at drawing contact for free points Biggest Wins. Nevada almost went undefeated at home, winning games against each of San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State and Sam Houston State. The Wolf Pack also swept New Mexico and twice blew out a much-better-than-usual San Jose State squad. Just an absurd turnaround after having three starters from a 13-18 team depart via the transfer portal Reason to Worry. Nevada didn't exactly surge to the finish line, suffering its two worst losses of the year (at Wyoming; vs. UNLV) in the final two games of the regular season. Moreover, this team has perfectly average two-point and three-point percentages and ranks among the worst offensive rebounding teams in the country. If the Wolf Pack get an officiating crew that doesn't call a lot of fouls, they're in trouble March Madness Ceiling. This is the sixth consecutive season that Houston has been a legitimate title contender, but the ceiling has never been this high. Not only have the Cougars spent the majority of the year ranked No. 1 in all the predictive metrics, but they're also going to have an unprecedented-in-recent-years hometown advantage in the Final Four if they can get there. They were going to be favored in every neutral-site game anyway, but that little factoid puts Houston in a spot where it would honestly be somewhat of a disappointment if it doesn't win it all Who has the hardest NCAA men's basketball schedule?NCAA College Basketball Strength of Schedule Rankings & Ratings How many teams have qualified for NCAA Tournament 2023?The 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament for March Madness will see 68 teams bracketed. Of the 68 teams, 32 will qualify automatically through automatic bids from conferences . Fairleigh Dickinson and Southeast Missouri State secured the first two automatic bids, winning the Northeast final and OVC final, respectively.
How many teams from each conference made the 2023 NCAA basketball tournament?A total of 68 teams participated in the tournament with 32 automatic bids being filled by each program that won its conference tournament. The remaining 36 bids were issued "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee on Selection Sunday, March 12.
How often is KenPom updated?Consider it a guide to how coaches and players might consider the currently hierarchy of college basketball when entertaining job or scholarship offers. This will be updated on an annual basis and should be considered a work in progress. |
