College Hoops Update
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, 18 of the top 25 ranked teams in Men’s College Basketball were in action. Some of these ranked teams had to face one another, and others had tough non-ranked matchups, while a few had a very easy game. What did we learn about these top teams the last 2 days?
Top ranked Kentucky has been the best team in college basketball so far this season. They were not in action either of the last two nights, so there is no change at the top. The only other team in the top 17 not in action either day was 8th ranked Gonzaga. Amazingly, the only ranked team to lose to a non-ranked opponent was 21st ranked Rhode Island losing on the road to Valparaiso. The only other ranked teams to fall were 3rd ranked North Carolina, 15th ranked Purdue, and 22nd ranked Syracuse, who all faced ranked opponents.
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The biggest storyline of the two days of college hoops was the loss of 3rd ranked North Carolina. North Carolina had been looking like one of the best all-around teams in college basketball, shooting the ball tremendously well, passing well, and taking care of the ball. In their game on the road vs 13th ranked Indiana, they were not the same team. The Tar Heels shot the ball extremely poorly, and did not defend Indiana well at all. There was some foul trouble in the game, but that cannot be an excuse for how they shot the ball or how they defended. Is it possible the Tar Heels were the beneficiary of weak defensive opponents early in the season, or was this game just one off game? There will be more to be learned on this down the road.
Other top ranked teams Villanova, Kansas, Xavier, Baylor, Creighton, and UCLA all easily took care of business against weak opponents. There is not too much to be learned from a top ranked team facing a weak opponent and beating them by 20+ points. All these teams performed exactly as they were supposed to in these games. That said, it would be wrong not to mention the incredible play of UCLA guard Lonzo Ball, who racked up another 13 assists vs 1 turnover, as he continues to prove himself to be one of the top players in the country.
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On the other hand, other top ranked teams Duke and Virginia had tougher matchups against Michigan State and Ohio State respectively. Duke beat Michigan State by 9 in a hard-fought game, proving that although Michigan State is unranked currently, they are still a tough team and will be relevant come March. Opponents will need to take Michigan State seriously this year, because they are likely to rebound from their slow start. Duke, still down many of their top players, continues to fight and impress despite being shorthanded. As they get reinforcements throughout the season, it is hard to imagine Duke not being one of the National Championship favorites. Virginia struggled against Ohio State, eventually coming away with a 2-point win. Although they are unranked, it was Ohio State’s first loss of the season, and they may be destined for the top 25 sooner rather than later. It was not a good sign for Virginia to play so poorly on offense, both shooting the ball poorly and having less assists than turnovers in the game. Virginia will need to clean up the offense if they are going to contend with other top teams.
As the season continues to progress we will keep you updated on this college hoops season. There is still plenty to learn about the teams who seem destined for March Madness, and there inevitably will be unexpected things to come up before then. Stay tuned for more current sports stories. Don't forget to follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram @beyondthemetrics, and Twitter @byondthemetrics.
