A common theme in the weekly college basketball power rankings this season has been to expect the unexpected — and that parity rules. While that is the truth and there’s a wide-open nature to March that could produce historic levels of chaos, here’s a twist worth thinking about:
There’s a clear-cut top three in the country: Houston, Alabama and Kansas.
Yes, that’s different from the narrative of the season, but look at the way those three teams have performed this season. That’s a reasonable argument for each of them to have a stake as the top team in the country. Would it be a surprise to see another program rise to the top and win it all? Of course not. That’s what makes March Madness so watchable. But these teams have separated themselves, and here’s why.
While the narrative on Houston is that the Cougars have not been tested to the same degree as others because they play in the American, Kelvin Sampson’s team is 25-2 and ranks first in the NET rankings, as well as analytics sites KenPom and T-Rank. Houston is the safest bet to reach the Elite Eight at the very least because the Cougars lead the country in scoring defense at 55.4 points per game — a formula for winning in March.
Named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s top-16 reveal Saturday, Alabama has dominated the SEC with a 13-1 record, winning 11 of those games by double-figures. The Crimson Tide bounced back from a loss to Tennessee with a 49-point win over Georgia on Saturday. I don’t care who the opponent is: to beat an SEC team by that margin is ridiculous. The Tide have the best all-around talent in the sport in superstar freshman Brandon Miller. They also defend at a high level and have several scoring options with a veteran guard in Mark Sears to organize them.
The third of these teams, Kansas, might have the most ridiculous stat in college hoops associated with them: The Jayhawks own 13 wins over Quadrant 1 opponents. Nobody else in college basketball possesses more than nine. On Saturday against a Baylor team that the committee had as a 2-seed in its reveal on Saturday, the Jayhawks trailed by 17 points. The Bears were beating them in all facets through 20 minutes. But then Bill Self’s team reminded everybody what makes them so scary. Kansas outscored Baylor — yes, Baylor! — 55-26 in the second half behind Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris Jr.
They flipped the game on its head in the opening…
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