BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
Ladies and gentlemen, it is officially the start of March! The long wait is finally over, and the greatest month in sports has arrived. For the next month, I will provide you with daily articles, analyses, predictions, and anything else to do with college basketball. As the legend Jon Rothstein says, THIS IS MARCH.
The Big Three
The talk all year has been how Gonzaga and Baylor are significantly better than everyone else. The Bulldogs and Bears have been No. 1 and No. 2 in the polls all season long and up until recently have looked unstoppable. Until this week, there was no arguing against that, but Michigan has now thrown their name into the mix.
The Michigan Wolverines have been on fire and absolutely deserve to be mentioned with Gonzaga and Baylor now. Michigan is 18-1 on the season and has played its best basketball all season since the COVID-19 pause. Since the pause, Michigan is 5-0 and has won big games in a convincing fashion in the five games. Since returning the play, Michigan has beaten Rutgers, Iowa, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Indiana (all potential tournament teams) by an average win margin of 11.6 points.
The Baylor Bears have been slumping since their COVID-19 pause. This past week Baylor was handed its first loss all season when the Kansas Jayhawks defeated them 71-58. Not only did the Bears lose, but they were dominated as Kansas outrebounded them 48 to 28 and held Baylor to 34.8% shooting. The kind of lackluster performance left you wondering which Baylor team will we see in the future. The one that has dominated for 90% of the season or the one that has struggled in both games since its return.
Nothing new with Gonzaga that we didn’t already know. The Bulldogs are just coasting along in conference play and, in my opinion, don’t have to prove anything else. They are now the only undefeated team left in college basketball and are 7-0 vs. Quadrant 1 opponents and 5-0 vs. Quadrant 2 opponents. It doesn’t matter how much they win by in conference play. They are the best team.
Bubble Trouble
To me this feels like one of the weakest bubbles we have had in a long time and the teams involved are doing themselves no favors.
Last week I wrote about Duke and what needed to happen to get into the tournament. I said Duke needed to win at least two of its final three regular-season games to even have a shot to go dancing in March. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they lost their first game of the three when Louisville defeated them 80-73. The road will be a lot tougher for Duke as its final two games are on the road against Georgia Tech and North Carolina. If the Blue Devils want to sneak into the tournament, they have to win at least one of those games.
Another bubble team that has been struggling mightily is Minnesota. Just last week, the Golden Gophers were one of Joe Lunardi’s last four teams in but with five straight losses, their tourney hopes are looking bleaker and bleaker each day. This past week was detrimental to Minnesota, with losses to both Northwestern and Nebraska, aka the two worst teams in the Big Ten. With a record of 13-12 and five straight losses, it’s going to be very difficult for the Golden Gophers to play their way back onto the right side of the bubble.
One team that has played its way into tournament contention has been Michigan State. Thanks to a massive home victory over Ohio State, Michigan State has once again proven that it can play at a different level when it matters most. With back to back home wins over top-five teams (Illinois and Ohio State), Michigan State has proven that it can hang with the best of them and will be very dangerous down the stretch.
Conference Tournaments
My favorite part of March is the conference tournaments and, more specifically, the smaller ones. Unlike the major conferences, these teams don’t get a chance to have an at-large bid. The conference tournament is their final chance to get into the big dance and represent their conference.
We saw the Horizon, America East, and Big South Conference tournaments all kick-off this past week, and it did not disappoint. Although we haven’t had any crazy upsets yet, the No. 6 seed in the America East, UMass Lowell, has played lights out and could definitely give No. 1 seed UMBC a great test on Saturday.
Tonight we are treated to four Big South quarterfinal games, and the team everyone should keep an eye on is No. 1 seed, Winthrop. Winthrop is 20-1 on the season, ranks near the top 100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, rebounds very well, shoots at a high percentage from the floor and behind the arc. If the Eagles can win the Big South, they will be a team that nobody wants to see in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Monday’s Key Games
Between the changing of seeds, bubble picture, and conference tournaments, the college basketball slate will be loaded every day from here on out. These are the games I’m keeping my eye on tonight!
Gardner Webb (-1) at Campbell (Big South Quarterfinal)
North Carolina (-2) at Syracuse
Oklahoma (-2) at Oklahoma State
Arizona (+4.5) at Oregon
So there ya have it! The first of many college basketball articles coming your way! It’s gonna be an entertaining and busy month, but this is the best time of the year, and I cannot wait to see the chaos that will ensue!
I’ll let Jon Rothstein and the greatest music in the world take it from here!
For live updates and breaking news, follow Trainwreck Sports, Crossing Swords or 2 Goalies 1 Mic on Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com