If February results can serve up food for thought about March, what college basketball just had was a buffet line. A lot of maybes came out of the past weekend and the newest rankings.
Maybe . . .
Duke should be No. 1. Actually, the Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll as of Monday, for the 148th week in history. Well then, maybe they should go into March as the fairest of them all when the No. 1 seeds are handed out. Duke is starting to stack up some truly shining achievements. Such as a 9-2 record against ranked opponents, with the two defeats by a total of four points in games the Blue Devils led by 13 and 17. Such as a dozen Quad 1 wins, most in the nation. Such as just holding then-No. 1 Michigan to nearly 28 points under its scoring average. Such as 35 wins in their last 37 games against ACC opposition.
📊 See the latest men’s basketball NET rankings Did Coach Jon Scheyer see a juggernaut overpowering Michigan? “I think it’s more so, I see the growth. I see the connectivity on defense. I see the plays they’re making on offense. How to win in March and how to win going forward, that’s the biggest thing that I saw.”
There is also the comfort of being able to turn to their prince of darkness in any crisis. Michigan’s front line has stifled foe after foe. Cameron Boozer’s handiwork against the Wolverines: 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists.
“Obviously, they’re a great front line, but that’s not on my mind,” Boozer said afterward. “My mind is on making winning plays, helping our team win. I feel like I did that tonight. And if I do that, my talent, my game, is going to show just from making winning plays. That’s what makes me great.”
So maybe Boozer becomes the third Duke freshman in eight seasons to be consensus national player of the year, joining Zion Williamson and Cooper Flagg. Actually, that’s looking a lot more likely than maybe.
Maybe . . .
Michigan, master of the blowout all season, is not quite an irresistible force that no one can stop. The Wolverines shot 28.6 percent in the second half against Duke, were outrebounded 41-28, and outscored in the paint 34-24. Then again, it might have been just one of those days when the shots didn’t go in.
And by the way, they’re still 25-2 with a 21-point average winning margin and in the top 10 nationally of a bunch of statistics. But slowing them down can apparently be done, at least for one night. And one night is all it takes in March. This was the first time in three months they didn’t get to 70 points. One other thing. Aday Mara, the tallest of Michigan’s talls and adept protector of the rim, fouled out at Purdue and had four against the Blue Devils. He was limited to 40 total minutes in those two games. Not a habit Michigan wants him to acquire.
Maybe . . .
Arizona is truly the answer to the West Coast drought. It’s a common topic of March conversation, how the Big Ten has gone a quarter-century without a national champion. But there’s another dry spell even longer. Nobody west of Waco, Texas, has won the title this century. Twenty-four of the past 27 champions came from the Eastern time zone. The last Western team to do it was Arizona in 1997.
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But now just look at these Wildcats. They’re 25-2, and the win at Houston gave them three victories this season over top-3 teams. Florida and Connecticut were the other victims, and that’s only happened twice this century. All three were away from home. To dominate the Cougars in the muscle numbers – 16-3 in points off turnovers, 38-20 in points in the paint – well, nobody does that. But Arizona just did.
Maybe . . .
BYU wasn’t doomed by the season-ending ACL injury to the second-leading scorer Richie Saunders. The 10-point win over No. 6 Iowa State would suggest otherwise, especially since the Cougars had been 0-6 against top-15 competition. Doesn’t 1-6 sound better? If AJ Dybantsa can keep throwing big games at powerhouses – 29 points against Iowa State, 35 three days earlier at Arizona – BYU will still be a most formidable sight in March. He and Robert Wright III, who with Saunders had been the three legs of BYU’s high-scoring triad, both went 40 minutes against Iowa State. Maybe they’ll have to do that a lot.
Maybe . . .
Houston has a late-game issue. The Cougars suffered a two-loss week, but since that came against the likes of Iowa State and Arizona, it’s hardly cause for panic. They’re still 23-4.
But it must be noted they were outscored 21-9 in the last 11 minutes by the Cyclones and 25-16 in the final 12 minutes by the Wildcats. Unsettling trend or not? Houston was headed for Kansas Monday night, and another number was on the table: The Cougars have not lost three games in a row in nine years.
Maybe . . .
The UCLA narrative will now change from Mick Cronin’s sideline anger to noticing how his Bruins are truly bears at home, and wondering if that can transfer to other zip codes in time for the NCAA Tournament. The scramble from 23 points down to shock Illinois gave them a 15-1 record in Pauley Pavilion. You’re down 33-10 to the No. 10 team in the country, and you end up winning, that’s a feat. But away from campus, you’re 3-8. That’s a problem.
Maybe . . .
This season for St. John’s will turn out just as magical as the Red Storm had envisioned before they became a little wobbly out of the gate. A 9-5 start had them unranked and labeled as underachieving, but they have now swept 13 in a row for their longest winning streak in four decades. They have never taken back-to-back Big East season titles that they didn’t have to share. But they might if they can win at Connecticut on Wednesday. Is it outlandish to think Rick Pitino could get a fourth different school to the Final Four? Maybe not.
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Maybe . . .
Florida actually can repeat. The Gators were once 5-4. They’re 16-2 since and have won their last eight by an average margin of 21.6 points. They have scored at least 86 points in six consecutive SEC road games, and last season’s Alabama is the only other team to do that in the past 50 years. Yeah, they seem to know what month is coming.
Maybe . . .
Neighboring bluebloods Kentucky and Indiana better pick it up. They’re both 17-10 after different flavors of weekend pain. The Wildcats lost in the last second at Auburn, and the Hoosiers were steamrolled at Purdue. Both are still projected in the tournament in most places, but Kentucky has lost three in a row and still has Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Florida to play, while Indiana has dropped seven of its past 12 and is 2-10 in Quad 1 games. Start winning again, or get nervous about Selection Sunday.
Maybe . . .
Kansas will never be completely right this season. It’s been something of a fuzzy journey for the 20-7 Jayhawks, what with Darryn Peterson’s constant availability problems and Bill Self having some health matters of his own. But there was nothing fuzzy about last Saturday. The 16-point whipping by Cincinnati – a team that came in under .500 in league play – was thorough, complete, and the worst Kansas loss to an unranked opponent in Allen Fieldhouse since 1973. Self was 10 years old.
The Jayhawks answered similar doubts earlier this year after losing to West Virginia to start 1-2 in conference play. They then buried No. 2 Iowa State by 21 points and went on an eight-game winning streak. Self is 138-24 at Kansas after losses. All that put the spotlight on Houston’s visit to Lawrence Monday night. Time to soothe the worried masses. Or not. Self is 40-0 at home on Big Monday. A loss would have alarm bells going off.
The Jayhawks’ chemistry is a tad hard to figure at the moment. They beat Arizona without Peterson and are 9-2 when he’s missing. He was back for Cincinnati, and the result was miserable. They are 11-5 with him. Maybe Kansas still needs to find its identity, Peterson or no Peterson.
It’s getting kind of late. No, maybe not at all about that.
