There’s just a month and a half to go before the big dance.
March Madness is just over a month away and NCAA basketball is in full swing. The frontrunners are starting to make themselves known, and some teams have made a surprise drop from last season. Let’s take a look at who sits where.
We start by heading to Virginia where last year’s NCAA champion resides. Virginia is currently 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They got there with a 7-4 conference record and a 15-6 overall record. Ahead of them are three teams who all made it to the tournament last year as well, Florida State, Duke and Louisville.
Louisville had some disappointing results last year. They were the 7 seed in March Madness and loss in the first round to a No. 10 seed Minnesota. They have already shown they have vastly improved over last season when they just went 10-8 in the conference. They are 11-1 so far this season.
The ACC is once again loaded with Louisville, Duke and Florida State are all ranked 5th, 7th and 8th respectively in the NCAA right now.
Duke’s win over UNC on Saturday was one of the best games of the season. The Tar Heels led all game, but a Tre Jones buzzer-beater sent the game into overtime. Wendall Moore sunk a layup as the clock hit triple zero’s in overtime to give the Blue Devil’s the 98-96 win in a thriller.
Now, let’s take a look at last year’s runner up for the NCAA tournament, Texas Tech. Texas Tech has a solid overall record, but are lacking a bit in conference matchups. Texas is 5-4 and 4th overall in the Big 12 Conference. They have plenty of games to go left to turn that around though.
On top of the Big 12 and the entire NCAA, is Baylor. The Bears had a solid season last year and made it to the second round of the tournament where they were beaten by top-seeded Gonzaga (who is currently ranked 2nd).
A surprise out of the Big 12 Conference is Kansas State. Kansas State won the conference last year and earned a No. 4 seed. They were the only team with a No. 4 seed or greater to lose in the first round, and it seems like the losing has stuck with them. They are 2-7 for the conference game right now and 9th in their conference.
Taking a closer look at the Associated Press Top 25, the first team that might catch someone’s eye is the Dayton Flyers. Dayton failed to even make it to the finals tournament last year and now they are ranked 6th in the nation.
The same story goes for San Diego State. They are ranked even higher at 4th.
There is also a lot of NCAA activity happening in the Midwest. Last year, Minnesota earned themselves a No. 10 seed in the tournament. Right now, they are in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten Conference with a 6-6 conference record and 12-10 overall record.
Minnesota will have to put in some work if they want to reach the big dance this year.
Another local team to focus on is our own NDSU. Last year, NDSU scraped into the NCAA tournament as a No. 16 seed where they ultimately lost to the powerhouse, Duke.
NDSU and SDSU are currently tied for the lead in the Summit League. They both have eight conference wins and 17 overall wins. It wouldn’t be the first time NDSU made it to back-to-back tournaments. They did the same in 2014 and 2015.
There is plenty of time for things to change though. Maybe by the time the tournament rolls around, North Dakotans will be able to watch their team playing with the big dogs again.