The “real season” – the NCAA Tournament, naturally – gets underway when the Field of 68 begins to be whittled leading into the April 6 national championship game in Arlington, TX.
In the meantime, here are my “regular season” All-America honors, plus updated Power 16:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Doug McDermott (6-7/Sr./Creighton)
COACH OF THE YEAR – Tony Bennett (Virginia)
FIRST TEAM
Shabazz Napier (6-3/Sr./Connecticut)
Doug McDermott (6-7/Sr./Creighton)
Jabari Parker (6-8/Fr./Duke)
TJ Warren (6-6/So./North Carolina State)
Kyle Anderson (6-8/So./UCLA)
SECOND TEAM
Marcus Smart (6-3/So./Oklahoma State)
Scotty Wilbekin (6-0/Sr./Florida)
Nick Johnson (6-3/Jr./Arizona)
Russ Smith (6-0/Sr./Louisville)
Melvin Ejim (6-6/Sr./Iowa State)
THIRD TEAM
Andrew Wiggins (6-7/Fr./Kansas)
Gary Harris (6-4/So./Michigan St.)
Nik Stauskas (6-6/So./Michigan)
Marcus Paige (6-1/So./North Carolina)
Cameron Bairstow (6-9/Sr./New Mexico)
Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Florida (1) | 29-2 | Almost frittered away 15-point, second-half lead over Kentucky Sunday. The No. 1 overall seed in the tourney field opens vs. Albany or Mt. St. Mary’s Thursday. |
2. Wichita State (2) | 34-0 | Takes on Cal Poly or Texas Southern in its open – then the going gets really difficult. |
3. Arizona (3) | 30-4 | The Wildcats get Gonzaga or Marcus Smart in the Round of 32 in San Diego Sunday. |
4. Michigan St. (NR) | 26-8 | The Spartans seem to be just rounding into “they’re good enough to win the national championship” -form. |
5. Louisville (12) | 25-6 | How did the Cardinals get just a No. 4 seed? A sub-par non-conference slate and little Committee respect for the American Conference were apparent reasons. |
6. Virginia (5) | 24-6 | The Cavaliers left little doubt as to the identity of the best team in the ACC this season. A Sweet 16 game with Michigan State in Madison Square Garden would be nails. |
7. Duke (4) | 26-8 | The Blue Devils may get to the Elite Eight (vs. Wichita or Louisville) before it sees anything the defense they faced Sunday in Greensboro. |
8. UCLA (NR) | 26-8 | Win over AZ Saturday no fluke, especially impressive considering embarrassing lack of fan support in Vegas. UCLA’s 4 guard rotation can match up with anyone’s. Sweet 16 match up with Florida looms. |
9. Villanova (7) | 23-8 | A Round of 32 game vs. Connecticut would have an “old-time Big East” feel to it, right? |
10. Kansas (9) | 24-9 | It’s kind of difficult to get a handle on just how deep into the tourney the Jayhawks will travel. |
11. Syracuse (8) | 27-5 | Scoring has been an issue of late; will that trend continue? The once undefeated team comes into the tourney as a "sleeper" 3 seed. |
12.Michigan (11) | 25-8 | The Wolverines are just one of the many elements in the absurdly tough Midwest Regional. |
13. Creighton (6) | 26-7 | Guys other than Doug McDermott are going to have to perform at an elite level if this deep is going to play in the second week of the tournament. |
14. New Mexico (16) | 27-6 | The Lobos hope to make a much deeper post-season run than they did last year, of course. Stanford is the first obstacle to that happening. |
15. Wisconsin (14) | 26-7 | The Badgers should be awfully comfy in Milwaukee. |
16. Iowa St. (NR) | 26-7 | Can you be a 3 seed and still be a “sleeper”? In the case of the Cyclones, possibly. |
THE NEXT 16: Baylor 24-11, Cincinnati 27-6, Connecticut 26-8, Gonzaga 28-6, Green Bay 24-6, Harvard 26-4, Kentucky 24-10, Memphis 23-9, Nebraska 19-12, North Carolina 23-9, Ohio State 25-9, Oklahoma State 21-12, Oklahoma 23-9, Pittsburgh 25-9, Saint Joseph’s 24-9 and San Diego State 29-4.
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
Follow Frank on twitter @FrankieBur. Also make sure to follow his website at www.burlisononbasketball.com. College coaching staffs interested in Burlison’s scouting service should contact him at [email protected].