As March Madness dribbles closer, which teams to watch during the tournament becomes harder and harder to choose. Here is a list of top teams from a variety of conferences to watch make their run in the tournament:
Big East Conference
A key team to watch in the March Madness tournament is Georgetown from the Big East Conference. Georgetown is coached by head John Thompson III and are assisted by coaches Kenya Hunter, Mike Brennan and Kevin Broadus. This is a young team with five freshmen, six sophomores, four juniors and no seniors. Out of the 17 players this season, only one sophomore is a reserve, which means he cannot play this year, but plans on being with the team for more than four years. This gives high hopes to the young Georgetown team as they will have virtually the same team returning next year.
Georgetown has an overall record of 22-4. They are 12-3 in conference games. Their home record is 14-1 with an away record of 6-2 and 2-1 record at neutral locations as said on the Georgetown basketball website.
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference host the potential number one seeded team, Indiana. Their team consists of four freshmen, six sophomores, four juniors and three seniors. Indiana also has the privilege of having two players in the running for 2013 Player of the Year: sophomore center Cody Zeller and junior guard Victor Oladipo. The Hoosiers’ head coach is Tom Crean and are assisted by coaches Tim Buckley and Steve McClain as listed on Indiana University’s basketball website.
Indiana has an overall record of 24-4. Their home record is 16-1 and away record of 6-2. When playing at a neutral location, Indiana has a record of 2-1. As a team they have a .497 field goal percentage and have a .748 free throw percentage. They have a total of 1084 rebounds with their opponents only having 853 rebounds.
Big 12 Conference
From the Big 12 Conference the team to watch is the Kansas Jayhawks. The Jayhawks are coached by head coach Bill Self and are assisted by Joe Dooley, Kurtis Townsend and Norm Roberts as listed on the University of Kansas basketball website. They have a young team consisting of eight freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and four seniors. Half of the freshmen are reserved players planning on being in the Kansas basketball program for more than four years.
Kansas has a home record of 15-1, an away record of 7-2 and a neutral record of 2-1. This gives the Jayhawks an overall record of 24-4. The team has a total of 2086 points with a field goal percentage of .471 and free throw percentage of .724. On the defensive end the Jayhawks are out-rebounding their opponents 1111 to 924.
Missouri Valley Conference
Creighton University is an important team leading into the March Madness tournament with a top competitor for the Player of the Year award, sophomore guard Doug McDermott. The Jays are coached by head coach Greg McDermott, father of Doug McDermott, and are assisted by Darian DeVries, Steve Lutz and Steve Merfeld as listed on the Creighton University basketball website. Creighton’s team consists of six freshmen, three sophomores, four juniors and four seniors. Isaiah Manigant is a freshman guard who lived in St. Louis Park and graduated from Benilde-St. Margaret’s high school.
The Creighton Jays have an overall record of 23-7. Their record at home is 14-2 and away they are 7-5. They Jays hold a 2-0 record when playing at a neutral location. Overall the team has 2275 points with a .748 free throw percentage and .505 field goal percentage. They are out-rebounding their opponents 1060 to 913.
Pac 12 Conference
The Pac 12 Conference holds the University of Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats team holds five freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and five seniors. They are coached by head coach Sean Miller and are assisted by coaches James Whitford, Emanuel Richardson and Joe Pasternack as listed on the University of Arizona basketball website.
They hold a home record of 12-2 with an away record of 7-2. When playing at a neutral location, they hold a record of 3-0. This gives them an overall record of 22-4. The Wildcats out rebounded their opponents 964 to 795, and as a team, they have a free throw percentage of .742.
West Coast Conference
From the West Coast Conference a team to watch is the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga has a team of four freshmen, two sophomores, seven juniors and four seniors. Of the seventeen players there are six reserved players who plan to be on the team for longer than four years. The Gonzaga Bulldogs are coached by head coach Mark Few and are assisted by coaches Donny Daniels, Ray Giacoletti and Tommy Lloyd, as listed on the Gonzaga University basketball website.
They have a total average of .731 from the free throw line and .509 field goal percentage. On the defensive side the team has a total of 1078 rebounds with 337 of them being offensive while their opponents have 848 total rebounds with 307 offensive rebounds. Gonzaga has a 27-2 overall record with a record of 14- 1 at home and 9-1 away. When Gonzaga plays on a neutral court their record is 4-0. With these records listed on the Gonzaga basketball homepage, it appears that no matter where Gonzaga plays for the NCAA March Madness tournament, they should receive success.
Madi Arends is the Layout Editor for The Spartan Speaks
