College Basketball Ranking: Ohio State, Kansas, BYU and NCAA's Best Teams
With each day that passes, we come closer to the greatest weeks of the year; March Madness. Every workplace, school, and family in the country have their own bracket competition. Every year hundreds of thousands of people attempt to pick the perfect bracket. Last year my wife, who picked winners based upon the prettier mascot, completely destroyed everyone in our family bracket. It's the most exciting and unpredictable event in sports and we are only weeks away.
As we all attempt to analyze who will be a No. 1 seed in the tournament, who is on the bubble, and who is this years Butler, I had a great idea (even better than my idea for Burrito Tape). What if we took away the best player from the top 25 teams? Where would they be ranked? Would they make the tournament? How far would they go in the tournament?
Here are the top 25 teams ranked and analyzed without the best player.
P.S. - If you want to know more about Burrito Tape, let me know. It could possibly be the greatest invention ever.
Enjoy the list.
10. Kentucky Wildcats
1 of 10
Best Player - Terrence Jones (17.9 ppg, 9 reb, 1.9 blk)
Ranking Without Him - Top 20
Tournament Seed - 3 seed
How Deep Would They Go - Sweet Sixteen
When Kentucky landed Brandon Knight, Wildcat fans starting thinking he could be John Wall version 2.0. Knight has been good, and at times incredible, but Terrence Jones has been better. He is a big man that can handle the ball, rebound, and shoot. He is already drawing comparisons to Lamar Odom and I can see why. His versatility would surely be missed, but even without Jones, Kentucky still looks like the best team in the SEC. If there was no Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight would be more than capable to lead this team to victories. Without Jones, Kentucky drops a few spots in the rankings, but still cruises to the SEC Tournament Championship, gets a high seed, and makes it to the sweet sixteen.
9. Notre Dame
2 of 10
Best Player - Ben Hansbrough (16.5 ppg and 4 ast)
Ranking Without Him - Top 25
Tournament Seed - 7 Seed
How Deep Would They Go - 2nd round loss
To say Ben and Tyler Hansbrough play a different style of basketball is like saying that vegetarians don't eat meat; it's common knowledge. Even though Ben doesn't play in the low post, he certainly plays just as hard as his older brother Tyler. That style of hard fought basketball is contagious and Notre Dame wouldn't be quite the same team without Hansbrough. Even with Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott picking up the scoring and Eric Atkins playing a bigger role at point, this team would miss the hustle and tenacity with which Hansbrough plays. They would still be a Top 25 team, but a second round loss would seem likely.
8. BYU Cougars
3 of 10
Best Player - Jimmer Fredette (27.6 pgg and 4.2 ast)
Ranking Without Him - Outside Top 25
Tournament Seed - No Tournament
How Deep Would They Go - Loss in 2nd round of MWC Conference Tournament
Jimmer Fredette is the best scorer in college basketball. Jimmer Fredette might just be the best scorer playing basketball right now (just ask Kevin Durant). It takes three BYU players to score as much Fredette does. He has scored 30 points in a game more times than he's failed to score 20 points. He has yet to score less than 13 points in a game and has three 40 point games. Do you need any more proof why replacing Fredette could be difficult for BYU? There is no team in the country that could replace Jimmer Fredette and BYU misses out on the Big Dance without him.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
7. San Diego State
4 of 10
Best Player - Kawhi Leonard (15.2 ppg and 10.5 reb)
Ranking Without Him - Outside Top 25
Tournament Seed - NIT
How Deep Would They Go - Quarterfinals
Even though the statistics might not show it, Kawhi Leonard is one of the best players in the country. He is a versatile player who can score, rebound, and play defense. He is quick, energetic, and has a huge wingspan. He is one of the best players in the country and San Diego State doesn't have a player, and maybe not two players, to replace all that Leonard does. Not only would San Diego State fall out of the Top 25, they probably wouldn't make March Madness without him.
6. Connecticut Huskies
5 of 10
Best Player - Kemba Walker (23.4 ppg, 5.3 reb, and 4.3 ast)
Ranking Without Him - Outside Top 25
Tournament Seed - 10 or 11
How Deep Would They Go - First Round Loss
Kemba Walker burst onto the College Basketball scene this year after a 42 point game in his second game of the season. He hasn't slowed down since averaging a cool 23.4 points per game, good enough for fifth in the nation. Losing Walker would mean losing a potent scorer and I don't see freshman Jeremy Lamb being able to score like Walker. The Huskies would barely sneak into the tournament due to a nice run during the Big East Tournament, but would lose in the first round.
5. Duke Blue Devils
6 of 10
Best Player - Nolan Smith (21 ppg, 5.5 ast, and 4.8 reb)
Ranking Without Him - Top 5
Tournament Seed - 1 seed
How Deep Would They Go - National Championship
If Kyrie Irving had played more than eight games this season, he would have probably been in this spot. However, Nolan Smith has been fantastic since Irving went down with a right toe injury. Since Irving has been injured, Smith has scored 20 or more points in 10 out of his teams 14 games. Without Smith, the Blue Devils are still a very potent team. Kyle Singler is one of the better players in the country and either Andre Dawkins or Seth Curry seem capable of scoring in bunches if given the opportunity. Coach K is the best coach in the country and without Smith (or Irving), Duke still seems like one of the best teams in the nation.
4. Pittsburgh Panthers
7 of 10
Best Player - Ashton Gibbs (15.9 ppg and 3.1 ast)
Ranking Without Him - Top 10
Tournament Seed - 2 seed
How Deep Would They Go - Final Four
Jamie Dixon is one of the best coaches in the nation and it seems that each year Pittsburgh is in the hunt for the Big East Championship and it doesn't seem to matter who is on his team. Gibbs averaged about the same amount of points last year and continues to improve his game after a promising sophomore campaign. This ranking isn't such a testament to the Panthers talents, but rather to Jamie Dixon's coaching ability. If Gibbs were to be out of the picture, the Panthers would still win due to Jamie Dixon out coaching whoever was on the opponent's bench.
3. Texas Longhorns
8 of 10
Best Player - Jordan Hamilton (19 ppg, 7.5 reb, 2.4 ast)
Ranking Without Him -
2. Kansas Jayhawks
9 of 10
Best Player - Marcus Morris (16.7 ppg and 6.8 reb)
Ranking Without Him - Top 5
Tournament Seed - 1 seed
How Deep Would They Go - National Championship
Marcus Morris has stepped up big after Cole Aldrich, a second team All American, left early for the NBA draft. He has been a force to be reckoned with and Kansas is one of the most complete teams in the nation. Even if they were to lose Marcus Morris there would be three or four guys ready to step in and fill the void. Josh Selby, Thomas Robinson, or Markieff Morris seem very capable of picking up the scoring, rebounding, and defense that Marcus brings to the table. Bill Self has this team poised for another deep run in March with or without Marcus Morris.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
10 of 10
Best Player - Jared Sullinger (18 ppg and 9.9 reb)
Ranking Without Him - Top 15
Tournament Seed - 5 seed
How Deep Would They Go - Sweet Sixteen
Ohio State figured to be in the thick of the Big Ten race even before Sullinger jumped onto the scene as one of the top big men in the nation. Without him, they would still have plenty of scoring power with David Lighty, William Buford, and Jon Diebler, but where they would really hurt is on the boards. No other player on Ohio State averages more than five rebounds a game. They would avoid an upset in the first round and squeak out a win in the second round before losing to a top seed in the Sweet Sixteen. With Sullinger, Ohio State is a favorite to win the national championship. Without him, Ohio State doesn't stand a chance.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
