With the college basketball season almost over and conference tournament week right around the corner, most college basketball fans have a better sense by now of who the dominant teams are this season. Florida, Wichita State, Arizona and Duke are all teams that come to mind. But, there are a few teams that have been flying under the radar who I believe can make a run in this year’s tournament and this article will showcase those teams.
North Carolina Tar Heels. The Tar Heels definitely did not start their season off the way that they wanted to. Losses to Belmont and UAB are evidence of that. But, the Heels are one of the hottest teams in college basketball right now. They have won 12 straight games and they only have one remaining game left on their schedule, which is a tough contest on the road against Duke this Saturday. If UNC can win this game, they may be going into conference week as the hottest team in the ACC, and perhaps the nation.
Oklahoma State Cowboys. Ever since point guard Marcus Smart returned from his three-game suspension for pushing a Texas Tech fan, Oklahoma State has been playing lights out. They are currently on a four-game winning streak, even though they had a prior seven-game losing streak before this run occurred. After they beat Kansas last Saturday, the Cowboys went from being a bubble team to having a very good chance of getting in the tournament. They face a tough season finale game this Saturday at Iowa State, but it may not matter based on the way they’re currently playing.
Saint Joseph’s Hawks. This team may be a surprise for some, but the Hawks have perhaps been the hottest team in the A-10 over the past month or so. They have quality wins over VCU, UMass and twice against Dayton. Senior guard Langston Galloway has been playing very well as of late, as has senior forward Ronald Roberts, Jr. Phil Martelli has done a great job with his team this year, which reminds me a bit of their 2003-2004 team that made a historic run to the Elite Eight that season.
SMU Mustangs. If any college basketball coach deserves to be in the race for Coach of the Year honors, it’s Larry Brown. The long-time NBA coach has turned SMU into a well-respected college basketball program. After the team went a mediocre 15-17 last year, the Mustangs are currently 23-6 in a tough American Athletic Conference. So far they took down Cincinnati, Memphis and UConn (twice!). They have two tough games to finish out the season, (Louisville and on the road against Memphis) but I can’t wait to see what this team does in March.
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