Which College Produces the Best NBA Talent?

Opening Round

Kentucky vs. Michigan State

Not surprisingly, Kentucky fields an absolutely dominant lineup. A loaded back court has them benching Eric Bledsoe for Rajon Rondo and John Wall. The front court of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins would dominate NBA teams, let alone college-based teams.

Michigan State, on the other hand, fields a team made almost entirely of recent draftees, with Zach Randolph and Jason Richardson added in. Really it’s not a contest. Kentucky in a rout.

UNC vs. Michigan

Similar to Kentucky, UNC has a pretty loaded roster. While their front court might be a little thin, it certainly won’t be a problem in the opening rounds. With Ty Lawson running the show, I expect lots of running, unless Raymond Felton is on the court.

Michigan, like their inner-state rival, is way, way undersized. Their only hope is to push, push, push the pace and avoid half-court sets. Against UNC, though, they’d welcome that and Michigan would likely get thumped.

UCLA vs. Washington

A natural Pac-12 “rivalry,” the Bruins have tons of talent in the back court with Jrue Holiday, Russell Westbrook, and Darren Collison. I also left off Jordan Farmar, who could add even more depth. However, that back court depth is offset by their lack of it in the front court. Trevor Ariza and Matt Barnes would need to play the stretch four more often than not.

Washington has a surprisingly solid team, headlined by Nate Robinson. They have the size to compete with UCLA at the start, but lack depth. In the end, UCLA wins easily.

Duke vs. Wake Forest

Another natural rivalry, this one a little more fierce. Duke has well-rounded, deep lineup with Kyrie Irving as the star. Add in the recent draftee Jabari Parker, sharp-shooter J.J. Redick, and young athletic big men Mason and Miles Plumlee, and Duke could give teams fits.

Wake Forest fields the trio Chris Paul, Jeff Teague, and Tim Duncan, but fall so low because they have nothing else. Al-Farouq Aminu is a decent defender, but adds nothing offensively, and their offense outside of those three is non-existent. If that trio goes off, they could pull off an upset, but hard to see against Duke’s depth. No first round exits this time for Coach K.

Kansas vs. Georgia Tech

The Jayhawks have another surprisingly deep lineup, including Andrew Wiggins and the Morris twins, recent players in Phog Allen. Add in the veterans Paul Pierce and Nick Collison and you have a good starting lineup. However, they lack depth in the front court, which could create issues.

Georgia Tech has plenty of talent in the front court, with Chris Bosh, Thaddeus Young, and Derrick Favors in the starting lineup. Anthony Morrow off the bench can play a stretch four, too. With Jarrett Jack, Iman Shumpert, and Will Bynum in the back court, this is a solid enough team. I’ll go ahead and call this our first upset, because why not.

Florida vs. USC

Florida has possibly the best starting front court, with Joakim Noah and Al Horford, who played on the same Florida team. With David Lee and Udonis Haslem off the bench, they certainly have the deepest front court. However, they lack a true point guard, with Bradley Beal the starter. Chandler Parsons could play ball handler, but the offense will go through the post regardless.

USC has a good enough starting lineup, but they only run six deep. They certainly wouldn’t lack scoring and Taj Gibson and Nikola Vucevic is a good front court, but they have one bench player, and it’s DeWayne Dedmond. Easy win for Florida.

UConn vs. Syracuse

The Huskies, fresh off a national title, have a good small ball lineup. With Rudy Gay as the stretch four and Andre Drummond inside to clean up the glass, they could have some success with the lineup. Emeka Okafor off the bench gives them some defense, but they lack depth in the back court. Ben Gordon, Ray Allen, and Kemba Walker is one of the best back courts, though, especially from a scoring prospective.

Syracuse has a lot of talent with absolutely zero front court depth. Carmelo Anthony would have the task of battling Andre Drummond down low. However, they have probably the perfect opponent as UConn doesn’t have much depth. This game would be closer than some anticipate, but UConn will win out.

Texas vs. Arizona

The good ole’ 8 vs. 9 matchup. Texas trots out arguably the NBA’s best player with one of the best post players. Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge, however, won’t be able to do it all down low and the team could run into problems with no front court depth.

Arizona has what Texas lacks in front court talent. While they may lack true centers, Jordan Hill, Channing Frye, Derrick Williams, and Aaron Gordon is a good rotation. This team would be very good defensively, with Andre Iguodala in the starting lineup. With Iguodala on Durant and a rotation of post players, Arizona pulls off the “upset.”