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NCAA Basketball: 5 most watchable teams for 2019-20 season

By Max Hastings

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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SPOKANE, WA – FEBRUARY 21: Fans for the Gonzaga Bulldogs cheer for their team in the game against the Pepperdine Waves at McCarthey Athletic Center on February 21, 2019 in Spokane, Washington. Gonzaga defeated Pepperdine 92-64. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WA – FEBRUARY 21: Fans for the Gonzaga Bulldogs cheer for their team in the game against the Pepperdine Waves at McCarthey Athletic Center on February 21, 2019 in Spokane, Washington. Gonzaga defeated Pepperdine 92-64. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /

There are 353 Division 1 NCAA Basketball teams for the 2019-20 season. These five will be the most exciting to watch this season.

We all know the excitement of NCAA Basketball and the season is nearly upon us. But how many times have you been stuck in front of a low-scoring turnover-fest, where one team fails to score even 20 points by halftime? As your eyes glaze over in the final minutes of a 38-39 final score, you have to ask yourself–how do I find watchable college basketball games? Is there some way to know which teams, night after night, are most likely to be involved in exciting, high-paced scoring?

There is – if you pick the right games.

Love ’em or hate ’em, the Golden State Warriors have unlocked the key to fast-paced, exciting basketball action. Using stats that the Warriors excel at- assists, pacing, and of course three-point shooting, I’ve developed the Max Watchability Index.

The Max Watchability Index is basically an algorithm, using those said stats. This algorithm rates NCAA teams against their peers using five analytical stats, Offensive Efficiency, Effective Field Goal Percentage, Assists per Field Goals Made, Percentage of Points from the Three-Point Line and Pace of Play (determined by possessions per game). These five stats are stats the 2016 73 win Warriors team, a team many basketball experts (including SI’s Ben Golliver) refer to as the most entertaining team of all time, lead the league in. So, if a team ranks number one in a certain stat, they get one point, while if a team ranks last (353) in the league they get that number of points (all rankings from TeamRankings.com). This meaning the lower the score, the more watchable your offense is.

For example, Michigan State, who lead the nation in assists last year and was near the top in all the other categories, was the most watchable team last year, scoring a 283. Syracuse, on the other hand, ranked last in watchability, with a score of 1206 and ranking in the bottom half in the nation in every category.

So, after taking a look at all 353 NCAA Division I basketball teams, I have narrowed down the five most watchable teams (based on how their teams did last year plus how they did on the recruiting trail in offseason) heading into the 2019-2020 season. Make sure to tune in whenever these teams take the court.

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