NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Toppin best mid-major performers of the non-conference
By Logan Butts
As the non-conference portion of the 2019-20 NCAA Basketball season winds down, we take a look at the top mid-major teams and players heading into conference play.
Best Team of the Non-Conference: Gonzaga
Who else would it be? It’s almost not even fair to include Gonzaga for this category. Not only are they the best NCAA Basketball mid-major in America, but they are also the best team in the country, period. The Zags were nearly unanimously voted into the number one spot in the latest AP Poll, garnering all but two votes, with the other two going to Duke and Kansas. But as good as the Blue Devils and Jayhawks are, the eye test tells me that the Zags are a level ahead of those two flawed but talented groups.
Am injury-marred blowout loss to Michigan in the Battle for Atlantis championship game is the only blemish on an otherwise sparkling record. They have a win against a top-five team on a neutral court (Oregon), road victories at Washington and Arizona, a home win over a struggling North Carolina squad, and a chance to once again dominate a competitive West Coast Conference.
Filip Petrusev has been huge by stepping into the void left open by current NBA rookies Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke. Corey Kispert, Killian Tillie, and freshman Drew Timme and Anton Watson make for a formidable frontcourt. North Texas transfer Ryan Woolridge has filled in admirably for graduated leader Josh Perkins, while Texas A&M transfer Admon Gilder and sophomore Joel Ayayi are controlling the wings.
Honorable mentions: San Diego State (the best non-Gonzaga mid-major by a significant margin and one of two undefeated teams left in the nation), Northern Iowa, Saint Mary’s, Utah State, East Tennessee State, Yale, Liberty, Stephen F. Austin, UNC G, and Vermont.