Busting Brackets
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Pac-12 Basketball: 5 biggest questions for rest of 2019-20 season

By Tristan Freeman

ANCHORAGE, AK - NOVEMBER 08: Elijah Hardy #10 of the Washington Huskies reacts in the first half against the Baylor Bears during the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Alaska Airlines Center on November 8, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
ANCHORAGE, AK - NOVEMBER 08: Elijah Hardy #10 of the Washington Huskies reacts in the first half against the Baylor Bears during the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Alaska Airlines Center on November 8, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CA – DECEMBER 01: Nico Mannion #1 of the Arizona Wildcats is congratulated by Max Hazzard #5 of the Arizona Wildcats (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – DECEMBER 01: Nico Mannion #1 of the Arizona Wildcats is congratulated by Max Hazzard #5 of the Arizona Wildcats (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

1. Are the Arizona Wildcats overrated?

Hope

As it currently stands, Arizona is playing like the 5th best team in the Pac-12 at best. So, from that perspective, they are overrated and probably shouldn’t be ranked ahead of Colorado and Stanford. However, if there is any team outside of Oregon and Washington that has the talent capacity to become an upper-echelon team, it is the Wildcats. All it will take is a bit more consistency from the freshman trio of Mannion, Green and Nnaji, plus a few more buckets from their rotational pieces. Right now, however, they are closer to a bubble team than a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

Cravalho

I wouldn’t say Arizona is overrated but they’re most definitely lacking in depth within the backcourt. Nico Mannion and Josh Green can’t do everything by themselves. Max Hazzard needs to step up and start contributing to this team. The Wildcats have the personnel to make a run in March but someone from the bench has to make an impact (starting in PAC-12 play).

Dieckhoff

They were. I was at the head of that bandwagon, too. I had Arizona as a Top 5 team early in the year, but I think they may actually be a bit underrated at the moment. They have three immense talents in Nico Mannion, Zeke Nnaji, and Josh Green. They’re getting close to falling out of the Top 25, but that seems like an overreaction to me. The Wildcats are one of the 15 best teams in the country, though I’d hesitate to go further than that.

Verboven

Yes, right now I think the Arizona Wildcats are overrated by the national media. Coming into the season, the expectations were sky-high for the Wildcats and their dynamic Freshman backcourt duo of Josh Green and Nico Mannion. Two early wins against Illinois and New Mexico St. don’t look as good now as they did then and they have now dropped 3 of their last 4. Losing: At Baylor, vs Gonzaga by 4, and St. Johns by 2 isn’t the end of the world, but what bothers me is the play of Nico Mannion (24 FG%) and Josh Green (32 FG%) in those games.

The competition isn’t going away anytime soon, with the “Conference of Champions” having 5-6 capable tournament teams this year. They will have to pick up their play if they want to keep that top 25 ranking. The surprise for the Wildcats has been Zeke Nnaji, who has averaged an impressive 16.5 PPG and 7.8 RPG so far. Arizona should end up being a team ranked in the 15-20 range by seasons end.

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