NCAA Basketball: Michigan, Ohio State highlight Monday Morning Mailbag
By Brian Rauf
What are the biggest NCAA Basketball questions you have this week? We answer them all in this week’s Mailbag, including looks at Syracuse, Michigan, Ohio State, and more.
I could write a long intro about all the latest happenings in NCAA Basketball, but the only thing that really matters right now in the sports world is the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. Eulogizing him properly is impossible due to all his accomplishments, but it’s also unnecessary. Everyone knows exactly what Kobe meant to everyone else and the impact he had, which might be the coolest thing of all.
Anyways, let’s try to do a mailbag.
Do you have a college basketball or NBA Draft question you want to have answered? Join the conversation on Twitter @brauf33. Thanks as always to those who contributed this week.
Who is the current 4th best team in the ACC?
— Tristan Freeman (@hoopsnut351) January 26, 2020
Right now, as crazy as it seems, the only right answer is Syracuse. I wrote off the Orange earlier this season because of their lack of offensive firepower and defensive deficiencies. While their defense is still suspect, they’ve found a good offensive recipe with the improvements of Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard III.
It helps that literally every other team in contention for that spot has laid an egg over the past week, so they don’t exactly have a high bar to clear, but it’s the Orange right now.
I think the Big Ten will tie the Big East’s record and get 11 teams into the tournament. I think there’s a real chance they get 12 – everyone other than Northwestern and Nebraska – but 11 is very doable. That leaves another team out, which I think will end up being either Purdue, Minnesota, or Wisconsin. My guess is that the Badgers will be that team (I think they’ll fall apart with their tough schedule down the stretch), but the Boilermakers have an uphill battle to climb.
Which team if they made the tournament would be more dangerous Ohio State or Michigan?
— Dylan Freeman (@DylanFreemanVP) January 26, 2020
Consistency is the biggest problem for both teams, but for different reasons. Michigan essentially goes as Isaiah Livers goes and he has been hurt lately. If he’s healthy, I trust the Wolverines more than Ohio State, who simply forgot how to play basketball at a high level. Both of them showed in November and December how dangerous they can be, yet I trust a healthy Michigan more than I do Ohio State.