Bracketology 2020: Ranking the 16 teams from early bracket reveal

8. Louisville Cardinals (21-3, 12-1 in ACC)

Every bit as good as the preseason predictions suggested, Louisville taken care of business throughout the season. That includes a current 10-game winning streak, with a road win at Duke a part of it. Jordan Nwora (19.5 ppg and 7.4 rpg) is in a two-way battle for ACC Player of the Year, while the frontcourt trio of Malik Williams, Dwayne Sutton and Steven Enoch will be a tough matchup for any team in the Big Dance.

The simple but very important question about the Cardinals will be whether the guards can provide enough balance to make it all the way. Guards David Johnson, Darius Perry and Lamarr Kimble have been erratic at times, while senior sharpshooter Ryan McMahon puts up either 12+ points or less than five. At their best, Louisville can win six straight games and win the national title. But their floor is lower than the rest of the teams on this list as well.

7. Maryland Terrapins (19-4, 9-3 in Big Ten)

While other conferences are struggling to get even four teams in the NCAA Tournament, the Big Ten is on pace to land a whopping 12 into the field, with what likely seems to be a minimum of at least 10. That makes it even more impressive to be the current leader of the group as Maryland is, led by one of the best duos in the country in guard Anthony Cowan and double-double machine big man Jalen Smith.

What concerns me about the Terps is that after the Mitchell twins elected to transfer, they’ve been a six-man rotation, with a few others getting a couple minutes to offset potential foul trouble. That means that not only can Cowan and Smith not afford to get into foul trouble or have an off-night, the role players have to consistently play well also. In one and done tournaments where anything can happen such as massive foul trouble, it makes you not want to bet on a team so heavily reliant on two players.