NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 10 matchups in 2020-21 Big 12/Big East Challenge
2. Creighton at Kansas
Even with the recent announcement that leading scorer Ty-Shon Alexander is off to the NBA, the Bluejays still have plenty of firepower. Marus Zegarowski and Mitchell Blaylock at all-conference guards, while Damien Jefferson, Christian Bishop and Denzel Mahoney (if he returns from the NBA Draft) are quality complementary pieces. They also get Memphis transfer guard Antwann Jones for next season to add even more depth.
Creighton managed to finished tied for 1st place in the Big East despite having essentially no kind of frontcourt. That won’t be the case next season, with four-star center prospect Ryan Kalkbrenner coming in, as well as junior Jacob Epperson coming back from a season-ending injury, With any kind of production from the big men, the Bluejays will be a top-10 team again.
Kansas is always a top-10 team and will continue to be next year, despite losing its two best players Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson. Ochai Agbaji and Marcus Garrett will be back after declining to test the draft waters, while big man David McCormack is set for a breakout junior season as the premier frontcourt player.
The biggest question for next year’s team is how incoming five-star guard Bryce Thompson does. Will he continue the streak of consecutive seasons of the Jayhawks having a quality point guard or does he suffer some freshmen breakdowns? The same goes for Tyon Grant-Foster, a 6’7 wing who is now the top incoming JUCO transfer after Jay Scrubb of Louisville opted to enter the NBA Draft. Their production will determine the ceiling of Kansas next season.
Creighton has the offense to make this game close, even in Allen Fieldhouse. But the Jayhawks were the No. 1 defensive team in the country last season and even without Azubuike and Dotson should still be up there in 2020-21. In a battle of strengths, the defensive unit usually wins out.