Busting Brackets
Fansided

NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 24 teams in 2020 “The Basketball Tournament”

By Max Marmitt

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 30: D.J. Kennedy #1 of the St. John's Red Storm celebrates the win against the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on January 30, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 30: D.J. Kennedy #1 of the St. John's Red Storm celebrates the win against the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on January 30, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
15 of 26
Next
BLOOMINGTON, IN – JANUARY 11: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN – JANUARY 11: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

12. The Basketball Tournament power rankings – Big X

Actual Ranking: #9 – Round of 24 Matchup: #24 Jackson TN Underdawgs on July 4th

Built upon former Big Ten players (except for Holy Cross alum Jehyve Floyd), this is a very respectable squad that is in good position to make a run. This can technically be considered a second Ohio State alumni squad, considering five Ohio State alums are on the roster. A pair of Wisconsin teammates Vitto Brown and Khalil Iverson is on this team and were very impactful during their Wisconsin careers. Both are athletic guys with TBT experience.

This team is loaded with frontcourt talent, especially All-Big Ten players in Michigan State’s Nick Ward and Ohio  State’s Kaleb Wesson. This is almost like an NBA tryout for Kaleb Wesson, as he is entering the NBA Draft this year and currently does not have the opportunity to showcase his talents in team workouts as a result of COVID-19. CJ Jackson is a solid point guard who averaged 12 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for Ohio State in 2019.

This looks to be the youngest team in the field, but Big X has been in the TBT since 2018 and put up a decent fight against Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State alumni and ranked #1 this year), a game that was really close until the 4th quarter. While the guard play for Big X is serviceable, I don’t think it matches the standard it takes to make a championship run. Guard play is usually what sparks the deepest runs in the TBT. However, the frontcourt talent of this team is fantastic, and the guards could be good enough for this team to go far.

Home/NCAA Basketball News