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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) /
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SAN ANTONIO, TX – MARCH 23: Isaiah Austin #21 of the Baylor Bears (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX – MARCH 23: Isaiah Austin #21 of the Baylor Bears (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

11. The Basketball Tournament power rankings – HEARTFIRE

Actual Ranking: #14 – Round of 24 Matchup: #19 Men Of Mackey (Purdue alumni) on July 5th

Named after a humanitarian relief organization, this team is “hoping to use TBT to bring attention to HeartFire missions.” “HEARTFIRE” might just be the most unpredictable team in the bracket this year, even with their roster construction considering former Boston Celtics teammates Nate Robinson and Glen Davis were rumored to join this team but are currently not rostered.

Something that immediately differentiates this team is head coach Homer Drew, the legendary Valparaiso head coach who has 640 career wins and coached Valparaiso to eight different conference regular-season titles and eight conference tournament titles. A four-time Mid-Con coach of the year, he put Valparaiso on the map and was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Baylor is represented on this team with 4 alums, along with Michigan State with two. 7’1″ Isaiah Austin shined at Baylor and was supposed to be a 2014 NBA lottery pick before he was not medically cleared due to Marfan Syndrome. However, he’s medically cleared now and had an amazing showing last year in the TBT during an Elite 8 run for Loyalty is Love. Another Baylor big man Quincy Miller played on that same TBT team (Demarcus Cousins was the GM) and will once again be a very tough duo in the frontcourt (both guys were ranked #5 in their recruiting class).

Michigan State’s Brendan Dawson was a 2015 NBA draft pick and was a big piece in 7th seeded team making the 2015 Final Four. Former Xavier/Arizona star Mark Lyons is an under the radar guy who I think could make a name for himself in the TBT. A 2013 All-Pac 12 player, he is a scoring machine that can take considerable attention away from a stacked frontcourt. The ceiling of this team will skyrocket with Nate Robinson and Glen Davis, but even without them, this is a team that can definitely make a deep run. Like all first-year TBT teams though, they will have to gel quickly in order to maximize their strengths and potential.

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