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

Rules and unique aspects of The Basketball Tournament

The “Elam Ending” skyrocketed in popularity this year when the crunchtime concept was probably the biggest component to fixing the lack of competitiveness in the NBA All-Star Game, a boost the TBT made years ago. The Elam Ending begins when the first dead ball occurs under the 4-minute mark. After that, a target score is created by adding seven points (not eight points this year like it was in 2019) to the winning team’s score, and the team that reaches the target score first wins.

Eliminating the endless amount of intentional fouling while also keeping a natural pace of play, every game feels like it ends on a buzzer-beater due to the winning team clinching their victory with a made basket. The TBT uses rules primarily from the NCAA but also incorporates rules from FIBA and the NBA, a great combination of rules over the course of four 9-minute quarters.

While 1-2 million dollars is a substantial amount of money, there’s much more than just the money these teams are playing for. You have several NCAA basketball college alumni teams every year, teams playing for a cause/charity, and plenty of teams play for other unique motivations (like AAU programs, business companies, international basketball, NFL player sponsorships, etc.). It’s also fair to mention that a majority of these players are basically auditioning for a spot to return or make the NBA.

With 23 college alumni teams in the bracket just last year, the TBT always has a strong amount of teams priding themselves for the school they played for, whether it’s representations from the major conferences or the mid-major conferences. Schools like Kentucky, Kansas, Kansas State, Ohio State, Villanova, Iowa, Iowa State, Marquette, Syracuse, Wisconsin, Wichita State, Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, West Virginia, Memphis, George Mason, Old Dominion, UMBC, Dayton, Clemson, and so many more.

That list goes on and on, not even including some of the new college teams that applied this year including teams like Auburn, Illinois, Purdue, Oklahoma State Virginia Tech, Washington, Maryland, Marshall, St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech, and Virginia. The players will leave everything out on the floor for their college alumni, and the intensity elevates even higher when college basketball rivalries are restored. Coming from someone who watched the Marquette alumni team play live in the Final Four and Championship last year at Depaul’s homecourt Wintrust Arena, the atmosphere really felt like another sellout Marquette crowd.

On April 12th, ESPN college basketball play-by-play announcer tweeted “Seriously, I think @thetournament will save basketball in America this summer.” Many TBT teams add considerable additions to their roster right before the TBT starts, meaning the talented list of players in the field will only be expanding.

https://twitter.com/thetournament/status/1272939732280979456

TBT fans can have an incentive as well, potentially making thousands of dollars if they register themselves as a supporter of a team that eventually wins the championship. After what seems like an eternity without live basketball, the TBT will be the basketball we all need to bridge the gap going back into the NBA.

This isn’t a glorified AAU basketball tournament, these are professional basketball players playing like there’s no tomorrow. Every possession truly matters in the TBT as you will frequently see players diving for loose balls and going for rebounds like their lives depend on it. With legitimate stakes on the line, you’re seeing the true competitiveness, talent, and high-level basketball that you can only find in very few basketball leagues. Having NCAA/NBA announcers and referees add more elements to that high-level basketball experience as well.

If you haven’t watched TBT by now, this is a must-watch basketball event that will be the closest thing we’ll have to experiencing March Madness this year.

So with all that being said, here are my power rankings for the 24 teams competing for 1 million dollars from July 4th-14th…