NCAA Basketball Roundtable: ACC/Big Ten Challenge, early surprises

NCAA Basketball Roundtable: ACC/Big Ten Challenge, early surprises of 2020-21

Dec 3, 2020; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) and guard Joe Wieskamp (10) and guard CJ Fredrick (5) and guard Jordan Bohannon (3) come off the court during the second half against the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball Villanova Wildcats Jeremiah Robinson-Earl David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /

4. If Gonzaga and Baylor are the consensus top-2 teams, who would you say is the 3rd?

Burgess

Despite their loss to Virginia Tech last week I still think the Villanova Wildcats are the 3rd best team in the country. Their rotation isn’t very deep right now with six players seeing the bulk of the minutes, but those six are extremely good. Point guard Collin Gillespie is averaging 14 points and four assists, and forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl leads the team in both scoring and rebounding at 16.2 and nine rebounds respectively.

Guards Justin Moore and the physical Caleb Daniels are both averaging double figures and Cole Swider is chipping in nearly eight points and three rebounds off the bench. An already great team will get even better when Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Bryan Antoine return from their injuries.

Zacker

It is still Iowa until someone can defend and shut down Luka Garza, but I actually think Houston has a stake in the claim. They are 4-0 with great double-digit wins over Boise State, Texas Tech, and South Carolina – the latter without Kelvin Sampson and AAC Player of the Year Caleb Mills. They have returned nearly 80% of their output from last year’s 23-win team – don’t be surprised to see them repeat and sweep through the AAC.

Thedinga

I know they lost to Virginia Tech, but I’d have Villanova as the third-best team in the country. The Wildcats looked terrific in a win over Arizona State and also beat a very good Texas team. Robinson-Earl has looked sensational and every-bit worth the hype early on this year.

Zinkula

Kansas. The Jayhawks admittedly didn’t look like the No. 3 team in the country in their 65-61 victory over North Dakota St. That said, Kansas’s combination of experience (Marcus Garrett, Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack), new talent (Jalen Wilson, Tyon Grant-Foster, Bryce Thompson) and Bill Self’s coaching should make them formidable moving forward.

Self has experimented with several lineup combinations early on (including Wilson at center), and I expect Kansas to continue improving as the best units become more apparent.

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