No team may be more polarizing or more difficult to determine if they are elite than Creighton Basketball. Their 12-4 conference record technically places them behind Villanova who has a better winning percentage with an 8-2 record.
Yet, the Bluejays defeated Villanova as recently as Feb. 13, 2021, by a convincing score of 86-70. Head Coach Greg McDermott and the Bluejays have an overall record of 16-5, unfortunately, three of those losses came at the hands of Quad 3 teams, two of which were on their home court.
Their top-25 NET ranking is due to their success in the Big East as they have defeated Villanova while sweeping two sets of games versus Seton Hall and Connecticut. If their one-point loss to Kansas in early December would have been a victory, it would have been enough to propel the Bluejays into any and every top-10 ranking, as it would have compensated for their 70-66 defeat at Butler which stands as their worst loss of the season.
As the calendar flips from February to March the Bluejays will be looking to maintain their AP Poll ranking, which would be their best in program history on Selection Sunday. Those final four conference games, which includes a rematch versus Villanova, will set them up for a run in the Big East tournament which will hopefully give them momentum as they enter the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Momentum is what the Bluejays will need as they attempt to win two games in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1973-74 season when they won the Midwest Regional Third Place game versus Louisville. A claim to the Bluejays’ possibility of success will be accompanied by evidence along with reasoning to create a point of validity prior to refuting counter-arguments for the Bluejays fate come tournament time.