NCAA Basketball: Breakdown of all 32 autobids for 2022 NCAA Tournament
By Bryan Mauro
Villanova Wildcats – Big East
Record: 26-7 and 16-4 in Conference
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Colors: White and Blue
Last Appearance: 2020-2021
The Wildcats are another team that shouldn’t need much of an introduction, they are a recent National Champion and are a sure-fire bet to make the second weekend near every year. Villanova is a blue blood program and the premier program in the Big East every year. The Wildcats have four seniors in the starting five and a junior who is a three-year starter.
They have a ton of experience they know how to win and do not panic in a close game in a tournament setting. The Wildcats do what they do, they full-court press most of the game and take make a ton of threes. Villanova has not changed much under their head coach Jay Wright and when they are hitting shots, they can overwhelm a lot of lower-tier opponents quickly.
Akron Zips – MAC
Record: 24-9 and 14-6 in Conference
Location: Akron, Ohio
Colors: Blue and Gold
Last Appearance: 2012-2013
The Zips may have the best defensive player in the entire tournament. Enrique Freeman was the MAC defensive player of the year and he doesn’t block a ton of shots or get a lot of steals, but he makes it terrible for opposing centers to score in the paint. He is also averaging a double-double this year. Akron made a run to the conference title by beating the two top-seeded teams and playing their best basketball heading into the tournament.
Akron shoots the ball well from deep and has the best shooter in the MAC in Ali Ali. The other thing to consider with the Zips is they play one of the slowest paces in the country and force teams to play slow as well. They love it when teams play slow and can keep any game close when they are forcing the tempo.