2023 Bracketology: Biggest impact matchups to watch during Feast week
Battle 4 Atlantis November 23-25, Paradise Island, Bahamas
It’s time to hop to another island for the next tournament, as we head to Paradise Island, Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis. Much like Maui, this field is loaded with teams with high postseason expectations including defending champ Kansas who takes on NC State in the opening round, Atlantic 10 favorite Dayton who battles Wisconsin, and Tennessee who faces Butler. Whether you’re a team looking to build an at-large portfolio or trying to get as high on the seed list as possible, the opportunities to do so will be bountiful in the Bahamas.
For Kansas (4-0), Jalen Wilson and freshman Gradey Dick have been dominant averaging 41.3 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists while knocking down 41.5% of their shots from downtown. NC State is 4-0 and this is a chance for sophomore Terquavion Smith to shine. The 6-4 guard has been phenomenal this season for head coach Kevin Keatts, netting 19 points and dishing out 5.3 assists and has a three-to-two assist-to-turnover ratio. After knocking off Duke in the Champions Classic, the Jayhawks’ quest to repeat rolls into the Bahamas looking to build a resume worthy of a No. 1 overall seed.
No. 21 Dayton (3-1) enters the tournament looking to put the stink of a loss to UNLV where they lost a 12-point lead behind them. While Dayton’s offensive numbers won’t wow people, it’s on the defensive end where Anthony Grant’s team makes its hay. On the defensive end, the Flyers are in the top 60 in effective field-goal percentage, two-point percentage, and three-point percentage. Expect this one to be a defensive slugfest against an equally as stingy Wisconsin (3-0) team who boasts the best three-point percentage defense in the country.
USC (3-1) takes on BYU (3-1) in a game where I feel like both teams are still trying to find their identities. The Pac-12 has struggled (again) to begin the year and Andy Enfield’s Trojans got the conference off on the wrong foot when they lost to Florida Gulf Coast by 13. The Cougars on the other hand, while having won three games by an average of six points, they lost their one test to San Diego State. If BYU hopes to have any at-large hopes they need to land some signature wins before WCC play begins and the Bahamas gives them a good chance to do so.
The final first-round matchup sees No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers (2-1) taking on Thad Matta’s Butler Bulldogs (3-1) part deux. The Volunteers stumbled recently in a loss to Colorado and despite putting up 74 points per game this year, they have struggled offensively as they rank just 247th in effective field goal percentage and just 276th in two-point percentage. NC State transfer Manny Bates has been a revelation for the Bulldogs averaging 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 74% from the field. Butler has been very good so far at preventing their opponents from getting shots off, but when they do it has a decent shot of going in, especially from deep where opponents are making 36%.
The Bahamas should have a bevy of quad 1 wins available and with this field relatively balanced the wins will benefit whoever is lucky enough to grab them.