4. New Mexico Lobos – 14-0 (2-0)
Although they nearly lost to Wyoming this past weekend, the Lobos are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Basketball. They have wins over San Francisco, Saint Mary’s, Iona, and Colorado State on the resume, thanks to a pair of frontcourt transfers in Morris Udeze and Josiah Allick, both of whom have had a big impact on the season.
Pair them with last year’s transfer guards, Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn Jr., both of whom are averaging 17.1 ppg so far. New Mexico is one of the top-scoring teams in the country and looks like a genuine contender in the Mountain West. It’s been a remarkable improvement under head coach Richard Pitino in just a couple of years, thanks in part to the transfer portal.
3. UConn Huskies – 14-1 (3-1)
The Huskies were receiving votes at the start of the season but few saw them being the No. 2 team in the country at one point while beating everyone by 10+ points. Even with the recent loss to Xavier, this is a team that has national title aspirations. Adama Sanogo (17.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg) is having the breakout campaign as expected, while Tristen Newton has been an effective transfer pickup.
The keys to UConn being successful have been due to Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson’s stellar all-around play. Jackson leads the team with 5.1 apg and has been a triple-double threat on several occasions. And Hawkins is the team’s second-best scorer at 14.6 ppg. If these two continue to play well, this will be a team capable of making a deep run in March.
Add us as a preferred source on Google