NCAA Tournament 2023: Teams that most resemble last year’s Final Four squads

This year’s Kansas – Arizona

Let’s finish it off with last year’s champs, the Kansas Jayhawks. That team earned a 1-seed, shaking off the disappointment of the previous season, which saw them get blown out in the second round of the tournament by a lower-seeded USC team. With Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun on the perimeter and David McCormack providing the muscle inside, the Jayhawks’ versatility led them to the title. Arizona State transfer Remy Martin added a crucial scoring element that the previous year’s team lacked, and he helped turn the tide and erase a big halftime deficit in the national championship game.

I see a lot of that Kansas team in this year’s Arizona Wildcats. This team has multiple ways to hurt you, whether it’s Kerr Kriisa and Pelle Larsson on the wings, or Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo down low. Like Kansas, Arizona has bounced back following the sting of a disappointing finish the previous season. That team was the #2 overall seed in the tournament but got beaten in the Sweet Sixteen by Houston. Like the Jayhawks, Arizona added an impact transfer of their own, former Texas guard Courtney Ramey. Ramey made the game-winning shot in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game.

Though Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd doesn’t yet have the track record that Bill Self has spent decades cultivating, he’s one of the most highly regarded coaches in the country. Both teams won their conference title games against teams with the #1 ranked adjusted defense according to KenPom, an ability that is usually indicative of upcoming NCAA Tournament success.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Arizona is going to win its first national title since 1997, but they are on the shortlist of contenders.

Honorable mention

The Big 12 was the best conference in the nation this year, and the same was true last year, when Kansas split the regular season series with defending national champion Baylor. The Jayhawks then went on to win the Big 12 Tournament title, and both teams earned top seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

Who did the same thing in the same conference this year? That’s right, the Texas Longhorns. Rodney Terry’s bunch even added a second win over defending champion Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament final. The committee gave Texas a 2-seed, but I would argue that they should have gotten the final 1 over Purdue. Like Kansas, the Longhorns have all the ingredients to make a title run.

Every tournament is different, and everything we think we know almost always ends up being totally wrong. That’s what makes March Madness so great. The teams that make a magical run etch themselves in our minds. Who will it be this year? We don’t have long left to find out.