NCAA Tournament 2023: Top 10 biggest x-factor players to watch for

We all know the stars by now. Zach Edey, Drew Timme, Oscar Tshiebwe, Brandon Miller, Trayce Jackson-Davis and so on. It’s pretty obvious to say that It will be difficult for Houston to win theNCAA Tournament title if Marcus Sasser isn’t at 100%. Duh, he’s their best player. I would also state the obvious by stating that Miami needs Isaiah Wong to score the ball well if they want a chance at making a deep run.

Duh, they rely heavily on his scoring at times. But basketball is a team sport and while the stars are the rightful focus of much of the analysis you’ll see on ESPN and the Turner networks, the key to a team making a big run can come in the form of a role player stepping up or providing relief for one of these team’s fatal flaws.

This year’s tournament seems to be as wide open as it has ever been (I feel like I keep saying this same thing each March but trust me on this). One of the reasons that this is so wide open is that the best teams have some fatal flaws. Baylor and Gonzaga are offensive juggernauts who have trouble guarding just about anyone, Purdue seems to rely heavily on one player, Creighton and Arizona have incredible starting five’s but very little coming off the bench and teams like Arkansas have great rosters but haven’t been healthy all season long.

There are so many factors that come into play when a team makes a run. Take last year, for example. Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun were two of Kansas’ best and better-known players last season but if Remy Martin doesn’t come off the bench and knock down some huge threes, they don’t complete the comeback against North Carolina in the national title game. In 2015, Duke’s Grayson Allen brought his team filled with much more heralded freshman back from the dead against Wisconsin and was the x-factor in Coach K’s final championship. Or we can use one of my favorite examples of Luke Hancock coming off the bench and catching fire in a tight 2013 championship game between Louisville and Michigan.

Who will be this year’s Hancock, or Allen or Martin? I’m telling you, there will be an unsuspected hero at some point during this journey. Here are a few of my suspects who can be the x-factors to their teams making deep runs.