NCAA Tournament 2023: Ranking the surprise Elite 8 teams left in the field
By Joey Loose
1. 4 Connecticut
At one point earlier in the season, Connecticut was quite possibly the #1 team in the nation, even if the polls didn’t reflect that. They began the year 14-0 after a dominant performance at the Phil Knight Invitational and survived a rough stretch early in Big East play. Clearly, the Huskies are playing tough basketball again and there’s no team in the country playing better than Dan Hurley’s squad right now.
The Huskies beat both Alabama and Marquette by 15 points this season and have a win over fellow- Elite Eight squad Creighton too. They’ve gotten the great junior season they expected from star big man Adama Sanogo and have seen impressive contributions from freshmen Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan as well. In the backcourt, Jordan Hawkins has been an elite shooter in the Tournament while Tristen Newton has been the missing piece this team needed to run the point.
The Huskies have quite simply dominated in the Tournament, winning easily against Iona, Saint Mary’s, and Arkansas to get to the Elite Eight for the first time in nine years. All the hopes and dreams that Hurley has worked for these last five years are starting to come together and the Huskies currently sit 1st in KenPom, with that elite offensive presence carrying them. The current favorites, despite being a 4-seed, can anyone stop these Huskies with the way they’ve been going in recent weeks?
What happened to the preseason top-25 teams?. dark. Next
We don’t know what will happen in the Elite Eight, but we’ve done our best to rank these eight teams based on how they’ve played this season and how they’re performing in the Big Dance. Do you agree with the order we ranked them in? Which teams will march to the Final Four in Houston?