March is here, and the excitement surrounding college basketball is at an all-time high. This is the time of year when teams want to be playing their best basketball as they wrap up the regular season, head into their conference tournaments, and for some, go on to March Madness.
March is the time of year when magical things happen, and few things are more exciting than a team riding in with momentum. Here are four teams that may have struggled at certain points this season but are now playing their best basketball and are among the hottest teams in college basketball.
While Duke, Arizona, and Michigan have looked like the top teams in college basketball all season, the Florida Gators have arguably been by far the best team in the country over the past two months. After some early struggles in non-conference play, the Gators have found their groove and won 14 of their last 15 games. They’ve also done it in dominant fashion, as those 14 SEC wins have come by an average margin of victory of 19.7 points. Florida notably has one of the best frontcourts in the country with Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, but their transfer guards Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee have been the real difference-makers during this hot stretch showing significant improvement. If Florida wins out and goes on to win the SEC Tournament, they’d be a strong contender for that fourth No. 1 seed in March Madness that appears to be up for grabs.
The Tide had a very inconsistent January, and at times looked like a team heading toward a downward spiral. However, since then they have gotten healthy and are now red-hot riding an eight game win streak. Nate Oats’ three-point-heavy offense has been on fire as of late, averaging 92.5 points per game in February, led by their three-headed monster of scoring guards in Labaron Philon Jr., Aden Holloway, and Latrell Wrightsell. Alabama will close out the regular season with games against Georgia and Auburn before heading to the SEC Tournament, as they will look to continue improving their NCAA Tournament seed.
Dayton came into this season with high expectations that they didn’t meet early, and frustrations grew loud surrounding ninth-year head coach Anthony Grant after they dropped four straight in late January. The Flyers have turned things around since winning their last five games, including a 15-point victory over Saint Louis. Dayton has really leaned on their defense during this run, holding each of their opponents to under 70 points. It may be too late to work their way back into the bubble conversation, but with Saint Louis struggling as of late, the Flyers could be a dark horse to keep an eye on in the A-10 Tournament.
With how wild the Horizon League has been this season, Robert Morris has emerged as a model of consistency in the conference. After sitting with a losing record in league play at the end of January, the Colonials closed the regular season on a seven-game winning streak to secure the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. During that stretch, RMU defeated the three other of the top four teams in the conference, including two wins over top-seeded Wright State. After losing nearly all of their production from last year’s Horizon champion team to the transfer portal, what head coach Andy Toole has done this season, and especially down the stretch, is extremely impressive.