2018 National Champion...save this thread

[MentschTrachtGottLacht]

What is the criteria?

 

Top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. 19 of last 20 champs hit that mark, only the Kemba Walker UConn team was the outlier.

[UKMustangFan]

As of today, the pool has shrunk to Purdue, Michigan State, Gonzaga, and West Virginia.

[oldrambler]

That's a pretty good list. Ones that I would take from the list provided would be 1. Mich. St. and then Purdue or Kansas.

Outside the list ....Duke and / or Arizona.

 

and my record of picking the champion pretty much sucks so take any but these teams. :lol2:

[CincySportsFan]

Top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. 19 of last 20 champs hit that mark, only the Kemba Walker UConn team was the outlier.

 

Just curious, is that at the end of the regular season...or the end of the year, after both conference and NCAA tourneys are complete?

[PurplePride92]

As of today, the pool has shrunk to Purdue, Michigan State, Gonzaga, and West Virginia.

 

That changes things. I want to track this thread now.

[GrizzlyAdams]

That changes things. I want to track this thread now.

 

Duke moved up into 16 defensive rating as far as KenPom goes. I like this thread now.

[MentschTrachtGottLacht]

John Gasaway of ESPN lists his 8 teams that can win a national title, and his list had the winner on it the last two years, for what little it is worth. He thinks the winner will be from a group that includes:

 

Arizona

Duke

Gonzaga

Michigan State

North Carolina

Purdue

Villanova

Virginia

 

Interesting read, especially on the reasoning behind many of the potentially high seeds he left off his list. http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22637894/the-343-teams-not-win-national-championship

[UKMustangFan]

Per the Kenpom criteria of this thread, there are 6 possible winners as of the end of the regular season....Duke, Villanova, Purdue, Michigan State, Gonzaga, and Ohio State.

[MentschTrachtGottLacht]

What if I told you that the 2018 National Champion was going to come out of this group:

 

* Purdue

* Michigan State

* Gonzaga

* West Virginia

* Kansas

* Ohio State

* Auburn

* North Carolina

 

I'm just going to leave this here, but the last 20 years tell us that one of these 8 schools will end up cutting down the nets in April. Just something to keep an eye on as the season unfolds and the post-season kicks in.

 

Updating this list, here are the teams that qualify as of right now -- and again, 19 of the last 20 years this had held to form (which is crazy, when you think about it):

 

* Villanova

* Duke

* Purdue

* Michigan State

* Gonzaga

* Ohio State

 

Just missing, and likely could end up included:

* Virginia

* Michigan

* Auburn

 

Will be interesting to keep an eye on.

[UKMustangFan]

Updating this list, here are the teams that qualify as of right now -- and again, 19 of the last 20 years this had held to form (which is crazy, when you think about it):

 

* Villanova

* Duke

* Purdue

* Michigan State

* Gonzaga

* Ohio State

 

Just missing, and likely could end up included:

* Virginia

* Michigan

* Auburn

 

Will be interesting to keep an eye on.

 

Houston, UC, Kentucky, Florida, and West Virginia are also within striking distance as well.

[plantmanky]

Would think you could take any Big 10 team out of the equation. Having 11-14 day layoff between games is going to hurt.

[Jumper_Dad]

Would think you could take any Big 10 team out of the equation. Having 11-14 day layoff between games is going to hurt.

 

It will be interesting to see how they react.

 

Fresh Legs > or

[UKMustangFan]

As we enter the postseason and you fill out your brackets, make sure one of these teams is cutting down the nets if you want a shot at the cash....

 

Virginia

Michigan

Duke

Michigan State

Ohio State

Gonzaga

Villanova

Kentucky

Purdue

[Jumper_Dad]

With their loss, Virginia fell to 32 in offense and just outside of the 30/30 group.

[Voice of Reason]

Top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. 19 of last 20 champs hit that mark, only the Kemba Walker UConn team was the outlier.

 

Top 30 as of when? Is it top 30 at the end of the regular season? Top 30 entering the tournament? Or top 30 when the tournament is over?