By Liam O’Brien
Managing Editor of Sports
The spring months are just around the corner, which signals the best time of the year to be a sports fan: March Madness.
What makes this year’s tournament so interesting is that there exists no clear favorite to win it all, the polar opposite of last season when seemingly every single student at Newton South had then-undefeated Kentucky slotted in as the eventual national champion in their personal bracket.
An astounding five different programs have laid claim to the throne of the number one ranking in the nation this season – Oklahoma, Michigan State, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky – while it appears that on any given night, a team ranked in the top five of the polls can let a contest slide from their grasp.
As we enter the final month-plus of conference play, here are three teams that you should have going deep in your bracket:
No. 2 North Carolina
Prior to their 71-65 loss at the hands of the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals on Monday night, the Tar Heels were a perfect 8-0 in ACC conference play. The team certainly has the veteran leadership and talent necessary to make a run at the program’s first title since 2009.
Not only does North Carolina feature an elite back-court tandem in senior Marcus Paige and sophomore Joel Berry III, who each post 12.4 points per game, but also boasts perhaps the scariest front-court quartet in the nation, with expected lottery pick Brice Johnson (16.7 points, 10.2 rebounds per game), sophomore Justin Jackson (12.0 points per game), junior Kennedy Meeks (11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds per game), and junior Isaiah Hicks (9.8 points, 4.7 rebounds per game) manning the inside.
Combine this with the coaching genius of revered head coach Roy Williams, and the Tar Heels healthy medical record heading into February, and you have yourself a team capable of making a deep run.
No. 4 Maryland
Speaking of teams with boatloads of talent, the Terrapins are an example of a squad without a single vulnerable spot in their rotation, by far the most dangerous team in College Park since the early-2000s.
Led by shifty point guard Melo Trimble (14.5 points, 5.4 assists per game), talented forward Robert Carter (13.2 points, 6.9 rebounds per game), freshman phenom Diamond Stone (12.8 points in just 20.8 minutes per game), and Mass. native Jake Layman (11.0 points per game), Maryland possesses a loaded bunch capable of dethroning the best in the Big Ten – the team knocked off then-No. 3 Iowa last Thursday night – and in the nation.
In addition, the Terrapins can stretch opposing defenses with their three-point shooting, as former Duke standout Rasheed Sulaimon shoots a tremendous 48% from deep, while sophomore shooting guard Jaylen Brantley (also Mass.-bred) shoots 43% from beyond the three-point line.
No. 14 West Virginia
As late February approaches, the last thing many NCAA Tournament-bound teams, fatigued from the grueling regular season, will be prepared for is the fury that “Press Virginia” brings to the floor each and every night, making the Mountaineers an attractive selection to advance deep into March Madness.
Coached by the relentless Bob Huggins, West Virginia plays a hectic, uptempo style that will make even the most collected of teams anxious. They are competent enough to take down any single team in the NCAA, proven by their upset of then-No. 1 Kansas a few weeks ago, their near-road win over current-No. 1 Oklahoma, and their comeback victory over Iowa State in daunting Ames, Iowa last Wednesday.
Expect leading scorer Jaysean Paige, who scored 23 points in the Mountaineers win over the Cyclones, to continue to provide his team with a scoring boost night in and night out, while pioneering his team’s ferocious defensive pressure.
Down low, junior Devin Williams is simply a force to be reckoned with, averaging 13.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while swatting penetrating opposing players with reckless abandon.
Regardless of which of these three teams makes the deepest run once February turns to March, basketball fans everywhere can just be excited again that the Madness is upon us
