16. Vanderbilt
I love Vanderbilt’s guards. Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles are electric with the ball in their hands and very crafty in how they can score and distribute in a variety of ways. But this two-game losing streak made me realize that Vanderbilt is not going to win a National Championship with this frontcourt. They simply have to be better.
17. Alabama
As analytically oriented as Nate Oats runs his offense, you would think he would have a similar approach on defense. An easy way to turn the math in your favor is to not allow offensive rebounds and force turnovers defensively in order to limit your opponent’s shot attempts. But Alabama has no interest in doing either of those, ranking outside the top-250 nationally in offensive rebounds allowed and turnover rate forced.
18. Virginia
I think more programs are going to look back at this hiring cycle and wonder why they didn’t take a deeper look at Ryan Odom. What he has done with this Virginia program has been impressive, considering where they were last season and the mass exodus of players to the portal. Road wins over Louisville and SMU could prove huge come ACC Tournament time.
19. Iowa
Playing basketball against a Ben McCollum-coached team just can not be fun to do. They slow the game down to a snail’s pace, and play super physical on defense. There is only one team in the nation that plays at a slower tempo and is better on defense than Iowa, and that is Houston.
20. St Johns
After a disappointing start to the season, Rick Pitino’s crew is starting to look like a buzzsaw in conference play, now victors of four straight (three of which were away from home). I am still concerned about their lack of a traditional point guard, but are any of their opponents going to be able to make them pay for this?
