21. Arkansas
One thing that I am going to be interested to see down the stretch of the season is the distribution of minutes in this Arkansas frontcourt. We really know what Nick Pringle is at this point in his career. I really like the upside that Malique Ewin can provide. Will Cal turn the starting job over to Malique Ewin at some point?
22. Kentucky
The Wildcats are coming off of a 10-day stretch that may have saved their season, and may have saved Mark Pope’s job. They beat Mississippi State, LSU, and Tennessee all while trailing by 12 or more at one point in the game. That’s not easy to do. This team is trending upwards.
23. Louisville
Is Mikel Brown Jr ever going to play basketball again? The Cardinals are fundamentally a better team with him on the floor, but they’re still pretty good without – as evidenced by a 100-58 walloping of Pitt, in Pittsburgh, this past Saturday.
24. Georgia
Mike White has these ‘Dawgs running – they currently rank 2nd in the nation in adjusted tempo, per KenPom. But as conference play has rolled on, White has given more and more minutes to his Starting 5, and less to the reserves. Is it sustainable for these guys to play this load of minutes at that tempo? We’ll find out.
25. Saint Louis
The Billikens continue to roll through the A10, with Josh Schertz deploying a balanced scoring attack in a rout against Richmond. Side note: the A10 is looking like the best Mid-Major conference this season, and has 4 teams that are very clearly at the top (SLU, VCU, George Mason, and Dayton). Yet, this conference is looking like a one-bid league, unless someone knocks off Saint Louis in the A10 tournament. The conference as a whole needs to re-evaluate how they do non-conference and intra-conference scheduling to get its better teams into the NCAA Tournament.
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