11. Vanderbilt
Yes, it was without Nate Ament, but the Commodores answered a lot of my questions in their 86-82 win over Tennessee on Saturday. They proved that they can deal with size, and their offense excelled at getting downhill and getting to the free-throw line. Guard play rules in March, and the Commodores have one of the nation’s best backcourt tandems in Duke Miles and Tyler Tanner.
12. Arkansas
It was no Darius Acuff, no problem for Kentucky this weekend in a hostile environment at Missouri. What an incredibly impressive win for a team that is peaking at the right time. John Calipari is the master of this – he compiles together a roster of mostly freshmen and transfers, and plays just enough games in the regular season for them to get it all figured out by tournament time. This is a team no one wants to see in their bracket.
13. Kansas
Would you look at that – Darryn Peterson has now played 29 minutes or more in the last five games. The Jayhawks have already shown that with Peterson in the lineup, their ceiling is as high as anyone’s, and he’s now logging enough minutes so that they can really learn how to play with him and reach their maximum potential.
14. UConn
Am I being too harsh on UConn? I don’t think so, but I’m also not within range for Danny Hurley to berate me in the same way that he did with the officials last Saturday. You simply can not lose to Marquette at this point in the season. Marquette is not good. This is supposed to be a 1 or 2-seed come Selection Sunday, and they’re going to be one that I am picking against if they don’t show me some rapid improvement in Madison Square Garden this week.
15. Alabama
Don’t look now, but the Crimson Tide are as healthy as they have been at any point this season and are playing their best ball at the right time. Nate Oats’ vision with how he schedules difficult games and plays with all different kinds of rotations has finally produced a battle-tested, optimized version of this roster that is ready for postseason play.
