Duke holds up the national championship trophy from last year’s NCAA tournament.
This Year’s Not Last Year
Last year’s NCAA tournament was ruled by powerhouse teams.
Michigan State had a very dominant season in the Big Ten. Led Denzel Valentine and Travis Trice, the team made it all the way to the Final Four last year.
Wisconsin, too, dominated the Big Ten. Led by Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, the team upset the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats in the Final Four and advanced to the National Championship game.
Kentucky amounted an incredible 39-0 record last year until being upset by the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four. The team had seven players enter the draft, including the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, the Sacramento Kings’ Willie Cauley-Stein, and the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns.
In the end, it was the Duke Blue Devils–led by Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor, and Apple Valley’s own Tyus Jones–who took home the title. The team, like the other powerhouses in the NCAA, had a very dominant season, and were able to rely on clutch shooting from Jones to beat Wisconsin in the National Championship Game.
Last year’s Final Four featured Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns, and Duke’s Tyus Jones.
This year’s not last year.
There hasn’t been any big powerhouse team like Kentucky or Duke this year. There are no undefeated teams left this year, which seems very odd since the previous couple of years have seen Kentucky with an undefeated regular season and Wichita State with a near perfect regular season the year before.
No doubt though there have been some strong teams this year. Kansas has been on a roll lately, and North Carolina and Virginia have been pretty strong throughout the season.
Michigan State is a must watch team. They started the season off hot, and even though the team has suffered a few losses, they’re sure to heat up during the tournament.
Oklahoma is sure to make a deep run, and Duke and Kentucky can be dangerous tournament teams.