Conference tournaments are a chance for fans to start their one-month journey with college basketball.
That often leads to knee-jerk reactions about teams that have shown promise during the season, but fell short in the conference tournament.
Here’s three teams that didn’t go far in the conference tournament that still have enough staying power to do well in the Big Dance.
Kansas Jayhawks
Duh. The Jayhawks suffered a quarterfinal loss to TCU on Thursday, but I wouldn’t take too much stock in the loss.
The Jayhawks were down one of their best players and TCU really isn’t that bad. The Horned Frogs have 19 wins this season and have played good teams tough throughout the season.
Even during its seven-game losing streak to end the season, the Horned Frogs still competed. TCU lost by three or fewer points to Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Kansas State during that period. And last I checked, all three of those teams are going dancing next week.
This was a game ripe for an upset, and Kansas showed why its one of the best teams at disappointing as a top seed. The Jayhawks will be back next week and should be one of the favorites. I don’t like them as much as others, but I still won’t completely dismiss their chances at making a run based on one bad outing.
Virginia Tech Hokies
I’m a big fan of the Hokies and what it can do starting next week. Virginia Tech gave a valiant effort against Florida State in the ACC tournament, but fell just short. That doesn’t sway me against picking the Hokies as a team with potential next week.
The Hokies have four bad losses all season…and all four of them came on the road, with three of those losses coming against the ACC’s best.
Virginia Tech features balanced scoring with six players averaging nine points or better. And while they’re not one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, they can shoot. The Hokies finished the regular season with the highest field goal percentage at 49 percent in the ACC.
Virginia Tech is a sneaky team that most teams don’t want to play based on its ability to score points at an efficient rate. Keep an eye on the Hokies when filling out your bracket.
Virginia Cavaliers
We’ll stay in the ACC and the state of Virginia for that matter. I don’t love Virginia and much of that is based on its inability to play well in games it should win. Vegas and I agreed Virginia should have been favorites Thursday against Notre Dame, but Virginia came out flat and couldn’t make any baskets.
That’s the problem with the Cavaliers. The upside is that Virginia is a team most teams hate to play. They are suffocating on defense and create matchup problems consistently for better teams.
I don’t love Virginia against an upstart, based on its inability to show up at times. But I can’t ignore wins against Louisville (twice), North Carolina, Notre Dame and a tough loss at Villanova by two points. Virginia can play with the best teams in the nation. All that matters for their future is if it can beat the teams it should in the early rounds.
