March Madness Chaos
The first three days of March Madness have been nothing else but spectacular. Between the High Point Panthers upset over the Wisconsin Badgers and the crazy Kentucky game against Santa Clara. A majority of these games showcased what this tournament is all about, the best of the best across all of Division I collegiate basketball. In addition to upsets, pure dominance, and buzzer beaters. Teams and individual players getting their one shining moment.
At the time this article is written, only two people have a perfect bracket out of the 26.6 million entries. The most popular picked national champion is the Duke Blue Devils. But the four most popular teams are all the one seeds (Duke, Arizona, Florida, and Michigan).
So far throughout the tournament, arguably the two most dominant teams in the tournament have been Florida and Michigan. Both of these teams could easily match up against each other for the ultimate prize of cutting the nets and winning the National Championship.
Michigan Wolverines Are Legit
Starting with the Wolverines, they had an incredible regular season as they won the Big Ten regular season with a record of 33-3. For awhile, they were the #1 team in the country. Even with losing the Big Ten Conference Championship to Purdue, they were still fortunate enough to earn a #1 seed in their region.
This is a brand new Wolverines team as their four best players (Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara, and Elliot Cadeau) are all transfers. They also, all average double digits points per game. Lendeborg spent two seasons at UAB before transferring to Michigan, where he is averaging 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Johnson spent his freshman year with Illinois and then chose to stay in the Big Ten and become a Wolverine. Johnson is averaging 13.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game.
Mara is averaging 12 points, 6.9 rebounds and an incredible 2.7 blocks per game for the Wolverines. The 7 ‘3 center from Spain, broke out as a starter his junior year after transferring to Michigan. Previously, he was coming off the bench at UCLA for his first two years.
After a shaky and inconsistent two years at the University of North Carolina, Elliot Cadeau has thrived in his new home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cadeau in his third collegiate season is shooting the best from three at 37.5% . That 37.5% is nearly 20% better than from his freshman year. He is also averaging double digits in points for the first time as well.
Michigan Back To The Promise Land?
The Wolverines first game was against the #16 seed Howard Bison, where they defeated them 101-80. They shot an astonishing 67.3% from the field and 45.8% from three. In the second round, they also took out rather convincingly the #9 seed Saint Louis Billikens 95-72. The Wolverines shot lights out once again and outrebounded them 40-24 showcasing their size and strength. The Wolverines possess a heavy veteran roster, signature wins and regular season dominance, and one of the biggest rosters in the country. As a result, do not be surprised if the Wolverines get to or even win the National Championship.
Watch Out For The Florida Gators
In addition to the Wolverines, the Florida Gators are another team to watch out for that could go on a deep run and get to or win the National Championship. The Gators are looking to go back-to-back which they have already done before back in 2006 and 2007.
The Gators are led by head coach Todd Golden who is one of the best college coaches in the country. On his team, is pretty much the same core of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, and Micah Handlogten. However, they are without their star player from last year Walter Clayton Jr. as he became a first-round pick in the NBA Draft and is on the Utah Jazz.
In efforts to replace Clayton’s elite offensive production, they added two guards in the transfer portal in Boogie Fland as he is staying in the SEC after leaving Arkansas and former Princeton guard Xavian Lee.
Dominant Staring Five & Depth
Similarly to Michigan, the Gators are one of the biggest teams in the country. At 6 ‘9, 215 pounds, Haugh is dominating at the small forward position and stepped up as the offensive anchor for this team averaging 17 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He is playing like a future first-round pick similarly to his former teammate Clayton Jr.
Each of the Gators starting lineup averages at least 11 points per game. The Gators are also the best rebounding team in the country, averaging 45.7 rebounds per game. That is in large part due to Chinyelu, who is one of the best rebounders in the country, averaging 11.5 per game.
In addition to their elite starting lineup, they also have some depth to them as Handlogten is a solid defensive presence averaging six rebounds and nearly a block per game. Also, their sixth man Urban Klavzar is one of the best sixth men in the country, averaging nearly ten points per game and shooting 44.4% from the field.
The Gators one area of weakness, is they are a bottom-ten team in the country at the free throw line, shooting 30.8% from the free throw line. Even though that is abysmal, they are so dominant on both ends of the court, so far that has not been an issue. If they do play in a close game, then that could be the deciding factor of a win or a loss.
However, still watch out for the Gators as serious and legitimate championship contenders. They have what it takes to go back-to-back once again. Don’t be surprised if Michigan and Florida square up in the national championship. With similar rosters of great big men, Michigan vs Florida would make for a great national championship.
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