Other Elite College Basketball Teams

With the NCAA tournament approaching let’s introduce Illinois and Michigan:

Gonzaga and Baylor have been the best two teams in college basketball this season. With both teams being undefeated and having historically great years. Who is the other batch of elite teams that could potentially make a run to the Final four?

The Big Ten has been the best conference in college basketball this season. Outside of Nebraska, and Northwestern every team in the league has a shot to make the NCAA tournament. Let’s take a look at the 2 best teams in the league who are currently 5 and 3 in the AP poll.

Illinois

Jim Mone/AP

Led by coach Brad Underwood the Illinois fighting Illini have potentially the national player of the year in Ayo Dosunmu who has been playing tremendous as of late. The Junior is averaging 21.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists and is shooting 49.4 percent from the field, 42.2 from three, and 80.0 percent from the line. Kofi Cockburn is one of the best big men in the country contributing 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds. Trent Fraizer can score in bunches, the senior scores 10.2 points a game and shoots 39.4 percent from three. Freshman guards Adam Miller and Andre Curbelo score 8.5 and 7.4 points a game respectively and junior Giorgi Bezhanishvili adds 5.9 points off the bench as a low post scorer.

This Illinois team is really good, they are (16-5) and 12-3), have the potential national player of the year in Dosunmu. One of the best big men in the country in Cockburn and are excellent on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Michigan

Joseph Maiorana/USA TODAY Sports

Led by Coach Juwan Howard, Michigan has been great this year with a (16-1) and (11-1) league record and currently leading the Big Ten. Michigan has a top-adjusted 11 offensive and defensive efficiency according to Kenpom. The Wolverines are led by Hunter Dickinson a freshman that averages 15.0 points and 7.8 rebounds he’s an old-school big who’s a really good scorer in the post and gets excellent possessioning. Isaiah Livers the senior forward contributes 14.4 points and 5.9 rebounds he’s an excellent three-point shooter shooting 42.9 percent from three. Frantz Wagner is averaging 12.7 points per game on 6.7 rebounds. He does a nice job handling the ball with close to a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio. Seniors Chaundee Brown a transfer from Wake Forest and Eli Brooks are veterans and do a nice job knocking shots down behind the arc and Mike Smith the grad transfer senior from Columbia is a high IQ player who leads the Big Ten in Assist.

Michigan is a well-coached group that is the 3rd best team in the country. With 5 games remaining, their two most difficult games are Iowa and Illinois at home. If Michigan continues to play well then they will have no problem winning a Big Ten championship and getting a 1 seed for the NCAA tournament

These are 2 of the best teams in college basketball. With a national player of the year candidate in Dosunmu, the experience at Michigan at the top of the league is the best in college basketball. If you are looking for a team outside of Gonzaga and Baylor to make it far in the NCAA tourney look no farther than these two.