My Final Rankings and A Look back

It was crazy how this year sort of came full circle for a lot of teams.

-Many teams with high expectations heading into the year had less than great regular seasons but then made up for it in the NCAA tournament (Michigan St., Tennessee,Washington, and even California to an extent).

-On the other hand many teams started the year great only to finish terrible (UNC, Texas, and Villanova).

-Duke and Butler provided a great title game and had high aspirations entering the year but no one expected them to end up in the title game.

-Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse dominated the season only to lose in the tournament.

-With Texas and Oklahoma struggling, Kansas St., Baylor and Texas A&M stepped it up in the Big 12 to have great seasons

-Many mid-majors came out of nowhere to be put on the National Scene (Northern Iowa, Cornell, St. Mary's, Murray St., UTEP, and Ohio when they beat Georgetown) but I was surprised that Siena actually took a step back by not winning their 1st round game for the first time in 3 years.

-Evan Turner came back from a major injury to win the Naismith Award. Either Turner or John Wall is likely to be the #1 pick in this year's NBA Draft.

-3 sure fire lottery/first round NBA draft prospects saw their stock fall due to their team's lack of success: Ed Davis-UNC, Willie Warren-Oklahoma(left), and Manny Harris-Michigan.

-3 players made themselves a lot more money than they could of dreamed of going into the season by having breakout years: Wesley Johnson-Syracuse, Ekpe Udoh-Baylor, and Gordon Hayward-Butler.

-Overall it was a fun season and the fans of college basketball were treated to many great games, great teams, and great players this year

Ranking. Team (Record)-Final Result-My Preseason Ranking

1. Duke (35-5)-National Champion 10

2. Butler (33-5)-Runner-Up 13

3. West Virginia (31-7)-Final 4 6

4. Kentucky (35-3)-Elite 8 4

5. Kansas (33-3)-2nd Round 1

6. Syracuse (30-5)-Sweet 16 NR-watch list

7. Michigan St. (28-9)-Final 4 2

8. Kansas St. (29-8)-Elite 8 24

9. Baylor (28-8)-Elite 8 NR-watch list

10. Tennessee (28-9)-Elite 8 3

11. Ohio St. (29-8)-Sweet 16 14

12. Purdue (29-6)-Sweet 16 7

13. Northern Iowa (30-5)-Sweet 16 NR

14. Xavier (26-9)-Sweet 16 NR-watch

15. Pittsburgh (25-9)-2nd Round NR-honorable mention

16. St. Mary's (28-6)-Sweet 16 NR

17. Maryland (24-9)-2nd Round NR-honorable mention

18. Cornell (29-5)-Sweet 16 NR

19. Washington (26-10)-Sweet 16 15

20. New Mexico (30-5)-2nd round NR

21. Villanova (25-8)-2nd Round (should have lost in 1st Round) 8

22. Texas A&M (24-10)-2nd round NR-watch

23. BYU (30-6)-2nd Round NR-watch

24. Temple (29-6)-1st Round NR

25. Wisconsin (24-9)-2nd Round NR-honorable mention

25 (tie). Dayton (25-12)-Won NIT NR-watch

10 Biggest Surprises:

Duke

Butler

Syracuse

Baylor

Northern Iowa

New Mexico

St. Mary's

Cornell

Temple

Vandy (23-8)

10 Biggest Disappointments:

Michigan (15-17)-pre-season 12

Oklahoma (13-18)-pre-season 20

UNC (20-17)-lost NIT title- pre-season 9

Teams that died down the stretch:

Texas (24-10)-lost in 1sr Round- pre-season 5 (was once ranked #1) lost 7 of last 12.

Villanova (was also once ranked #1) lost 6 of last 9.

Inconsistency was their middle name:

Georgetown (23-11)-Lost in 1st Round-pre-season 18

California (24-11)-2nd Round-pre-season 11

Mississippi St. (24-12)-NIT-pre-season 16

Minnesota (21-14)-Lost in 1st round-pre-season 17

Notre Dame (23-12)-Lost in 1st round-pre-season 19