Ranking NCAA men’s Final Four teams from worst to best
UConn head coach Dan Hurley cut down the net after their convincing win to advance to the Final Four on April 6th (Michael Reaves/Getty Images).
The men’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) March Madness tournament has finally come down to the Final Four. This year's final four teams consist of the number one-overall seed UConn Huskies out of the East region, the number four-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide out of the West region, the 11-seeded North Carolina State Wolfpack out of the South region, and the number one-seeded Purdue Boilermakers out of the Midwest region. Here is my ranking of the four remaining squads as they head into the final three games of the bracket.
Number Four: Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama Crimson Tide surprisingly came out on top of the West region of the bracket. It is, however, a little bit concerning how they got here. Alabama defeated two double-digit seeds in the first two rounds and the number six-seeded Clemson Tigers in the Elite Eight. NC State, Purdue, and UConn all played a team that was a four-seed or better to advance to the Final Four. Alabama was always a team that could make a deep run, however, as they have one of the most potent offenses in the entire tournament. If you have guys like forward Grant Nelson and guard Mark Sears, you're never out of it. Alabama lands under the fourth spot on this list nonetheless.
Number Three: NC State Wolfpack
North Carolina State has been on a roll for about a month now. NC State miraculously won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship despite being the ten-seed in the tournament. Even more surprisingly, though, they made it to the Final Four despite being the 11-seed in their regional NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack have won nine games in a row since the start of their conference tournament, definitely putting them in consideration for the hottest team in the country. NC State didn’t have that easy of a run either, as they statistically faced the best opponents through their first three games. The Wolfpack’s more impressive resume thus far in the tournament makes them the third-ranked team over Alabama. Both teams have their work cut out for them in the Final Four against tough opponents.
Number Two: Purdue Boilermakers
The Purdue Boilermakers would likely be the best team in the Final Four in any other scenario and year. Purdue’s center, Zack Edey, is on a generational run, averaging 30 points and 16.2 rebounds per game in the tournament. Over the past couple years, Purdue has become somewhat of a choke artist, as they have had good teams recently but had not made it to the Final Four since 1980. That was not the case this year, however, as guards like Braden Smith improved and key additions were added, such as Lance Jones from Southern Illinois, the Boilermakers are looking better than ever before. Purdue has beaten every team they’ve played so far in the postseason by double digits, aside from the Tennessee Volunteers in the Elite Eight. Although Purdue is beating up on all of their opponents, there’s a team that just does it a little better.
Number One: UConn Huskies
For my money, the UConn Huskies are on the most dominant run we’ve seen since the Florida Gators in 2006. Where do you start? In one of the craziest March Madness stats ever, out of the 160 minutes of basketball UConn has played in the tournament, they’ve only trailed for 28 seconds of it. UConn went on a 30-0 run against the three-seed Illinois Fighting Illini, with Illinois not scoring for 50 minutes of real-time in the matchup. Considering their performance throughout the tournament, it is going to take a masterclass performance by one of these three teams to beat the Huskies.
The Final Four tends to produce really good games. Key matchups like NC State's DJ Burns and Purdue's Zack Edey are going to be awesome to watch, along with key backcourt matchups such as Alabama’s Mark Sears and UConn’s Stephon Castle. It is going to be a lot of fun in Glendale, Arizona, and it’s fair to say we’re all excited to see who emerges as the true kings of men’s collegiate basketball for the year.