Arizona, Maryland, Michigan headline seven unranked teams capable of deep March runs
The stretch run of the college season is upon us. As the calendar gets set to turn to February, the conference races are in full swing, and we pay more attention to…
The stretch run of the college season is upon us. As the calendar gets set to turn to February, the conference races are in full swing, and we start to pay more attention to bracketology on a daily basis. Every game seems to carry more weight as teams fight for conference and NCAA Tournament seeding.We'll spend a lot of time talking about favorites for the Final Four and sleepers or dark horse teams that could be capable of making a run. Today, we want to take some time to identify some of the potential tournament sleepers. Everybody has their own definition of a sleeper and each individual's mileage may vary. For the purpose of this exercise, we are going to define sleepers as teams currently ranked out of the AP Top 25 that we could see making a run to at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament or perhaps even deeper.
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Teams are going to get hot, and teams are going to cool off, but with a little over a month left in the season, here are seven unranked teams that we could see getting hot and making some noise come March.
ARIZONA WILDCATS
Back in December, Tommy Lloyd's Arizona squad had just lost to UCLA on a "neutral" court in Phoenix in improbable fashion. After being in control for much of the game, they scored just five points in the final 10:49 and suffered an ugly 57-54 loss dropping them to 4-5. Things looked grim and with the gauntlet of the Big 12 looming, the Wildcats looked like they could be facing a long season.
Rather than struggle, the Wildcats have been rolling. Fueled by fifth-year senior Caleb Love and his miracle heave that led to an overtime win against Iowa State on Monday night, Arizona is now 8-1 in conference play and for the most part have been rolling. They've got offenses and defenses that rank No. 15 and No. 23, respectively, on KenPom which bodes well for their ability to make a run. Love is always going to be a bit inconsistent, but he's proven he can get hot and carry a team. Jaden Bradley is settling in; KJ Lewis is an energizer off the bench and super-talented freshman Carter Bryant is an x-factor who appears to be finding his way.
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BYU COUGARS
There was no shortage of publicity when Kevin Young arrived in Provo as one of the most celebrated assistants in the NBA and a major outside of the box college hire. On top of that he's immediately delivered on the recruiting front landing talents like Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings for this year's team and then procuring 2025's top-ranked player AJ Dybantsa.
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On the floor, the Cougars got off to an exciting start playing advanced offense as Demin blossomed into a potential Lottery pick. Then, BYU was faced with some stiffer competition and struggled early in Big 12 play. Now, after Tuesday night's thrilling overtime win over Baylor the Cougars look like a team that could be capable of doing some real damage if they make the NCAA Tournament.
Demin's shooting hasn't been great in conference play, but his playmaking is sublime and he's a major matchup nightmare due to his size. Richie Saunders and Trevin Knell provide additional scoring punch and can seriously stretch the floor with their shooting. BYU's big-man rotation is better than given credit for.
No, Catchings isn't going to go off like he did against Baylor on a nightly basis, but when he's right there's really no answer for his length and size as a perimeter scorer and slasher. The offense (currently No. 15 in KenPom) is built for the long haul but if Young wants to make a run in his first season, the defense is going to have to get better as they are currently only No. 11 in the Big 12 on KenPom.
CLEMSON TIGERS
Yes, the ACC is down but it doesn't feel like Brad Brownell and Clemson are getting much respect after last season's Elite Eight run and a 17-4 start to the season. That respect could be coming soon enough if they are able to keep their hot play.
The Tigers are 7-1 since the turn of the calendar to 2025 and should finish in at least the top three of the ACC. No, they don't play particularly fast, but the Tigers are pretty efficient and have an exceedingly experienced guard in Chase Hunter. By the time the NCAA Tournament rolls around, Hunter will have in excess of 160 games under his belt. While Hunter's scoring can carry the team, big man Ian Schieffelin is arguably the most underappreciated big man in the land. He's a stat sheet stuff and a serious mismatch problem. The additions of Viktor Lakhin and Jaeden Zackery give the Tigers some additional scoring punch and allow them to be balanced on the offensive end.
If Clemson is going to make a run, they will need somebody to step up from the bench. Only six players log more than 20 minutes per game so some more bench help will be crucial as Brownell and his crew look to make their way back to the second weekend of the tournament.
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