Every college basketball season is unique. Each year, different programs emerge as true contenders for the national championship and then at the end of the season, 68 teams battle it out to be college basketball’s best. While this famous tournament labeled as March Madness is filled with upsets and Cinderella stories, we typically find ourselves watching two teams who were consistently at the top of sport competing for the national championship.

Last year, the sport had two teams far above the rest in Gonzaga and Baylor. This year, we don’t have two teams that are destined to meet. The field is way more wide open and that leaves a lot more contenders (six in fact) to talk about.

Baylor

Current Rankings:

AP Poll: 5

NET: 6

Kenpom: 2

Personal: 3

The reigning national champions certainly appear to have a great shot at defending their title. Although not as strong as last season and without the plethora of NBA prospects, the Bears rattled off 15 wins in a row to open the season. Baylor looked almost unbeatable once again prior to dropping home games to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Despite becoming the first AP number one team to lose two home games in one week, the Bears are once again among college basketball’s elite.

With the departures of Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Mark Vital, the question surrounding Baylor was who steps up. Arizona transfer James Akinjo answered that question in a big way. The 6’1 senior is averaging 13.9 points per game to go with 5.7 assists and was named to the Wooden Award’s midseason top 25. Along with Akinjo, the Bears have paired freshman and potential lottery pick Kendall Brown and returners Adam Flager, Matthew Mayer and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua together to try to conquer college basketball’s biggest challenge once again. The three big returners for the Bears all played key roles in Baylor’s national championship run last year and it was very clear that all three of them would be able to take on bigger roles on this year’s team. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that the program that Scott Drew has built is here to stay.

Gonzaga

Current rankings:

AP Poll: 1

NET: 1

Kenpom: 1

Personal: 2

When talking about the 2020-21 college basketball season, you have to talk about Baylor and Gonzaga in the same breath. The two felt like they were five tiers above everyone else in the sport last year until Baylor asserted themselves as the better of the two in the national title game. However, with Gonzaga’s loss, it felt like they were somewhat forgotten or maybe remembered as one of the best teams to not win the title. This year, Mark Few’s squad is on a revenge tour.

The Zags put together a loaded non-conference schedule before West Coast Conference play to make sure they were tested. In five games against ranked teams in non-conference play, Gonzaga went 3-2 with losses to Duke and Alabama. Last year, it was very easy to see why Gonzaga was unprepared for Baylor. The Zags weren’t tested until the WCC championship against BYU and then again in the Final Four against UCLA. This season, that won’t be the case.

It’s easy to point to what Gonzaga lost from last season, but what many people don’t quite realize yet is how good of a job Mark Few has done replacing his studs from last year. To go with preseason player of the year Drew Timme, Gonzaga added the number one freshman in the country in Chet Holmgren. Standing at seven feet, Holmgren has been referred to by many as a unicorn in the basketball world. He handles the ball and shoots like a guard even at his height and by now, if you haven’t seen the highlight of him beating Steph Curry off the dribble with an array of moves, you need to watch more Gonzaga games. However, the most impressive thing about Chet is that he’s one of the best rim protectors the sport has ever seen. Combine Chet’s defensive skills with Timme’s interior moves on the offensive end and the shooting of Andrew Nembhard and Rasir Bolton and you have a squad that looks like a contender once again. The only question remaining with this team is a question that will be with Gonzaga until they win a title: Can they overcome two months of playing in the WCC?

Auburn

Current Rankings:

AP Poll: 2

NET: 5

Kenpom: 9

Personal: 1

A highlight reel waiting to happen. The greatest show in college basketball. Those are two phrases anyone could use at this point to describe the Auburn Tigers. Believe it or not, this program was a debatable call away from a national title game just three years ago and it looks like they could be back in that position this year.

Now, when it comes to the roster, there were definitely questions at the start of the year. The Tigers had just lost Sharife Cooper to the NBA and Allen Flanigan was out with an injury to start the year. They had some talent, they had some transfers and they had some returners. It was about fitting the puzzle pieces together and boy did they ever. Jabari Smith moves like a guard at 6’10 and does all you can ask for on both ends of the floor. Eastern Kentucky transfer Wendell Green is the second coming of Jared Harper and will shoot the ball from places you only see guys shoot from in desperation. K.D. Johnson is a tough nose guard that I’m sure other SEC players have nightmares about matching up with. Walker Kessler is… ummm… well. Let’s just say a lot of us are still trying to figure out why Hubert Davis let a guy averaging over four blocks per game go.

Is inexperience going to hurt Auburn in the tournament? We’ll answer that question down the road. However, the question we can answer right now: Is Auburn as good as anyone in the country? Yes they are.

Duke

AP Poll: 6

NET: 12

Kenpom: 10

Personal: 4

Yes, that’s right. Mike Krzyzewski has a team that can get him one more title before retirement. One thing you have to understand about young teams is that they don’t usually hit their ceiling until much later in the year. It takes time for young teams to get everything clicking at once, but when they do, it’s a sight to see. That’s what this Duke team can be as the season moves along.

You have to start with Paolo Banchero. The freshman has had to deal with a lot this year. He’s had cramps in two of Duke’s biggest games of the season. He’s had to deal with a sweat issue where he was losing seven pounds per game. He’s had criticism of him not playing complete games (which was unfair because of the cramping and sweating issues). Despite that, he’s the frontrunner for ACC player of the year and played the best half of anyone in college basketball this season against Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga. Pair his offensive skills with Mark Williams on the defensive end and you have yourself maybe the best frontcourt in college basketball. At the guard position, Wendell Moore has slowed down, but was playing as well as anyone early in the year. A.J. Griffin dealt with injury problems early in the season, but is the best kept secret in college basketball right now. Round that out with the upside of Trevor Keels and some solid role players in Jeremy Roach and Theo John and you have a team that could potentially end Coach K’s career with a national championship before Jon Scheyer takes the reins of the program. 

Arizona

Current Rankings:

AP Poll: 3

NET: 2

Kenpom: 8

Personal: 5

The Pac-12, which had a great tournament run last year, is back to being forgotten about. Outside of Arizona, UCLA and USC, the conference has been painful to watch. The team in Tucson can change the narrative by winning a national title.

When talking about teams in the Pac-12, I get that some of this might sound like a foreign language. The conference does an absolutely miserable job of getting people to watch their games. Their games start at ridiculous hours in eastern and central time, a lot of their games are on a channel that is unfindable on illegal streaming sites and their games that are on national TV are called by a 69 year old man that compares every point guard in the conference to John Stockton.

Despite all of that, there are a handful of reasons to turn on the TV (and maybe mute it when Bill Walton is talking) when Arizona is playing. Ben Mathurin has been one of the most improved players in college basketball this year averaging 18 points and six rebounds this season. The sophomore guard is barreling his way to one of the All-American teams and should be the current favorite for player of the year in the conference. Then there’s Azuolas Tubelis who is a great complement to Mathurin in the open floor. It’s amazing how well Tubelis runs the floor on a fastbreak for a guy who is 6’11. Christian Koloko won’t do anything to raise your eyebrows on the offensive end, but his rim protection and strength makes sure Arizona isn’t a bad matchup for anyone. The engine of this year though, might be Kerr Kriisa. The sophomore point guard has seen his production dip since his hot start to the season, but when this offense is playing up to its potential, it’s because Kriisa is getting other guys (and himself) open looks. People will question Tommy Lloyd as a first year coach, but he’s gotten this team to play much better than Sean Miller did last year.

Kentucky

Current Rankings:

AP Poll: 12

NET: 11

Kenpom: 4

Personal: 9

There are certain rankings that might not actually reflect how good Kentucky actually is because of their early season performance (thank you Kenpom). However, the Wildcats loss to Duke in their first game of the season, might serve the same purpose it did for the team in 2018-19 when they lost to Duke to open the season. We’re in a new era of college basketball where we’re seeing more transfers than ever. Teams with a lot of transfers are going to take time to click. Case study: Kentucky.

I mentioned the transfers this team has. The best of them is obviously Oscar Tshiebwe. The West Virginia transfer might be the frontrunner for the Wooden award because of his rebounding. He’s rebounding at a rate that I’ve never seen in this sport. While averaging nearly 15 rebounds a game, he’s also adding 16 points per game as a back to the basket big. He’s going to continue to wreak havoc in the SEC, but Kentucky’s upside is very guard dependent. TyTy Washington is one of the best freshmen this sport seems to have forgotten about. The Duke game early in the season was learning experience for him for sure, but he put up a season high 28 points against a defensive minded Tennessee team this past weekend. The kid looks like he’s going to continue to improve as the season goes along. Kellan Grady was a highly touted transfer this off-season and it’s clear why John Calipari wanted the 45% three point shooter in Lexington. Then there’s Sahvir Wheeler, who is a key part in making this team’s offense go. He averages 7.3 assists per game which is third in college basketball. John Calipari is once again comfortable going 9-10 deep and he certainly has the depth to do it.

It should be known that I don’t have an official national championship pick right now, but my pick will come from this pool of six teams. For my other college basketball content, make sure to check out Marathon to March on Spotify and KCOU 88.1 FM.