The NCAA Basketball season had a very unexciting end with the coronavirus taking care of any hope of the tournament this year. Now, the AP Poll for the Top 25 teams is out and obviously it leads to a lot of doubts as to if that is how the season would have shaken out if the tournament had actually taken place. Now, it is time to reflect back on the 2019-20 college basketball season to see why the teams finished in the spot they landed in.
1. Kansas 28-3
Kansas finished the year as the de facto national champion. However, the Jayhawks if the tournament had been played may not have won it all. Yes, the Jayhawks had a good season and knocked off some good teams, but in those wins the scores were extremely close and all the losses for Kansas were against top 25 teams and very close losses with the notable loss being a 1 point loss to Villanova.
2. Gonzaga 31-2
Gonzaga is definitely one team that had a lot to lose this tournament. The Bulldogs had finally hit their stride offensively and the defense was holding up their end of the bargain to The Gonzaga team had picked up quite a few wins in blowout fashion before the season ended and were well on their way to a number 1 seed and one that would have seen the Bulldogs get a great chance to secure the national title.
3. Dayton 29-2
Dayton landed the number3 spot in the nation. However, the Flyers did have a chance to move up in the standings, but Dayton did not really have any big name stiff competition outside of Kansas. Even in the matchup against Kansas the Flyers looked impressive in the early season matchup, but still fell short. Outside of that game Dayton did not have any big name competition.
4. Florida State 26-5
Florida State is one team that could come into the tournament with an inflated ego based off of how the Seminoles performed in the ACC. However, one thing that happened to the Seminoles before the end of the season was the fact that the team started to slip some. The Clemson Tigers were able to beat Florida State and Notre Dame only lost by 2 points. Then the last game before the season was ended was an 18 point win over the Boston College Eagles in what was an expected type of win.
5. Baylor 26-4
Baylor is one team that looked horrible to finish out the year. The Bears had dropped 3 out of the last 5 games. Granted, 2 of them were to ranked teams, but the loss that was a shocker was the loss to TCU on the road by a 75-72 score. Granted, Baylor did bounce back to win the game against Texas Tech in the next game, but the Bears lost the last game to West Virginia.
6. San Diego State 30-2
San Diego State is one college that definitely had the Cinderella type of run going. The Aztecs were unbeaten for most of the season and then towards the end of the year the Aztecs seemed to fizzle. Would the Aztecs have made a deep run? The answer is possible for the Sweet Sixteen, but as the competition started to ramp up and be at a level that the Aztecs did not face during the regular season.
7. Creighton 24-7
Creighton is one team that looked impressive at various points on the year. The Bluejays were even looking to bounce back from their last loss to Saint John’s as the number 1 seed in the Big East tourney and having to face the Red Storm again. Outside of the game against the Red Storm the Bluejays finished on some amazing wins and definitely looked like a contender.
8. Kentucky 25-6
The Wildcats have looked impressive at times this year and definitely are a team that would have really improved heading into the tournament. The Wildcats finished the year off with a 4-1 record and definitely looked impressive in all the games leading up to the SEC Tournament.
9. Michigan State 22-9
Michigan State has been one team that had a good chance to start the year off right, but the Spartans are one team that struggled during the year. The Michigan State team played good against most teams, but when playing some of the weaker teams the Spartans looked downright horrible and that definitely called into question any chance the Spartans would have of going deep in the tournament.
10. Villanova 24-7
Villanova is one team that had bounced all over the place. The last 5 games for the Wildcats showed that the offense was not nearly as strong as expected and that will definitely would have been an issue as the Wildcats offense was consistent, but not overly great on the year.
11. Duke 25-6
Duke is one team that has been able to play great in the tournament and that is something the Blue Devils would have to rely on. The Blue Devils had a rough go in the regular season, but as Duke started to get more experience during the regular season the Blue Devils really showed up big and started to pick up quite a few wins on the year.
12. Maryland 24-7
Maryland is one team that had clawed their way up and really looked like a contender with how the Terrapins had been playing. In fact, the Terrapins could have easily been one of the sleeper teams that made it into the tournament and went deep in. Now, Maryland has to settle for a Top 20 finish in a year that could have seen them improve dramatically over where they were standing.
13. Oregon 24-7
The Ducks were one of the stronger teams in the Pac-12 all year. However, the Ducks were going to have to overcome a lot of competition to really make it deep into the tournament and with how competitive the Pac-12 was it would be possible, but at the same time the stretch may have ended up being too far for Oregon.
14. Louisville 24-7
The Cardinals really played decent at times, but in other games it was easy to see why Louisville fell so far. The Louisville team struggled in quite a few games and while the talent is on the roster the chance of it carrying the Cardinals back to the top of the charts definitely would have been out of reach for Louisville.
15. Seton Hall 21-9
Seton Hall is another team from the Big East. Can you tell which conference was one of the stronger ones yet? The Pirates would have had a good run, but the Pirates are also a team that did have some issues in providing good depth on the team and in a tournament run the depth is definitely needed.
16. Virginia 23-7
The defense for Virginia was starting to look great and the offense finally came around for the Cavaliers as well. The good news is Virginia was on a major upswing that could have potentially led to them competing again for the title, but the bad news is the tournament was cancelled before Virginia could show off their talented group of players.
17. Wisconsin 21-10
The Badgers are one team in the Big Ten that looked consistent on the year. The Badgers were able to walk away with some quality wins, but also some head scracthing losses. Either way the Badgers were a middle of the pack type team when it comes to the top 25 and while a Sweet Sixteen run may have been in the works, it would not have went much further for the Badgers.
18. BYU 24-8
BYU is one team that looked impressive down the stretch . The Cougars were bounced from the WCC tournament fairly early on, but outside of that the way the Cougars finished up the year was 5-0 in the regular season and that included a good quality win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs who had been running over almost every team faced during the regular season.
19. Ohio State 21-10
The Buckeyes were ranked in the top 5 at one point on the year. However, Ohio State struggled quite a bit after being ranked so high and while the Buckeyes clawed their way back into the top 20, the Buckeyes did not have a well rounded team with a lot of talent at key positions to make a deep run, which is kind of shocking with the great recruiting from Ohio State, but also for the Buckeyes who made it this high.
20. Auburn 25-6
Auburn is one team that really had a chance to impress, but fell short. When it came to the clutch games, like the one against Kentucky, the Tigers could not really push themselves over the top. Even against some of the weaker teams the Tigers had issues and did not come out swinging as hard as expected. However, to be ranked behind the very streaky Ohio State team is hardly fair for any Auburn team.
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