CBB: No. 3 Arizona at No. 18 Oregon
Week 12 was up-and-down for many of the top teams in our top-25, as No. 3 Kansas lost at No. 15 West Virginia and then took down mighty No. 5 Kentucky, No. 9 Florida State struggled to score in back-to-back losses against Georgia Tech and Syracuse, and No. 8 North Carolina looked sharp against Virginia Tech before falling flat at Miami (FL) on Saturday. Week 13 consists of six ranked-vs.-ranked matchups, headlined by No. 2 Baylor at No. 4 Kansas on Wednesday and No. 3 Arizona at No. 18 Oregon on Saturday. I will release my top-25, game-by-game predictions, Wooden Award standings, and a preview of the latter matchup above.
Top-25 Rankings:
1. Gonzaga (22-0)
2. Baylor (20-1)
3. Arizona (20-2)
4. Kansas (19-2)
5. Villanova (20-2)
6. UCLA (19-3)
7. North Carolina (19-4)
8. Louisville (18-4)
9. Kentucky (17-4)
10. Virginia (16-4)
11. Maryland (19-2)
12. Wisconsin (18-3)
13. West Virginia (17-4)
14. Florida State (18-4)
15. Purdue (17-5)
16. Duke (17-5)
17. Creighton (19-3)
18. Oregon (18-3)
19. Butler (18-4)
20. Cincinnati (19-2)
21. St. Mary's (18-2)
22. USC (18-4)
23. South Carolina (17-4)
24. Notre Dame (17-6)
25. Xavier (15-6)
On the Bubble:
26. Florida (16-5)
27. Virginia Tech (15-5)
28. Kansas State (15-6)
29. Utah (15-6)
30. Indiana (14-7)
Post:
No. 17 Creighton at No. 19 Butler
Virginia Tech at No. 10 Virginia
No. 2 Baylor at No. 4 Kansas
No. 1 Gonzaga at BYU
No. 10 Virginia at Syracuse
No. 24 Notre Dame at No. 7 North Carolina
No. 15 Purdue at No. 11 Maryland
No. 25 Xavier at No. 17 Creighton
No. 3 Arizona at No. 18 Oregon
No. 9 Kentucky at Florida
Week 12 Record: 6-4.
Overall Record: 95-35.
Winning Percentage: 73.1%.
Week 12 Record: 3-7.
Overall Record: 78-42.
Winning Percentage: 65.0%.
No. 3 Arizona (20-2, 9-0) at No. 18 Oregon (18-3, 7-1)
Post: I think No. 3 Arizona (76.3 points per game) is the better team of the two, but I'll take No. 18 Oregon (79.0 points per game) in a close one on their home floor. These teams are extremely similar as they defend hard (points allowed: Oregon 63.4, Arizona 63.1) and spread the ball around (assists: Oregon 16.9, Arizona 14.2). Even though the Ducks' 17-game winning streak came to an end over the weekend against Colorado and the Wildcats are riding a 14-game win streak, give me Dillon Brooks (13.4 points per game) and Oregon in this one.
Current No. 1 Seeds:
No. 1 Gonzaga (22-0, 9-0)
No. 2 Baylor (20-1, 7-1)
No. 3 Arizona (20-2, 9-0)
No. 4 Kansas (19-2, 7-1)
Final Four Picks:
Wooden Award Standings:
1. Josh Hart (Villanova SG) -- 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds per game.
2. Frank Mason (Kansas PG) -- 19.9 points, 5.2 assists per game.
3. Marcus Keene (Central Michigan PG) -- 29.8 points, 5.3 assists per game.
4. Lonzo Ball (UCLA PG) -- 14.9 points, 8.0 assists per game.
5. De'Aaron Fox (Kentucky PG) -- 16.2 points, 5.9 assists per game.
Photo Credit: Arizona Daily Star.
