By Sam Federman
It's been a long few months.
College basketball season is a marathon and a sprint, and there's still a long way to go in both.
However, at this point in time, it's fairly clear that three teams stand over everybody else. Each year, keeping with Jonathan's Bracket Bible, I keep a list of teams that I consider national title contenders at any given point in the season once it gets deep enough. This year, for the most part, that list has been cut to three teams.
UConn. Houston. Purdue.
In no particular order, those three are the consensus top three, and the clear best teams in college basketball. All three of them have super intriguing storylines as they attempt to make the run to cut down the nets in Glendale, Arizona on April 8th.
UConn
The Huskies are attempting to become the first team to win back-to-back national championships since Florida in 2006 and 2007. That within itself is a story, but this year's team may be even better than the group from last year that ran through the NCAA Tournament taking no prisoners in no close games.
Since Donovan Clingan's return to he Husky lineup in mid-January against Creighton, Connecticut ranks fourth in offensive efficiency and fourth in defensive efficiency on BartTorvik, making them the clear top team in the land in that span.
It's not just Clingan that makes UConn go, as Stephon Castle's breakout has coincided nearly identically with this stretch as well. During that Creighton game, the Bluejays played the freshman with two feet in the paint when he had the ball on the perimeter, and he was unable to make them pay for the most part. However, that is no longer a sound strategy, as he is shooting 38% from beyond the arc on nearly three attempts per game over his last eight contests. Bolstered by his growing confidence and developing shooting, Castle is averaging 13.1 PPG over the last 30 days.
What makes this even scarier is that UConn was a truly elite team even before Castle and Clingan were fully healthy. Alex Karaban, Tristen Newton, and Cam Spencer round out the starting lineup, and it feels like they've all taken turns as being Big East Player of the Year contenders at times this year.
While this Husky unit isn't quite as deep as last year's, and there might not be as much NBA talent in the starting lineup, they sit at 25-3, and only need one more win to clinch at least a share of the Big East regular season title for the first time since 2006.
Houston
It's year one in the Big 12 for Kelvin Sampson's Cougars, and it has been business as usual. Despite taking the step from the American Conference up to the top league in the sport, Houston continues to dominate the regular season, and has been the top team at KenPom for a very long time.
Led by veteran point guard Jamal Shead on both ends, UH's defensive identity has traveled with it to the new league. Shead and the guards apply tremendous amounts of ball pressure, aggressively blitzing ball screens and forcing more turnovers than all but two teams in the country. And if you are able to get a shot off against Houston, it probably isn't going in, as the Cougars have the #2 eFG% defense in the land.
The rotation of J'Wan Roberts, Jojo Tugler, and Ja'Vier Francis has continued the Houston tradition of undersized big men who play like absolute madmen, rebounding everything in sight and swatting shots with no regard.
The addition of LJ Cryer this season has given Houston a legit three-point shooting threat from anywhere on the floor. He drains shots off the dribble and off the catch, aiding an offense that struggles with shotmaking.
Houston's only loss in the last month and a half came on the road at Allen Fieldhouse. In that span, the Cougars have won at Baylor, Texas, BYU, and Cincinnati, as well as scoring home wins over Iowa State, and other strong teams.
Over the last few years, no program has been as excellent as Houston, and the Cougars are out to prove that, and come back with a ring this time around.
Purdue
"Everybody is a choker until they're not"
For the second consecutive year, Purdue has ranked around the very top of the rankings throughout the entire season led by National Player of the Year frontrunner Zach Edey.
Edey alone though couldn't drag the Boilermakers past 16th-seeded FDU last year.
In that game, Purdue's supporting cast was dared to beat the Knights, with overwhelming resources going toward stopping the big man. The cast failed, missing open threes and floundering against ball pressure.
This season though? Braden Smith has been one of the best point guards in the country, Fletcher Loyer has shot the ball at an elite level, and Lance Jones has provided the necessary two-way stability.
Not only does Purdue have the best player in the sport, and arguably the best that the sport has seen in years, but the Boilers have a complete group around him, ready to avenge last year's loss.
People will be hesitant to pick Purdue, the same way that people were hesitant to pick Virginia in 2019, but there's a first time for everything, and why can't this be the breakthrough?
Matt Painter's team has been the hunted all year long in the Big Ten, and they've been up to the task. With a 25-3 record, winning the Maui Invitational, picking up wins against Alabama and Arizona, and a 14-3 Big Ten mark, Purdue's resume very well might be the best in the country. That resume will most likely earn them a first weekend right at home in Indianapolis, a second weekend not too far away in Detroit, and a very strong path to the Final Four.
It's up to them to take it.
Yes, it's easy to look at KenPom and determine that these three are the best, but it isn't every year that the metrics have hit the nail on the head like this.
It's a better year at the top of the sport than it was last year and the year before that, and these three are the reasons why.