MARCH MADNESS 2019

POWER RANKING THE FINAL FOUR TEAMS

Michigan State, Virginia, Texas Tech and Auburn have punched their tickets to the 2019 Final Four, but how do these teams stack up against one another?

The Final Four, too many, was supposed to be about the coronation — or further royal treatment — of Zion Williamson and the Duke Blue Devils. That’s essentially what the 2019 NCAA Tournament was being billed as and what March Madness was centered upon. However, the Michigan State Spartans had other plans, punching their own tickets to Minneapolis and sending Zion back to Durham.

Now, instead of a Duke-centric Final Four, we actually have an intriguing group of college basketball teams that are still alive for a chance at winning the National Championship. If the Virginia Cavaliers, Texas Tech Red Raiders or Auburn Tigers were to cut down the nets, it would be the first title in program history. And, though Michigan State has a bit more historical clout, it would actually be the Spartans first championship since 2000.

For college basketball fans, that should be a more enjoyable storyline to watch in the Final Four of the 2019 NCAA Tournament than a one-man show playing for a team that was, frankly, poorly coached this season. Yes, Williamson is electric, but the Duke team around him was anything but. Having four teams that are complete and all have distinct identities makes for more enjoyable basketball in the purist sense.

Speaking of those identities, it’s abundantly clear what each of these teams wants to do. Auburn wants to bomb 3s at any pace you want to play, Virginia wants to slow it down and win with defense, Texas Tech wants to do the same, and Michigan just wants to use their experience and toughness to beat you into submission.

But while we know what these teams want to do, which group is going to emerge in Minneapolis? Let’s try and figure that out by looking at these four teams and stacking them up against one another in our Final Four power rankings.

4. AUBURN TIGERS (5 SEED, MIDWEST REGION)

Coming into March Madness, the skinny on the Auburn Tigers was pretty simple: They can beat any team in the country when they’re at their best, but they can also lose to any team in the tournament field. And really, we’ve seen both of those scenarios play out through their first four games to get to this point.

It seems like many people are forgetting that Auburn did everything that they could in the First Round against New Mexico State to give the game away. If it weren’t for poor basketball IQ, poor free throw shooting and a bad final play drawn up by the Aggies, Auburn could very well have not made it out of their first game. None of that, however, is to say that they haven’t been impressive since.

Auburn running the gauntlet of college basketball’s three most winningest programs (Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky) to get to the Final Four is no small feat, and the veteran guards, Bryce Brown and Jared Harper, have been playing quite well to lead Bruce Pearl’s squad. Put simply, this is still a dangerous team, and one that actually matches up quite intriguingly with Virginia in the Final Four.

While that may be true, they come in at the bottom of these power rankings simply because of the Chuma Okeke injury. Not having the sophomore forward out there is truly a big blow for them as he was really a do-it-all player with versatile offense and defense in addition to great rebounding. If he was healthy and with the way the Tigers have been playing, they’d be ranked higher.

3. VIRGINIA CAVALIERS (1 SEED, SOUTH REGION)

Taking on Purdue in the Elite 8, the Virginia Cavaliers survived perhaps the best game of the NCAA Tournament to this point, outlasting Carsen Edwards’ 42-point barrage to get an overtime victory. However, because that game was so close and because Edwards was so unconscious with his 3-point shooting, what’s being lost in this is that Tony Bennett’s team actually played their best game of the tournament.

We’ve always known that Virginia’s pack-line defense is effective and can really dictate the action of a game. What made this team better than previous iterations, though, is the fact that they have reliable offense all over the floor, be it Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter or even Mamadi Diakite down in the post — only they had struggled to find that rhythm in the tournament coming into the Purdue game.

Against the Boilermakers, though, they showed what they’re capable of. Even with Hunter seeming completely out of sorts on the offensive end of the floor, the Cavaliers were able to take every punch that Edwards threw at them and counter with a jab or a haymaker of their own. It was truly an impressive performance, especially when you consider that they were also playing their defense well, but Edwards was just in an otherworldly zone and couldn’t miss any tough shots he put up.

Having said that, one game of finally looking like maybe the best team in the tournament isn’t enough to fully turn the tide in their favor, at least in these power rankings. At their best, they could be atop this list, but they haven’t consistently been at that level enough in March Madness for that to be the case.

2. MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (2 SEED, EAST REGION)

Tom Izzo was so close to pushing this Michigan State Spartans team to the top spot in these Final Four power rankings. The head coach certainly caught some heat in this tournament for his heated exchanges with his players, but what has been undeniable is the job that he’s done on the floor with this Sparty team to get them to Minneapolis.

Though no one was counting out the Spartans in the beginning of the year, the simple fact of the matter was that Michigan State wasn’t as talented as they have been in years past after Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson declared for the NBA. Then, when Josh Langford went down with an injury, that made the roster a mix of experienced players and some raw youngsters that weren’t as talented as some teams they’d go up against in March Madness — only it didn’t matter.

Izzo knows exactly what this team is and has coached them to perfection, making them a tough, gritty and yet cerebral and smart team that is just more poised than most college basketball teams they come up against. Point guard Cassius Winston is the force on the floor that drives them, unflappable under pressure and always making the right play.

When you then factor in the breadth of experienced forwards that can comprise a complete team and also that this group of guys is ready to out-physical any team, they are just a terrific college basketball team in the most traditional sense. And it’ll be fascinating to see their poise and experience up against a suffocating Texas Tech defense in the Final Four.

1. TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (3 SEED, WEST REGION)

The Texas Tech Red Raiders top these Final Four power rankings and for good reason. Frankly, the fact that they were a No. 3 seed is likely coloring the perception of this team in the public eye, but anyone who has watched this team has to know that they have been playing the best basketball of any team in the tournament and, more importantly, the most sustainable brand as well.

In the chalk-filled 2019 NCAA Tournament, the Red Raiders have faced the highest possible seed in every round to get to Minneapolis. More importantly, though, Chris Beard’s team has faced both high-powered offenses and a lockdown defense and has prevailed in every matchup.

Buffalo and Gonzaga are two of the most potent offensive teams in college basketball. However, Texas Tech held the Bulls to just 58 points after they averaged 84.4 points per game on the year and then kept the Bulldogs to only 69 points after Mark Few’s team put up 87.6 points per contest this season. For good measure, against a defensive-minded Michigan team, Texas Tech’s defense prevailed and their offense found enough success to notch an emphatic victory.

The Red Raiders are an elite defensive team that can put the clamps on literally any team in the country, as evidenced by their run to this point in March Madness. Furthermore, they have the single best player remaining in the Final Four in Jarrett Culver. When you put that whole picture together, Texas Tech is clearly the team to beat in Minneapolis.