Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Valpairaso Crusaders
8 PM ET ESPNU

Most fans who closely watch college basketball know about Kay Felder and this Oakland Grizzlies game because of their overtime performance against Michigan State over the holidays.  But Valpairaso is four games up on the Grizzlies in the Horizon standings with a 22-5 record.  Senior Vashil Fernandez leads Valpo on the defensive end, as the Crusaders ranked first (among 351 D1 college teams) on kenpom.com’s adjusted defensive kenpom.com’s adjusted defensive rankings.  Junion Alec Peters is the stretch-four-type who averages 16 1/2 points per game.  Tevvon Walker hit 6 of 8 three pointers in these teams’ first game this season for the 84-67 win.

Right before this game, sports reporter with The Oakland Press, Daniel Tallant, tweeted collegebasketballeyetest.com, “Oakland has impressed on the road this year.”

“(I) can only imagine how badly Felder and Kampe want tonight’s game. Huge chance for Oakland,” Tallant said.

For the Grizzlies, the game also comes as sharpshooter Max Hooper earns national publicity this week.  ESPN, Sbnation, and Yahoo Sports all have articles on how he has only attempted three point jump shots (62-138) this season.  Hooper epitomizes the Mötley Crüe that the Grizzlies run with.  Kay Felder is a college basketball star, but is only 5-9.  Center Percy Gibson is a load at 6-9, 271 lbs.  Hooper is hanging at the three point line.  Jalen Hayes is an athletic 6-7 sophomore averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds a game.  At the end of that Spartan’s game, the Grizzlies inability to guard the post cost them.

For tonight’s contest, Valpairaso Journalism Professor Paul Oren puts it best.

“Two of the best mid-major players/teams doing battle for second time,” Oren said Friday afternoon.

“Will there be a third?”

Iona Gaels at Monmouth Hawks
10 PM ET ESPNU

These teams don’t like each other.  That was made clear when Iona’s Jordan Washington punched Monmouth’s Chris Brady after their game in January.

However, it was the Gaels who got smacked in the mouth (on their home floor).

The Hawks displayed the best shooting half we have seen this entire college basketball season.  Monmouth won 110-102, but it wasn’t even that close.

Monmouth’s bench has gotten all of the pub this season.  However, it’s point guard Justin Robinson who deserves more ink.  The 5-8 junior is the engine that makes the Hawks go.  He averages 20 points per game, which is incredible when you watch Monmouth in action.  Robinson is a facilitator first and does some incredible things with the ball in transition.

Iona, meanwhile, is hurting from the loss of MAAC freshman of the year Schadrac Casimir.  Casimir is the type of shooter that Monmouth showcased in that second half.  Iona is only 15-10 on the season, but still a threat with an elite scorer in A.J. English (21 per).  Expect this one to be a track meet!

Here is the Collegebasketballeyetest.com Top 25 (left) versus the latest USA Today Coaches Poll (right).

Left out:

Arizona

Arizona’s guard play scares us.  Gabe York has been forced into situational point guard duties, but he performs best when squaring up off-the-ball.  Allonzo Trier has been coming on as of late, but an even split 1-1 against non-conference RPI top 50 teams (Providence, Gonzaga) doesn’t thrust you into our top 25.

Monmouth

Monmouth and Seton Hall were honestly a toss-up.  Both teams have a similar flavor.  They remind us of recent, underestimated Tri-state teams which have overachieved (Iona, Siena, Manhattan) in the tourney.  They are guard-heavy, penetrate with a quintessential “city game,” and beat opponents to lose balls.  In this case, Seton Hall has more size (Angel Delgado averages 10.5 and 9.9) and gets the nod.

Duke

Don’t be fooled by the top 20 ranking.  Not coincidentally, Duke has a primetime ESPN Network matchup against #5 UNC on Wednesday.  Until this team gets Amile Jefferson back, we see their identity explained better with the three game losing streak (at Clemson; hosting Notre Dame, Syracuse) instead of the win at home versus #7 Virginia.

Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso Sophomore Guard 

You often hear that the tournament committee will take into consideration the injury of an important player.  If true, it should be noted that Walker missed the Horizon League Championship game against Green Bay with a right ankle sprain.  Walker plays about 23 minutes per game.  Losing a solid ball-handler in tournament play is nothing to sneeze at.  With Valparaiso, the offense should always run through forward star Alec Peters.  Walker is one of the better facilitators on the team.  He also hits about 1 of 3 three pointers per game.  On a few occasions, he got hot from behind the line and won some games for the Crusaders.  It’s our position that Valpo should get a bid and that they’re a better team with Walker in the lineup.

Amile Jefferson, Duke Senior Forward 

Life was difficult for a young Blue Devils squad after Amile Jefferson broke his right foot in early December.  However, Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram have been clicking on offense.  Duke was the most efficient offense in college basketball in early February when they beat Louisville and Virginia.  It was recently reported that Amile Jefferson will return not return and will seek a medical  red shirt.   This is a huge loss for Duke in terms of defense and, of course, pure experience.

Jordan Bell, Oregon Sophomore Forward

Oregon has long-been a darling of collegebasketballeyetest.com’s this season.  The Ducks could easily be a Final Four team.  When you watch, Jordan Bell appears to be an X factor.  After returning in mid-December from foot surgery, the Ducks won any game in which Bell scored 7 or more points.  At 6-8 he is one of few “rim protectors.”  The Ducks are rather small compared to most teams you’d tab as a possible Final Four.  But they have about as solid a seven man rotation as you could ask for.  Bell shows flashes of being the type of bench player that could help cut the nets.  In 14 minutes of action in a win against Utah, Bell grabbed 4 boards, blocked 3 shots and scored 10.  He has already set the all-time career record for shots blocked at Oregon with 120 (92 in his freshman season). Bell’s production has fluctuated slightly late this season, so I’d monitor Eugene writers such as Tyson Alger to see how that surgically-repaired foot is doing.  During the PAC 12 Tournament, Bell struggled by getting into foul trouble often.  No word on whether that’s connected to the foot injury.

Casey Jones,  Chattanooga Senior Guard

Casey Jones is a thousand  point scorer in his career with the Mocs.  As a junior, he averaged over 14 per game.  Jones suffered an ankle injury in early December.  Despite missing the game, his Chattanooga team went into Dayton and beat the Flyers by two points.  As reported by WDEF-TV, Jones was considering re-entering the lineup as recently as late February.  However, reports during the conference tournament said that he is out for the remainder of the season.

Jameel McKay, Iowa State Senior Forward 

Jameel McKay has been hampered throughout the season with a knee injury.  He also fell out of graces with coach Prohm in mid-February, and missed action during a short-lived “indefinite suspension.”  We all know how thin Iowa State’s bench is after Naz Long’s season-ending injury.  It will be important to monitor not only McKay’s health, but his production level, while he potentially plays injured headed into the postseason.

Cameron Ridley, Texas Senior Center

Shaka Smart’s Longhorns have played lights out since the start of 2016.  Cam Ridley played sparingly in a Big 12 Championship quarterfinal game, which is an added bonus for Texas.  His size and experience can help greatly in the tournament setting.  However, the Longhorns have found chemistry without him.  Prince Ibeh has risen from a role player, who grabs rebounds and defends in spurts, to one of college basketball’s premiere shot-blockers.  Coach Smart has kept the entire cast of highly talented guards, including Isaiah Taylor, who is playing more controlled this season at point guard.  Cameron Ridley would make Texas an even more frightening opponent come March Madness.

Amida Brimah, UCONN Junior Center 

The big man missed 11 games with a broken finger.  When he returned, he blocked just 6 shots in his first five games back.  For a guy who had 9 rejections in the first game of the season, this is noticeable.  We can assume Brimah is 100% health-wise come March Madness.  However, can a guy who is notably a raw talent get back into an effective rhythm and protect the rim?  In a American Conference tournament game, he showed that he is back to full strength against a tough Cincinatti bunch.  Brimah registered 47 minutes in the quadruple overtime game, scoring 10, boarding 9 and blocking 5.

Here are some usual suspects poised to return to March Madness with a vengeance.  These are not just guys with tournament experience, but deep tournament experience.  These players are winners.  They’ve performed in clutch situations.  If you see them performing in March, you’ll ask yourself, “damn, didn’t that kid play against Anthony Davis’s Kentucky squad?”  Nope, but one of these guys did play on his Wildcat team.

Scoochie Smith, Dayton Flyers Senior Guard 

Who can forget the name Scoochie?  Not Syracuse Orange fans.  In 2014, Scoochie scored 5 points and dropped 3 assists in 18 minutes of work to help his Flyers ascend into the Sweet 16.  Scoochie had an identical stat-line when they beat Stanford and reached the Elite 8.  Flanked by 2014 teammates Kendall Pollard and Dyshawn Pierre, the Flyers could rise again this March.

Yogi Ferrell, Indiana Hoosiers Senior Guard 

On March 28, 2013, a young Kevin Ferrell joined a lineup that included Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Christian Watford and Will Sheehey.  Ferrell was held scoreless as Michael Carter-Williams’s Orange moved past Indiana and into the Elite 8.  In the three seasons to follow, Ferrell has scored about 1,600 points as the cast of characters evolved around him.  This season, James Blackmon Jr. was lost for the season with a knee injury, but freshmen OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant are maturing around him.  Let’s see what Ferrell can orchestrate in his Big Dance swan song.

Kaleb Tarczewski, Arizona Wildcats Senior Guard 

Tarczewski has seen the highs and lows of a college basketball career.  He too has played with the studs.  In 2013-14, his Wildcats lost a heart-breaker to Wisconsin in the Elite 8.  That team featured current NBA players Aaron Gordon, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell (plus Brandon Ashley and Nick Johnson).  Tarczewski has also battled injury.  He missed eight games this season.  Tarczewski averages 10 points and 8 boards.  It won’t be a lack of postseason experience that keeps he and his fellow grizzled veteran, Gabe York, from succeeding in this tournament.

Ron Baker & Fred Van Vleet, Wichita State Senior Guards 

Both Baker and Van Vleet played critical minutes in Wichita State’s historic march into the 2013 Final Four.  In fact, as freshmen, these guards played a combined 60 minutes in a Final Four matchup against (eventual champion) Louisville.  Since that Cinderella run, Van Vleet has contributed 492 assists to 143 turnovers.  Van Vleet missed some time early in this 2016 campaign due to an ankle injury.  If both these guys are healthy, watch for a serious run reminiscent of the Butler Bulldogs or Shockers of earlier this decade.

Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga Senior Forward 

It would be almost impossible for Wiltjer’s collegiate career to not finish in anti-climatic fashion.  As a freshman, the 2011 McDonald’s All-American from Portland Oregon became a member of the 2012 Kentucky Wildcats championship team.  He sat a year in order to transfer to Gonzaga.  Last season, as you know, his Bulldogs lost to the eventual champion Duke Blue Devils in the Elite 8 game.  Wiltjer has bulked up considerably over his college career, especially in that off-year during the transfer.  After losing Premet Karnowski, Gonzaga’s ceiling is not as high as he might have hoped.  However, Wiltjer is one of few guys in college basketball who still has “in the gym” range.  If I were an opponent, I would hate to face this 23-year-old intent on a last hurrah.