There are months between now and Selection Sunday, and even longer until the NBA draft. But there’s a good chance the odd two-year streak of the No. 1 overall pick missing the NCAA Tournament appears to over.
The season-ending injury to Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr. and the outstanding start to the career of Marvin Bagley III makes it seem more and more likely that the Duke freshman big man will be the first player selected in the NBA draft.
Bagley has been every bit as good as expected. The 6-foot-11, 234-pound forward had 34 points and 15 rebounds in Duke’s comeback win over Florida, Sunday, and is averaging 22.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
The No. 1 Blue Devils lived dangerously at times in the PK80, but they’ll be in the NCAA Tournament for sure.
Duke players, especially in the frontcourt, have spotty recent track records in the NBA. Jayson Tatum has been outstanding for the Celtics. Jabari Parker has struggled to stay healthy, but has been good when he’s played for Milwaukee. Brandon Ingram has been good for the Lakers (14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds) this year, but still needs to take another step to be worth the No. 2 overall pick.
Jahlil Okafor’s career is at a crossroads after a disappointing run in Philadelphia.
It’s not impossible that Texas’ Mo Bamba, who is the closest thing to a true NBA center at the top of the draft, or Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton could eclipse Bagley. But despite the Wildcats’ struggles last week, it’s hard to picture them not making the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns look like a tournament team as well.
Luka Doncic, the 6-foot-6 Slovenian who plays for Real Madrid, obviously won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament. He appeared at the top of some mock drafts in the fall, but Euro players’ stock often rises in the summer before being surpassed by Americans during the collegiate season.
MY TOP 10 — 1. Duke, 2. Kansas, 3. Michigan State, 4. Notre Dame, 5. Villanova, 6. Wichita State, 7. Kentucky, 8. Miami, 9. Minnesota, 10. Texas A&M.
For the rest of my Top 25, visit the College Hoop Week Guide on gazettenet.com’s UMass Sports Blog.
GAMES OF THE WEEK: Notre Dame at Michigan State, Thursday, 7 p.m. ESPN — This is the jewel of the annual ACC-Big Ten challenge.
The game features Bonzie Colson vs. Miles Bridges in one of the best big man battles this season.
Miami at Minnesota, Wednesday, 9:15 p.m. ESPN 2 — UMass coach Matt McCall called the Golden Gophers a Final Four-caliber team on Friday. If Minnesota wins this game, a lot of people would start agreeing with him.
TOUGHEST WEEK — Baylor is at Xavier, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. (FS1), then hosts Wichita State, Saturday, 2 p.m. (ESPNU).
ATLANTIC 10 GAME OF THE WEEK: Providence at URI, Saturday — The biggest game in the littlest state. The Rams upset Seton Hall last week despite missing injured standouts E.C. Matthews and Cyril Langevine. But most URI fans would trade that for a win over their Ocean State rivals.
FORMER MINUTEMAN SPOTLIGHT — Ex-UMass guard Demetrius Dyson is in his final season at Samford. Dyson, who played sparingly in two seasons in Amherst, is averaging 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 40.5 percent from 3-point range. The Bulldogs are 2-5 against a mostly unremarkable schedule. The Tennessee native will play at Memphis, Tuesday.
BUZZER BEATER — A week ago it would have been nearly impossible to picture Arizona having its streak of 100 straight weeks being ranked snapped. The Wildcats were ranked No. 2. They looked headed for a Bahamian Wildcat showdown with Villanova in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Instead, Arizona lost to North Carolina State, SMU and Purdue, and were bounced from the top 25.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage