The Post’s Zach Braziller provides a college basketball stock watch and look ahead to this week’s biggest games.
Game of the Week
Arkansas at No. 9 Kentucky, Saturday, 9 p.m.
John Calipari returns to Rupp Arena in what will certainly be an emotionally charged environment. Calipari led the Wildcats to a national championship and four Final Four appearances in 15 seasons, and it looks like the Wildcats are now better off without him.
Kentucky is a top-10 team under new coach and alum Mark Pope, while Arkansas has been a colossal disappointment under Calipari, needing a big run over the next six weeks just to make the NCAA Tournament. A win here could give the Razorbacks some momentum.
Seeding
1: Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Iowa State
2: Tennessee, Florida, Marquette, Purdue
3: Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Houston
4: Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Oregon, Louisville
Stock Watch
Up
Greg McDermott
The Creighton coach does not get enough credit.
Back in late November, there were experts dismissing the Bluejays, calling this a down year. They had lost three straight games. But McDermott’s teams always get better, and this one sure has despite losing key transfer Pop Isaacs (Texas Tech) to season-ending hip surgery in early December.
Creighton has won seven of its past eight games and is just a game behind St. John’s and Marquette at the top of the Big East. The lone loss was a hard-fought, eight-point setback at Marquette.
The big two of point guard Steven Ashworth and center Ryan Kalkbrenner have performed as expected, but it is the emergence of Arizona State transfer Jamiya Neal (averaging 13 points, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals in the aforementioned stretch) at both ends of the floor that has elevated this group.
Donovan Dent
There are few point guards better than the New Mexico floor general, who is top 25 in the country in both scoring (19.9) and assists (6.6). His latest wow performance came in a road win at UNLV, when Dent poured in 34 points in 37 minutes.
The lightning-quick junior has the Mountain West-leading Lobos in position to reach the tournament in consecutive years for the first time since 2013-14.
This team was supposed to take a step back after losing three starters, but it may be even better this year due to the mammoth leap Dent has taken.
Down
Hubert Davis
The last time North Carolina missed the NCAA Tournament twice in a three-year span, Matt Doherty lost his job. Could Davis be in trouble if the Tar Heels fail to go dancing? They are on the bubble, and in the midst of a shaky year.
North Carolina did avert disaster by finding a way to rally past Boston College at home on Saturday, but its 1-7 Quad 1 record is ugly. Davis’ résumé at his alma mater is a bizarre one. He reached the national championship his first year after a poor start to the season, failed to make the tournament the following year after being preseason No. 1, lost in the Sweet 16 as a No. 1 seed last March, and now is toying with another tournament-less campaign.
Indiana
The Hoosiers had the perfect next coach in former team manager Dusty May of Florida Atlantic. They were coming off a dismal year. Yes, Mike Woodson has reached the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons, but that was mostly on the back of the star he inherited, Trayce Jackson-Davis. Indiana opted to stand pat, letting Michigan swipe May. The powers that be should be regretting that now.
The Wolverines are firmly in the NCAA Tournament, potentially as a protected top-four seed.
Indiana? Well, on-the-bubble Indiana just lost a killer home game, blowing a four-point lead in the final half-minute to Maryland, to fall to 2-7 in Quad 1 games.
A second straight year without the tournament is very possible.