Tag: Andy Katz

Andy Katz projection has Kentucky basketball as a three-seed

Kentucky is projected as a three seed by analyst Andy Katz.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi isn’t the only expert to list the Wildcats as a three-seed this week.

NCAA.com’s Andy Katz has released his first NCAA Tournament projection of the season, which features the Kentucky Wildcats as a three-seed.

This is Katz’s first tournament projection of the season, which he published with NCAA.com. Understandably, he’s quite high on the Wildcats — as they’re listed as the third seed in the South region.

Coming into the poll, Kentucky had four ranked wins, beating 6th-ranked Duke (77-72), 7th-ranked Gonzaga (90-89), 6th-ranked Florida (106-100), and 14th-ranked Mississippi State (95-90).

Related: Nate Ament cuts list to 11 schools

And, although it did not count toward’s Katz’s projection, the Wildcats went on to beat 11th-ranked Texas A&M 81-69 on Tuesday night — which will only further boost Kentucky’s seeding projections headed into the next wave of polls.

Similarly to Lunardi’s most recent bracket, Katz says that Kentucky would have to play 14-seed Akron in the first round. Should they win, they would then face the winner of 6-seed Wisconsin and the winner of the 11-seed play-in game between Texas Tech and Saint Mary’s.

The Wildcats will next play this upcoming Saturday when they host 4th-ranked Alabama in Lexington.

Andy Katz ranks Duke vs Pittsburgh ranked as the third-best basketball game of the week

With the Blue Devils looking to extend an eight-game win streak, their Tuesday battle against Pittsburgh is ranked as one of the week’s best.

Currently boasting an eight-game win streak, the Duke men’s basketball team will look for another big victory to start the week as they host the Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday. According to one NCAA reporter, it’s one of the best games of the week.

NCAA basketball analyst Andy Katz posted his weekly top-10 games of the week. Pittsburgh at Duke fell at No. 3, only behind the Tennessee Volunteers at Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats at Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Panthers come to Durham as one of three remaining ACC teams without a loss in conference play, joining Duke and the Clemson Tigers. They boast a 12-2 record with three ACC wins, and similar to the Blue Devils, they enter the game on a winning streak, albeit one only five games long.

Pittsburgh is ranked No. 22 in the KenPom rankings, second behind only Duke among conference teams, and the Panthers have notched big wins over teams like the West Virginia Mountaineers and LSU Tigers. If there’s a case to be made that a team can challenge the Blue Devils in the ACC, the Panthers have the strongest one. It just might go up in smoke on Tuesday night.

The game is set to tip-off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time and will be played on ESPN.

Duke rises to fourth in Andy Katz’s college basketball power rankings

The Duke Blue Devils moved one spot closer to No. 1 in Andy Katz’s latest college basketball power rankings on Monday.

The Duke Blue Devils haven’t lost in December, and the six-game win streak moved them up to fourth in the latest college basketball power rankings from national analyst Andy Katz.

The Blue Devils defeated Georgia Tech on the road this Saturday, their second conference win of the season on freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag]’s 18th birthday. The forward finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists in the 26-point win, but he’s still managed at least 20 points in three of Duke’s last five outings.

“He’s already one of the five best players this season,” Katz wrote about Flagg.

The Auburn Tigers, despite their loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium three weeks ago, returned to the top spot over the undefeated Tennessee Volunteers. Iowa State was the only other team Katz put above the Blue Devils, and no other ACC team made his top 20.

The Cameron Crazies won’t see this Duke team again until New Year’s Eve when the Blue Devils host Virginia Tech.

Andy Katz moves the Duke Blue Devils within top five of his basketball power rankings

The Duke Blue Devils finally found their way back into the top five of Andy Katz’s power rankings for men’s college basketball.

The Duke Blue Devils have won four straight games to build an 8-2 resume, and college basketball analyst Andy Katz now considers [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates a top-five team in the country once again.

Katz released his weekly power rankings on Monday, and the Blue Devils shuffled up one spot to No. 5 despite a meandering victory over Incarnate Word last Tuesday.

“Duke has done a tremendous job of beating the teams soundly that it should,” Katz wrote. “The ACC is Duke’s to lose.”

The Blue Devils pulled away from the Cardinals in the second half to end up with a 26-point victory by the time the buzzer sounded, their fifth 20-point win of the season. Duke outscored Louisville 43-28 after halftime in its first ACC game of the season, and its 84-78 victory over the Auburn Tigers is one of the nation’s best wins in 2024-25.

The Tigers stayed second on Katz’s board behind the Tennessee Volunteers, and Iowa State and the Kentucky Wildcats followed suit in the same order as the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll.

The Clemson Tigers (No. 15) were the only other ACC team included among Katz’s top 37 teams.

College basketball analyst keeps Duke Blue Devils within top 10 in updated power rankings

Despite two losses already on their resume this season, the Duke Blue Devils stuck within the top 10 in Andy Katz’s weekly power rankings.

The Duke men’s basketball team and its fans probably hoped for a perfect start to the 2024-25 season, but two losses against the Blue Devils’ early schedule isn’t disqualifying by any means. College basketball analyst Andy Katz certainly feels that way as he kept Duke eighth in his updated Power 37 rankings on Monday.

Duke’s two neutral-site losses came by five points to the Kentucky Wildcats and by three points to the Kansas Jayhawks, two powerhouse programs that remain undefeated so far this season. The Blue Devils sat tied with Kentucky and one point behind Kansas with 20 seconds left on the clock, only falling thanks to some late turnovers from their freshman starters.

“The Blue Devils are close to finishing off elite teams and will get another test this week,” Katz wrote.

Katz put the Jayhawks second and the Wildcats fifth in his rankings.

The upcoming chance Katz referred to won’t be any easier, however. The Auburn Tigers come to Durham for a Wednesday night game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and they actually jumped Kansas for Katz’s top overall spot after the Maui Invitational last week. Through their first seven games, the Tigers have stacked wins against the Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Memphis Tigers.

Analyst Andy Katz lists Kentucky as a Final Four dark horse

College basketball analyst Andy Katz lists Kentucky basketball as a dark horse Final Four team.

The 2024-25 college basketball season is just around the corner now, and teams like Connecticut, Kansas, and the Alabama Crimson Tide are favored to win the national championship. Kentucky basketball isn’t quite there, though they’re a preseason top 25 team.

College basketball analyst Andy Katz does, however, think they could make a deep run in March. On Wednesday, he released his list of ten teams that are dark horses to make the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, and the Wildcats on on it.

Related: Kentucky projected to land 2025 guard Acaden Lewis

Kentucky is listed as the number three dark horse team behind Indiana and Arkansas. The Florida Gators, also of the SEC, are ninth on the list.

The Wildcats had to work hard to assemble a roster after a coaching change left them with no scholarship players. Mark Pope and his staff managed to bring in a solid group of veterans who fit his system and play well together. They’re a long-shot to win it all, but Katz certainly seems to think they could surprise a lot of people.

Andy Katz predicts Rutgers men’s basketball to return to the NCAA Tournament

Andy Katz predicts that Rutgers basketball will return to the NCAA Tournament.

After an up-and-down season, Rutgers men’s basketball has plenty to prove next season. Big Ten Network analyst and college basketball insider Andy Katz expects Rutgers to be headed to March Madness again.

Expectations are also higher due to an influx of talent that will include potential stars in [autotag]Ace Bailey[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Harper[/autotag], [autotag]Lathan Somerville[/autotag] and [autotag]Bryce Dortch[/autotag].  Katz expects the Scarlet Knights to make a March Madness appearance for the first time since 2022.

There certainly is plenty of transition this offseason for Rutgers as only three players from last season are projected to return. That list includes Jeremiah Williams, one of Rutgers’ best scorers. In 12 games last year, Williams averaged 12.2 points while shooting a career-high 44.4 percent from the field.

Will we see @RutgersMBB and @UCLAMBB back in the Dance next season? 🕺 @TheAndyKatz says YES. #B1GMBball pic.twitter.com/rsRBnnwsS5

— Big Ten Men’s Basketball (@B1GMBBall) May 31, 2024

Although Katz is high on Rutgers, that was not the only team in the conference he highlighted. He also picked UCLA as a team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament after not making the cut last year.

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In a social media post on X, Katz highlighted some of the talent UCLA has brought in. That list includes Kode Johnson, who transferred from USC, and a talented freshman, Eric Perry. They will be led by veterans Andy Mara and Dylan Andrews. During their first year in the Big Ten, UCLA will look to make a good first impression.

 

Andy Katz says Oregon is a dark horse to make the Final Four

CBS Sports college basketball analyst Andy Katz says Oregon is one of four possible dark horses in the NCAA tournament.

When it comes to the NCAA tournament, 11 and 12 seeds are popular upset picks and a lot of the times, those seeds tend to come through for some reason.

Oregon finds itself as an 11-seed in this year’s tourney as they are matched up with 6-seed South Carolina today at 1 pm PST in Pittsburgh.

According to CBS Sports college basketball analyst Andy Katz, the Ducks are one of four dark horses to keep an eye on as March Madness proceeds over the next three weeks.

Other than Oregon, Katz said teams such as New Mexico, San Diego State and Wisconsin are all possible schools that could play the role of Cinderella.

New Mexico is an 11-seed, like Oregon, in the West Region and the Lobos open with Clemson. San Diego State is a 5-seed in the East Region that opens with UAB. The Badgers, soon to be a Big Ten foe for Oregon, is a 5-seed in the South Region and they begin competition with James Madison.

It’s funny how things can change on a dime in college basketball. Just two weeks ago, the Ducks were getting thumped by Arizona and now they are a possible favorite to advance to the Sweet 16 thanks to their Pac-12 tournament run in Las Vegas.

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Andy Katz names Jared McCain his Player of the Week following 35-point outburst against Florida State

Duke freshman Jared McCain was named Andy Katz’ Player of the Week after a 35-point game against FSU and a double-double against Wake Forest.

By now, Jared McCain’s scintillating shooting performance in Tallahassee has introduced him to everyone in college basketball.

The true freshman from Sacramento, California, opened up more eyes this weekend after his 35 points helped carry Duke to a win on the road against an always-tough Florida State team coached by Leonard Hamilton.

Duke needed every single point McCain provided. For his efforts, McCain was named ACC Rookie of the Week, and college basketball reporter Andy Katz called McCain his national Player of the Week.

McCain’s week ended with the win and 35-point explosion over FSU, but earlier that week against Wake Forest, McCain also dropped a 17-point double-double while shooting 3/7 from distance.

He averaged a whopping 26 points per game for the week, and his total field goal percentage for the week’s games was 53%, He shot 61% from the 3-point line.

For good measure, McCain averaged seven rebounds a game, too.

 

We’ve discussed how McCain tied a Duke freshmen record held by a legendary one-and-done player, Zion Williamson. Still, McCain is now flirting with a place within the top 10 all-time 3-point shooting seasons by a Duke freshman. He’s tied currently with Austin Rivers at No. 10 with 58 made threes. One more 3-pointer with eight games left would see him officially pass Rivers and firmly move inside the top 10.

With four more makes from deep, he’d pass his head coach, Jon Scheyer, who had 61 in his freshman season at Duke.

With McCain, Duke has found a dynamic long-range threat that could affect how teams gameplan for Duke the rest of the way—playing off that could benefit Duke greatly as they continue to push toward the NCAA Tournament.

Duke basketball 12th in Andy Katz’s latest Power 36

NCAA’s Andy Katz dropped his ranking of the top 36 teams in college basketball right now and Duke just cracked the top dozen.

NCAA’s Andy Katz released his rankings of the top 36 teams in men’s college basketball on Monday, a series he calls the Power 36, and Duke managed to snag one of the top dozen spots.

The Blue Devils ended up 12th on Katz’s big board, one spot below North Carolina as the two highest-ranked ACC teams on the board.

Defending national champion Connecticut took the top spot, with Houston, Arizona, Purdue, and Alabama rounding out the top five. Iowa State, Marquette, Kansas, Baylor, and Tennessee took the remaining spots in the top 10 to keep out Duke and the Tar Heels.

There’s always more to basketball than a head-to-head record, but not for nothing, Duke defeated Baylor in their December game and currently sits one spot above the Bears in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric. Baylor has won five of its last six games after a three-game skid last month, while Duke has lost two games since December 2.

Three more ACC teams found their way into the bottom of Katz’s rankings, including a surging Pittsburgh squad. The Panthers have seven of their past eight games, including road wins over Virginia and Duke, to vault up to 28th on the list. The Cavaliers came in one spot behind in 29th with Clemson immediately behind them in 30th.