re: #1 Wisconsin- 63 #1 Duke 68. FINAL DUKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Everyone always falls in love with that random midmajor who has some sort of giant in the interior. Every year, some team with a 7+ foot big man gets hyped to high heavens, only to get thrashed. You needs guards to pull upsets, not a center (the three pointer is the great equalizer). Front court reliant small schools tend to get crushed in the tourney, I think.

And while I love KenPom (I have a subscription), sometimes, we have to look at who they put their numbers up against. NMSU only played five teams in KenPom's top 100, going 1-4 (their sole win by an OT win over #98 UC Irvine). They lose one OT game to #76 Colorado St in OT. The other three losses were to Wichita St, Baylor, and St. Mary's by 17, 11, and 12 points, respectively.

Kansas, OTOH, is one of the best teams in the country. I don't see how KenPom's ranking justify a single-digit spread (not to turn this into a gambling thread, this is more about Kansas being underrated and NMSU overrated).

And I really don't get why everyone is in love with Notre Dame. They can't play defense and our too reliant on the three (good for underdogs, bad for favorites).