CLEVELAND, Ohio — As fans and Associated Press Top 25 teams start to laser in on the upcoming start of the NCAA Tournament, the initial question becomes what team is hot?
Right now the place to look is out West.
No. 4 Arizona (25-3), No. 5 UCLA (24-3) and of course No. 1 Gonzaga (28-0) are all left coast teams playing at a high level right now. All three should be highly seeded and expect to play close to home, at least in the NCAA Tournament regionals.
Obviously Gonzaga has not lost all season. Arizona sits atop the Pac-12 standings with a no-complaints loss at No. 13 Oregon since the beginning of conference play. And UCLA, which has a game this week at Arizona, has arguably the best freshman in the country, Lonzo Ball, who leads one of the most potent offenses in the country.
And for those looking for a Cinderella team No. 20 Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga’s biggest rival in the West Coast Conference, fits that bill nicely. When you throw Oregon into that mix, suddenly it looks like the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament – normally a comfortable landing spot for a power team and top seed from East of the Mississippi – will be a place to avoid this season instead.
That team from the East, however, might be yet another team currently playing at a high level; the Duke Blue Devils. Floundering two weeks ago, since head coach Mike Krzyzewski has returned from back surgery, Duke has been tested but has not faltered.
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