Arizona, Nebraska, and Miami of Ohio Remain Unbeaten in College Basketball

Through January 22nd, there were three unbeaten teams left in men’s college basketball. One of these, Arizona, is a perennial basketball power. Since the 1984-85 season, the Wildcats have reached the NCAA tournament field in all but five seasons, and usually as a single digit seed. Arizona won the championship in 1997. The Wildcats, ranked #1 in the AP Poll, improved to 19-0 this season with a 77-51 whipping of Cincinnati on January 21st. Arizona has beaten five Top 25 teams this season, but they have seven games left against ranked opponents in their remaining 12 regular season games.

The other two undefeated teams could be considered surprises at this point. Nebraska beat Washington 76-66 on January 21st, and is also 19-0 on the season. The Cornhuskers were 21-14 last season, but only 7-13 in the Big 10 and didn’t make the tournament. The year before, they were 23-11 but were eliminated in the first round. Nebraska has made it into the NCAAs just eight times, and has advanced beyond the first round only once, in 2013-4, and they lost in the second round then. The Cornhuskers are #7 in the AP Poll, and three of their next five games are against #3 Michigan, #11 Illinois, and #4 Purdue in what should be the toughest stretch of their schedule.

The third unbeaten team is #25 Miami of Ohio. The frontrunners in the Mid American Conference had to go to overtime to beat Kent State 107-101 on January 20th, and improved to 20-0 on the season. The Redhawks haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since the 2006-7 season, losing in the first round. Last year, Miami was 25-9, but lost to regular season champion Akron in the MAC conference tournament. Akron was the only MAC team selected for the NCAAs. The Redhawks can score lots of points; they are second in the country in scoring, averaging 94.6 points per game. Miami has not played a Top 25 ranked team, and none of their remaining opponents are in the Top 25. The Redhawks have the best shot at making it through the regular season undefeated, though their strength of schedule (or lack of strength) will no doubt hold them back from a high seed in the NCAAs. But getting to the tournament again after two decades will no doubt be welcome to their fans, no matter where they are seeded.