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UConn clearly the best team, but who's a leading Cinderella?
Donovan Clingan David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

UConn clearly the best team, but who's a leading Cinderella?

By Max Rego  |  Last updated 2/19/24

With every dribble, every possession and every game, the best postseason in sports gets closer. The weekend marked a chance for the top teams in the country, as well as those on the NCAA Tournament bubble, to pick up key wins heading into the stretch run.

Here are three takeaways from the weekend’s action: 

UConn is clearly the top team in the country

They may not win the national title — only Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07) have gone back-to-back on the men’s side in the past 50 years —  but with less than a month to go before Selection Sunday, the top-ranked Huskies are championship favorites. 

And it shouldn’t be a debate. In one of its toughest tests of the season to date, UConn (24-2) dismantled then-No. 4 Marquette on Saturday, 81-53. 

Heading into the game, the Golden Eagles had won eight straight in Big East play. Led by 17 points and 10 boards from big man Donovan Clingan and 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from reliable floor general Tristen Newton, however, the Huskies established a 3.5-game lead over Marquette for first in the Big East.

UConn is excelling without center Adama Sanogo, sharpshooter Jordan Hawkins and Swiss Army knife forward Andre Jackson Jr., who departed for the NBA after last season.

All that put together makes the fact that the Huskies are in position to reach another championship game extremely impressive. UConn is not only primed to make it to the Glendale, Ariz., site of the Final Four. They are the frontrunners to win it all. 

Kentucky’s ceiling is as high as any SEC team

Entering the weekend, Kentucky (18-7) had lost three of its previous five games and had not notched a quality road win since Jan. 6 over Florida.

But on Saturday, the Wildcats showed serious grit, leading from start to finish in a 70-59 road victory over then-No. 13 Auburn. Given that the Tigers had just drilled then-No. 11 South Carolina 101-61 on Wednesday, and Kentucky was without super senior forward Tre Mitchell, it was a terrific showing for John Calipari’s team.

The No. 17 Wildcats, at 8-4 in conference play, are still two games back of Alabama in the SEC regular-season title race — with Tennessee (9-3), South Carolina (9-4) and Auburn (9-4) also ahead of Kentucky and Florida (also at 8-4 in the league). But Saturday proved that the Wildcats, who were spurred by 22 points from Antonio Reeves, still have that second gear.

They just need to kick into it more often. 

Watch out for South Florida

File this note away when you’re filling out your bracket: South Florida (19-5) may be this season’s Cinderella. 

The Bulls, already in first in the American Athletic Conference, held on against last season’s darling, Florida Atlantic, on Sunday afternoon. South Florida led by 25 at one point in the second half, and survived 90-86 despite a furious rally by the Owls.

Despite being 12-1 in conference play, the Bulls (100th in KenPom, 110th in Bart Torvik, 92nd in the NET) are highly unlikely to get into the dance via an at-large bid. But if they win the AAC Tournament and nab an automatic bid, this could be the type of team that gets through to the second weekend as a double-digit seed.

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