9. Michigan State
Jon Rothstein calls this month "Izzo" for a reason as the college basketball lifer has led eight teams to a final four winning in 2000. Tom Izzo enters the tournament with one of the Nation's top players in Tyson Walker who's scoring 18.2 PPG while averaging 1.8 steals per game. The issue for the Spartans is depth. After their top four scorers, the rest of the group averages six or fewer points a game.
10. Nevada
The Wolf Pack looked like one of the teams to beat in the Mountain West before falling to Colorado State. The Wolfpack rank within the top 45 in both offensive and defensive efficiency as one of the country's most balanced teams. The team sports a dynamic backcourt in Jarod Lucas and Kenan Blackshire who combine for 32.9 points per game. Lucas and Tre Coleman are both above-average shooters from three, making for a scary draw for any opponent.
11. New Mexico
The New Mexico Lobos are coached by a familiar name in Richard Pitino the son of basketball Icon Rick Pitino and the Lobos had an impressive week winning the Mountain West tournament. The top four for New Mexico in scoring is impressive as the group combined for 57.3 points per game making it difficult to game plan against. The team shoots 33% from three making for a potential nightmare for opponents in March.
12. Grand Canyon University
The matchup between Grand Canyon University and St. Marys may be one of the more fun games of the opening weekend. The Lopes cruised to victory in the WAC Conference tournaments with its closest game coming as a 15-point win in the championship. Tyon Grant-Foster is one of the best players no one has heard of scoring 19.8 PPG with 6.0 Rebounds a game and over a block and a steal per game. If Grant-Foster gets hot it'll surprise little to nobody to see the Lopes in the sweet sixteen.