This is the 50th anniversary of Indiana’s undefeated season, and the Hoosiers will be celebrated at the Final Four in Indianapolis in April.
They will remain the last unbeaten and won’t have to worry about their streak being snapped. The closest challenger to potentially running the table was probably the 2015 Kentucky Wildcats, who were 38-0 before Wisconsin upset them in the national semifinals in Indianapolis.
Through Sunday, there were eight remaining unbeaten teams.
None will run the table.
Could Duke, Iowa State, Arizona or Michigan do it? Sure, but the odds are stacked against all, in large part because road games in any conference, let alone one of the power leagues, are simply too much of a grind to expect anyone to clean the slate.
Here are the potential landmarks for the remaining unbeaten teams.
Michigan (8-0)
The Wolverines have been the most impressive team over the past two weeks. They have looked unbeatable. But…I just witnessed a short-handed Minnesota down two starters take out a then-undefeated Indiana at home. Big Ten road games are just different.
Still, Michigan is talented enough to remain unblemished deep into the season. The Wolverines have four potential hurdles: at Michigan State (Jan. 30), at Purdue (Feb. 17), Duke in DC (Feb. 21) and at Illinois (Feb. 27). Dismissing a road game at rival Ohio State (Feb. 8) would be a mistake, too.
Arizona (8-0)
The Wildcats are my No. 1 team this week, but the schedule continues to be brutally tough. Tommy Lloyd wasn’t messing around. And it gets even harder this week with a road/neutral game in Birmingham against Alabama Saturday. Get by that game, and Arizona still has to go through a road gauntlet in the Big 12 at BYU (Jan. 26), at rival Arizona State (Jan. 31) and at Kansas (Feb. 9). That’s all before a road game at Houston Feb. 21 or hosting Iowa State March 2.
Duke (10-0)
Duke has met every challenge to date, notably beating Michigan State in East Lansing. But look at these road/neutral games still to come: Texas Tech, NYC (Dec. 20), at Louisville (Jan. 6), at Cal (Jan. 14), at North Carolina (Feb. 7) and Michigan in DC (Feb. 21). The Blue Devils nearly got clipped at home by Florida, so nothing is certain. But expecting Duke to clean out these pending games is a lot to ask.
Iowa State (9-0)
The Cyclones had the most dominating win to date by crushing Purdue in Mackey Arena. That simply doesn’t happen to the Boilermakers. But Iowa State plays in the Big 12 with some of the toughest road stops in the sport. Look at this slate ahead, including one home game: at Kansas (Jan. 13), Houston (Feb. 16), at BYU (Feb. 21), at Arizona (March 2). If Iowa State got through all of this and reached Selection Sunday unblemished, well then TJ Otzelberger can stencil his name in the Coach of the Year trophy.
Vanderbilt (9-0)
Mark Byington’s Commodores are one of the surprise teams thus far. They won the Battle 4 Atlantis and took down SMU, but asking Vandy to run the table is a bit much. They play at Memphis (Dec. 17) after the Tigers just beat Baylor. Then Vanderbilt has to go to Wake Forest on Dec. 21, and that’s all before the SEC begins in early January with a home game against Alabama (Jan. 7) and a few weeks later by hosting Florida (Jan. 17) and going to Arkansas (Jan. 20). This is an NCAA Tournament team, but not an undefeated one.
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Oklahoma State (9-0)
Steve Lutz has done a tremendous job of rebuilding the Cowboys. Oklahoma State is on its longest win streak since 2006 after beating Grand Canyon in Phoenix. Oklahoma State has shot 50 percent or better in five of its last six games and is shooting 49.9 percent overall. The most important thing for Oklahoma State is to get back to the NCAA Tournament, not go unbeaten. This could all end against Oklahoma Saturday in Oklahoma City or, remember, they are in the Big 12 at Texas Tech (Jan. 3) or at Iowa State (Jan. 10).
Nebraska (9-0)
The Huskers beat rival Creighton Sunday. Fred Hoiberg has done a remarkable job with this crew. Rienk Mast has had a first-team all-Big Ten season, thus far, and the addition of Iowa transfer Pryce Sandfort has given them a 1-2 punch. But the odds of the Huskers running the table too long would be a tall task. The Huskers do host Wisconsin Wednesday but then go to Illinois Saturday. The New Year starts with Michigan State (Jan. 2) and at Ohio State (Jan. 5). Getting to the NCAA Tournament would be wonderful. Being unbeaten is more unrealistic.
Miami of Ohio (8-0)
Travis Steele has recalibrated his career with the RedHawks. Miami has been scoring at a decent clip, averaging 95.4 points a game, but the schedule has been a bit soft. Miami has four straight road games at UNC Asheville (Dec. 10), at Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 13), at Wright State (Dec. 16) and at Ball State (Dec. 20). Expecting Miami to blow through that schedule would be asking a lot, let alone a back-to-back at Bowling Green Dec. 30 and hosting Akron (Jan. 3).
Coach’s Challenge
Traveling constantly during the season means I’m on the same flights a number of times with game officials. And it’s always great to catch up with them and find out what they think is or is not working with the game.
The new coach’s challenge rule is still a work in progress for everyone involved, but a number of officials I chatted with on the road and at games last week had one constant refrain: Coaches shouldn’t challenge in the first half. Every single official told me challenging a call in the first half is a waste. They all said seeing a coach challenge an out of bounds call in the first half can be costly and makes no sense to them to use it so early. Lose the challenge and that time out is gone.
Officials told me they have stressed that point to coaches. Don’t bother challenging early in the first half when it’s not going to have as much significance.
Officials also wish goaltending or basket interference was not part of the challenge system. Officials told me they would rather maintain the ability to go to the monitor to check whether this occurred.
As conference play intensifies, I’m curious to see how many coaches use challenges in the first half, or if this will become a mid- to late-game situation prior to the final two minutes of the game.
Shout outs
Micah Shrewsberry, Notre Dame. The Irish coach just needed time. He rebuilt Penn State. He can do the same with the Irish. And this past week was a major turnaround for Notre Dame, as the Irish beat Missouri and won at TCU. That came after losing two of three at the Players Era in Las Vegas, where, to be fair, Notre Dame had a rough draw by playing Kansas and Houston. They also lost a one-point game at Ohio State. Notre Dame will end up having a strong strength of schedule and no one should rule out the Irish as a possible NCAA Tournament team come March.
Jai Lucas, Miami. Lucas has the potential to take Miami to the NCAA Tournament in year one. Beating Georgetown and Ole Miss consecutively gives the ‘Canes momentum. Neither of those teams may end up being NCAA teams, but the ‘Canes look the part of a possible bid team.
Mark Madsen, Cal. The Mad Dog has the Bears back to being a possible NCAA team. Yes, the win over UCLA should signal that Cal is here to stay. Cal’s one loss was by three at Kansas State in November, and Cal’s schedule is more favorable this season by getting Louisville, Duke and North Carolina all in Berkeley.
Penny Hardaway, Memphis: The Tigers’ roster was gutted and Memphis got off to a sluggish start. Memphis lost four in a row and looked like this could be a long, long season, but Memphis has now won three in a row, including beating Baylor by seven. Hardaway has navigated a lot of obstacles in his career and has found a way to get to the NCAA Tournament. Don’t dare think the Tigers can’t make another run in the American. Tulsa is likely the favorite now, but Memphis isn’t going to go quietly.
Washington: The Huskies lost at home to UCLA but then spun around and won at USC by coming back from 18 down. This game was personal with former Trojans Quincy Pondexter (assistant) and players Wesley Yates and Desmond Claude getting the W at the Galen Center.
Niko Medved: Minnesota was down two starters, but the Gophers beat Indiana in their Big Ten opener. The Barn wasn’t sold out but it was about three-fourths capacity and was rocking. I was there for the court storming and talked to Medved on the court; he got a bit emotional, considering he was court side with his father as a kid watching Gophers games. Love these stories of coaches and/or players who get a full circle moment from youth to adulthood. Hopefully the fans will continue to come to the Barn, which is one of the best environments in the game when full.
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