With the regular season now in its final month and recruiting news remaining relentless, Rivals national recruiting analysts Rob Cassidy and Dan McDonald tackle three of college basketball’s most interesting topics and debate whether each statement is fact or fiction.
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2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
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2023 Rankings: Top 30
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1. Oklahoma State will be the most dangerous non-No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Cassidy: FACT. The Pokes have won eight of their last nine games, including six against ranked competition and a Big 12 Tournament semi-final win over juggernaut Baylor. On, they also have the likely No. 1 overall pick in Cade Cunningham. Those are the headlines, but there’s depth at work as well. Mike Boynton’s team has proven it can win big games even without Cunningham. Guard Avery Anderson has proven the ability to score at a high clip as well as facilitate. Six Cowboy players have averaged eighty points per game or more this season, so keying too heavily on Cunningham is a dangerous proposition. This is a team capable of ruining your day even if your name is Gonzaga, Michigan or Illinois. If I’m a one seed I want Pistol Pete and his haggard, dirty, dive-bar looking face as far away from me as humanly possible when the bracket releases on Sunday evening.
McDonald: FICTION. They are certainly a dangerous team that seems to be hitting stride in the last few weeks, but I wouldn’t give them that label. Assuming Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan and Illinois are the No. 1 seeds, I think Alabama is the scariest team outside of that group. Beyond that, teams like Arkansas, Iowa, Ohio State and even Houston would scare as much or more than the Cowboys.
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2. Patrick Ewing was kidding about being miffed over MSG security asking for his pass.
Cassidy: FACT. Ewing comes with a dry sense of humor and the joke was a good one, but it was definitely just that -- a joke. I have to assume Patrick Ewing wasn’t actually upset with Madison Square Garden security people for harassing him about his credentials because anyone who has ever been in an arena knows security workers aren’t there because they love or even care about basketball. A lot of them are too young or too disinterested to recognize any 90s basketball star not named Michael Jordan. This was the case of a coach in a good mood getting a joke or two off after a big win.
McDonald: FICTION. Nobody but Ewing knows the truth on this, but I really hope he wasn’t kidding. He’s a legend in that building and in that city. It should also be noted that he was probably the biggest person in Madison Square Garden at the time. How in the world did a security guard not know who he is!? Anyone asking for his pass should be fired on the spot for incompetence.
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3. Gonzaga will win the national title.
Cassidy: FICTION. I’ll play the odds here and take the field. Teams like Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma State or even Florida State could give them serious issues. Would I take any one one of them 1-on-1 against the Zags? Nope. I think the Bulldogs are the best team in the country, but that’s not the question here. Mark Few’s bunch is incredible but it’s certainly not invincible. Gonzaga hasn't played a ranked team since Dec. 26. Who knows if that will matter in the end, but it certainly could.
McDonald: FICTION. I’ve staked my claim on Michigan to cut down the nets. Even if the Wolverines don’t, I still think there are so many good teams this year and many of them peaking over the last few weeks that I think we’ll see some craziness that leads to a different national champion. Winning six games in a row isn’t easy. In tournament play, you never know when you might see a team like Gonzaga played in their championship in BYU that catches fire and knocks you off.
