National Champion Contenders - OTR Writers Draft, Round 1

March is a month away! Madness looms! Let's argue about some contenders!

Following a game thread conversation between a handful of OTR's (alleged) writers, we decided to hold a draft among 4 of us to pick our top national champion contenders. Standard snake draft rules apply.

BoilerUp89 received first option and took the 3rd and 6th picks. Kind of... selected 4th and 5th. AlmaOtter was designated as having the 1st and 8th picks, leaving MaximumSam with the 2nd and 7th picks. Let us know who did the best and question our intelligence in the comments.

Pick 1 (AlmaOtter): Arizona Desertcats

Alright, with the first pick and as a KenPom devotee, I could have taken the Wolverines. They remain in the top slot despite last month's completely baffling loss to Wisconsin, they have the best defense in the country, they're Ent tall, impeccably well coached, and they're just coming off a win over archrival Michigan State in Sparty's lair. But similarly to MaximumSam below, I'm contractually obligated by marriage to NEVER pick Michigan.

All that said, I love Arizona as the first pick. For starters: yo, they haven't lost this season. The nation's longest winning streak has officially transferred from the Nebraskan corn to the Arizona saguaro. 22-0 on the season, top five in KP's offense and defense, which instantly qualifies them for OTR's Peach Basket metric. They play a fast tempo and they're tall as hell. What's not to like?

Coach Tommy Lloyd took the bare shelves left to him by that dirtbag Sean Miller in 2022 and turned the Wildcats into Gonzaga South; well coached, tons of international players, still hasn't won it all despite 4 Sweet 16 appearances. Their roster looks like a Model UN. 9 countries! And as a shock to this Illini fan, none of them are in the Balkans.

Pick 2 (MaximumSam): UConn Assholes

I am contractually obligated from birth to not pick Michigan. Also, I'm a little wary of their guards. UConn did win two of the past three championships and are currently 21-1, and the 1 is a tight loss to Arizona, so it's not like I'm going dumpster diving here.

AlmaOtter: I don't know about that dumpster comment. Storrs?

Pick 3 (BoilerUp89): Michigan Wolverines

So I took the 3rd pick with the intention of drafting Houston in this spot as I assumed Arizona and Michigan would be gone and I really like this Houston squad. I still really like this Houston squad but due to MaximumSam's hatred of Michigan, I had to pass on them here and take the Wolverines. Michigan has so much size they are going to beat huge pain to deal with. The guards are capable of holding their own and giving the forwards and centers opportunities to assert their dominance. Theirs plenty of experience all around the roster. Only question is have is Cadeau. He's not the PG I want with the ball in his hands in a tight game as time is winding down. That doesn't matter most of the time for Michigan.

AlmaOtter: Also, their coach made a deal with a demon to never age and never lose close games. Shout-out to @IWasSayingBooUrns for the graphic below.

Pick 4 (Kind of...): Houston Cougars

Okay, this felt too easy. Take last year's national runner-up, who really should've won it all. Return 60% of the starting lineup. Add in the fourth best player in American (per KenPom), and a dude having a better frosh year than either Dybantsa or Peterson. And then round out your starting lineup with a 6'11", 240 lb frosh so that you're not just a typical physical Houston team, but you have size to boot. Somehow, Houston is flying under radar despite the two losses coming by seven points total. Yes, they still struggle to score on occasion. And, yes, the meat of their schedule is still to come. But this team is focused on March.

Tune in tomorrow for our second round of picks!