Ryan Fahey

The question that has been circulating the college basketball community as we inch closer and closer to the beloved NCAA Tournament is Duke/Michigan/Arizona vs the field (every other team); who will cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 6th and have their names etched in the history books as national champions. The opinions of the publics have varied in every way imaginable: uber-confident in the field, so torn it feels like a coin flip, and some saying they need to see more basketball played before taking their stance. 

For me, its’s Duke/Michigan/Arizona and it isn’t particularly close; all 3 schools make up the top 3 in the 2026 KenPom ratings — an advantaged analytical metric measure how good each division 1 college basketball team is by compiling offense, defense, efficiency, strength of schedule, margin of victory and much more —   as of March 2nd, 2026. They also pass the eye test with flying colors, which is also a great way to describe what each team’s fast break looks like to a spectator.