Fun With Numbers

Well, the Final Four is set. It's an awful Final Four. By 2PM on Monday, week of, I was already tired of Badger fans throwing shade on how Kentucky runs its program. "We build men" in Madison. They don't graduate but they don't have any tattoos!

Anywho...

Michigan State
- Of the 4 teams, Sparty beat the most KenPom Top 25 teams during the tournament, beating Virginia, Oklahoma & Louisville.
- With the 47th rated defense, they are one of the worst defensive teams in the KenPom era to make a Final Four. Since 2010, only VCU (84th), Michigan (48th) & Wisconsin (49th) were worse. Oh, and Wisconsin (55th) this year. That number can get better depending on what happens.
- The only other 7 seeds to make the Tournament before were, UConn in 2014 & Virginia in 1984

Duke
- Duke's defense has improved to 17th best in KenPom after dipping into the 80's at one point. They've caught some breaks, playing poor offensive teams but Gonzaga was not one of them. Kudos to the staff and team.
- By being 3rd in AdjustedO and 17th in AdjustedD, they along with Kentucky fit the profile of a national champion. No national champion has been below 39 in AdjustedO at the end of the season (UConn last year) and no team has been below 21st in AdjustedD at the end of the season (North Carolina in 2009)
- As hard as it is to believe, this is only Duke's 3rd Final Four appearance since winning it all in 2002. It is Coach K's 12th trip, tying John Wooden for number of Final Four appearances.

Wisconsin
- The Badgers AdjustedO rating is the best of the KenPom era. And it's not really close. They will attempt to be the first team with the best AdjustedO to win a title since Duke in 2010
- Wisconsin is the 1st 1-seed to come out of the West region since UConn in 2009
- Wisconsin is only the 2nd team to average under 60 possessions per game and make the Final 4 in the KenPom era. To really nerd out, they're technically the only one not to average 60 since G'Town was 59.9. My guess is, they're the 1st of many.

Kentucky
- Kentucky finished the year with the best AdjustedD, surpassing Virginia for the moment. The last team to win a title and finish with the best defense was Kansas in 2008 who also had the 2nd best offense.
- Three teams have won 38 games in a season. John Calipari has coached all of them. The 2008 Memphis team, the 2012 Kentucky team and the this year's Kentucky team.
- After failing to Make a Final 4 between 1998-2011, Kentucky has now made 4 in 5 years.