In our last two Round of 32 Games, the two teams from the 2022 title game - UNC and Kansas - play against two other teams.. Normally two teams that made a Finals would be favorites against two teams who did not make the Final 4 in their seasons - but in this case we rate these last two games as toss-ups.
Click for result of Kansas vs SMU.
Here is how these games both appear toss-ups to us based on the Value Add Basketball Game player cards for the players below.
Unlike 2023 and 2024 when UConn was incredibly dominant and the teams they beat likely could have won the 2022 title - the 2022 season was one of parity. Kansas beat UNC in a thriller for the title, but no team coming out of that season seemed dominant, and the cards seem to indicate Kansas is about average (+0) among the great teams in the game and UNC seems quite a bit worse (-7) despite their stunning run to the title after a mediocre season.
Kansas featured only three current NBA players, and stunningly this UNC team did not feature anyone currently in the NBA though Leaky Black played a little before going down to the G-League.
By contrast, the SMU 2017 (-2) did lose a heartbreak in a tough 1st round match-up to USC, but their featured four NBA players and had won the American Athletic title with an impressive second straight blowout of the other ranked team - Cincinnati, to come in as a 6-seed for the second time in three seasons - having been ranked in all three. We would rank them a 5-point favorite over UNC 2022 and have them as only a 2-point underdog against the 2022 champs from Kansas.
Meanwhile, Xavier was even more impressive considering they had the biggest injury of the season, with the dominant Zach Freemantle missing the last 15 games of the season during which Xavier made it all the way to the Big East title game and then to the Sweet 16 with just a 6-man rotation. If Freemantle stayed healthy they could have run all the way to the title game in 2023. The way stamina is calculated in the game, Freemantle can play 17 possessions a game - but if you want to play the "what if" game you could play him for the 31 possessions he was averaging before the injury. We actually rank Xavier as a 2-point favorite over the UNC team from the year before.
| Pos | SMU 2017 | NBA? | Ht | Summary | Possessions Played (of 44) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-PG | Shake Milton | NBA | 6'5 | 13.0 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 4.5 Ast | 44 (44-1) |
| 2-SG | Jarrey Foster | 6'6 | 9.9 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 2.1 Ast | 36 (36-1) | |
| 3-SF | Sterling Brown | NBA | 6'6 | 13.4 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 3.0 Ast | 43 (44-37, 35-1) |
| 4-PF | Ben Moore | NBA | 6'8 | 11.4 Pts, 7.8 Reb, 2.4 Ast | 42 (44-36, 33-1) |
| 5-C | Semi Ojeleye | NBA | 6'8 | 19.0 Pts, 6.9 Reb, 1.5 Ast | 44 (44-1) |
| 1-PG | Ben Emelogu | 6'5 | 4.3 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 1.8 Ast | 23 (SG 44-37,SF 36,PF 35-34) | |
| 2-SG | Dashawn McDowell | 6'5 | 1.4 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| 3-SF | Tom Wilson | 6'5 | 1.6 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| 4-PF | Harry Froling | 6'11 | 4.3 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| 5-C | Jonathan Wilfong | 6'2 | 0.4 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| Pos | Kansas 2022 | NBA? | Ht | Summary | Possessions Played (of 44) |
| 1-PG | Dajuan Harris | 6'1 | 5.4 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 4.2 Ast | 36 (44-39, 29-1) | |
| 2-SG | Christian Braun | NBA | 6'6 | 14.1 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 2.8 Ast | 44 (44-1) |
| 3-SF | Ochai Agbaji | NBA | 6'5 | 18.8 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 1.6 Ast | 44 (44-1) |
| 4-PF | Jalen Wilson | NBA | 6'8 | 11.1 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 1.8 Ast | 33 (33-1) |
| 5-C | David McCormack | 6'10 | 10.6 Pts, 7.0 Reb, 0.9 Ast | 25 (25-1) | |
| 1-PG | Joseph Yesufu | 6'1 | 2.1 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 1.0 Ast | 5 (PG 38-34) | |
| 2-SG | Remy Martin | 6'1 | 8.6 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 2.5 Ast | 15 (PF 44-34, PG 33-30) | |
| 3-SF | Jalen Coleman-Lands | 6'4 | 3.7 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 0.3 Ast | 5 (C 44-40) | |
| 4-PF | Zach Clemence | 6'10 | 2.1 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast | 5 (39-35) | |
| 5-C | Mitch Lightfoot | 6'8 | 4.6 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast | 9 (34-26) | |
| Pos | North Carolina 2022 | NBA? | Ht | Summary | Possessions Played (of 44) |
| 1-PG | Caleb Love | 6'4 | 15.9 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 3.6 Ast | 44 (44-1) | |
| 2-SG | RJ Davis | 6'0 | 13.5 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 3.6 Ast | 44 (44-1) | |
| 3-SF | Leaky Black | NBA | 6'8 | 4.9 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 2.7 Ast | 36 (36-1) |
| 4-PF | Brady Manek | 6'9 | 15.1 Pts, 6.1 Reb, 1.8 Ast | 39 (39-1) | |
| 5-C | Armando Bacot | 6'10 | 16.3 Pts, 13.1 Reb, 1.5 Ast | 41 (41-1) | |
| 1-PG | Justin McKoy | 6'8 | 1.0 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.5 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| 2-SG | Kerwin Walton | 6'5 | 3.4 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.4 Ast | 6 (SF 39-37) | |
| 3-SF | Puff Johnson | 6'8 | 3.1 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast | 5 (SF 44-40) | |
| 4-PF | Dawson Garcia | 6'11 | 9.0 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 0.7 Ast | 5 (PF 44-40) | |
| 5-C | Dontrez Styles | 6'6 | 2.0 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.1 Ast | 5 (C 44-42) | |
| Pos | Xavier 2023 | NBA? | Ht | Summary | Possessions Played (of 44) |
| 1-PG | Adam Kunkel | 6'4 | 10.9 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 3.0 Ast | 36 (36-1) | |
| 2-SG | Souley Boum | 6'3 | 16.4 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 4.3 Ast | 44 (44-1) | |
| 3-SF | Colby Jones | NBA | 6'5 | 15.0 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 4.4 Ast | 43 (44-37, 35-1) |
| 4-PF | Jerome Hunter | 6'7 | 7.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 1.3 Ast | 23 (23-1) | |
| 5-C | Jack Nunge | 6'11 | 14.2 Pts, 7.8 Reb, 2.1 Ast | 37 (44-36, 27-1) | |
| 1-PG | Kyky Tandy | 6'2 | 2.2 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.9 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| 2-SG | Desmond Claude | 6'5 | 4.7 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.8 Ast | 21 (PG 44-37,SF36,PF34-25) | |
| 3-SF | Zach Freemantle | 6'9 | 15.2 Pts, 8.1 Reb, 2.9 Ast | 17 (PF 44-36, C 35-28) | |
| 4-PF | Kam Craft | 6'6 | 2.6 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.3 Ast | 5 (None) | |
| 5-C | Cesare Edwards | 6'9 | 2.2 Pts, 1.9 Reb, 0.2 Ast | 5 (None) |
