3rd All-Time Sweet 16 Set with UNC-Xavier Thriller

An incredible game to determine the final Sweet 16 team in our 3rd All-Time Great Value Add Basketball Game. One of the photos at the bottom is the game set-up behind my screen with ESPN+ coverage of the top 6 match-up between Marquette and Iowa State on the computer screen). Here are the updated rankings of the 18 remaining undefeated teams.

Until Zach Freemantle (4 points, 6 rebounds, steal and a block in limited minutes this game) was injured in 2023, Xavier was 17-4 and had just beaten #1 UConn AT UConn. The team that would then win two straight titles fell and this Xavier team was a contender. Freemantle was hurt the next game and Xavier basically had to play a 6-man rotation the rest of the season or they would have been seeded higher and perhaps gone even further than the Sweet 16. 

In this game Xavier dominated until he was out of Stamina, as he led them to a 43-34 lead when he ran out of Stamina with 16 minutes to play.

Once he was out UNC took over, going on a 27-18 run the next 13 minutes to tie the game 61-61 with three minutes to play.

Then center Jack Nunge (15 points, 8 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer and Jerome Hunter (6 points, 7 rebounds) scored to make it 66-61 Xavier with 2 minutes to play.

Then Armando Bacot (game high in both points - 19 - and rebounds - 13) took over for a dominant few possessions each way.

Bacot scored to bring UNC 2002 within 66-63, then blocked Nunge's shot at the other end and grabbed the rebound himself. 

Bacot then drew a foul at the other end to add a possession by stopping the clock, and hit both free throws to cut it 6o 66-65. 

Bacot grabbed another rebound at the other end, came down and was fouled again - but this time his one of two to make it 66-66. 

However on the last trip Caleb Love (10 points) turned it over, to give Xavier the last possession. 

Souley Boum (15 points) missed a shot, but Nunge grabbed a rebound, but his follow missed.

Jerome Hunter grabbed a second offensive rebound, passed to Colby Jones (team-highs in both points - 18 - and rebounds - 9), who hit a buzzer beater to give Xavier the 68-66 win to pull the upset as the 19-seed and advance to play the 6-seed Western Kentucky in the Sweet 16. 

The worse seed went 3-9 in this round, with the other two upset winners being the 25-seed Louisville 1968 with Wes Unseld and the 18-seed Kansas 2022 champs.

The top four seeds did not play this round as they had byes to the Sweet 16.

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2022 Title Game UNC-Kansas In Last 2 Games vs. SMU 2017 and Xavier 2023

 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)

ACC Boast Most Talent Despite Rough 3 Years as Value Add Rankings Return

All-ACC	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Ryan Young	Duke	9.37	128.7	93.9	5-seed, 27-9, Poss 18.3%
Jordan Miller	Miami FL	8.17	127.2	101.2	5-seed, 29-8, nba 48 in 2023
Hunter Tyson	Clemson	7.92	124	98.4	23-11, nba 37 in 2023
Matthew Marsh	Wake Forest	7.87	146.6	103.1	19-14, Poss 11.2%
Dereck Lively	Duke	7.76	131.1	93.9	5-seed, 27-9, nba 12 in 2023
2nd T-ACC	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Armando Bacot	North Carolina	7.65	114.3	97.2	20-13, Poss 27.2%
Kihei Clark	Virginia	7.40	107.6	94.5	4-seed, 25-8 (PG), Poss 22.1%
PJ Hall	Clemson	7.16	112.7	98.4	23-11, Poss 29.1%
Norchad Omier	Miami FL	7.09	119	101.2	5-seed, 29-8, Poss 23%
Tyree Appleby	Wake Forest	7.05	112	103.1	19-14 (PG), Poss 28.7%
HM-ACC	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Jarkel Joiner	N.C. State	6.82	116.6	100	11-seed, 23-11, Poss 23%
Casey Morsell	N.C. State	6.75	127.2	100	11-seed, 23-11, Poss 13.8%
Jack Clark	N.C. State	6.72	122.8	100	11-seed, 23-11, Poss 16.3%
Isaiah Wong	Miami FL	6.54	116	101.2	5-seed, 29-8, nba 55 in 2023
Federiko Federiko	Pittsburgh	6.54	127.3	101.3	11-seed, 24-12, Poss 13.6%
Jayden Gardner	Virginia	6.36	108	94.5	4-seed, 25-8, Poss 24.9%
Kyle Filipowski	Duke	6.20	105	93.9	5-seed, 27-9, nba 12 in 2024
Grant Basile	Virginia Tech	6.19	115.3	103.4	19-15, Poss 26.8%
Greg Elliott	Pittsburgh	6.05	121.8	101.3	11-seed, 24-12, Poss 14.9%
Maliq Brown	Syracuse	5.98	127.6	105.5	17-15, Poss 13.5%
Jesse Edwards	Syracuse	5.70	117.9	105.5	17-15, nba 40 in 2024
Nate Laszewski	Notre Dame	5.49	121.7	108.4	11-21, Poss 18.7%
Justyn Mutts	Virginia Tech	4.88	111.2	103.4	19-15, Poss 24.1%
Terquavion Smith	N.C. State	4.26	104.3	100	11-seed, 23-11, Poss 29.2%

Above is a very late All-ACC team from the 2022-23 season, and we will be updating these and the top 300 players at www.valueaddbasketball.com to go along with the rankings going back to the 2001-02 season. While this system received rave reviews from Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Fox Sports and many others, last season we skipped because we lost the ability to rank all 4000 players who take the court for D1 action.

Despite the stunning drop in the ACC's ratings at www.kenpom.com after years of dominance, the Value Add Basketball Rankings once again calculate the conference has the most basketball talent. The names above show the 24 elite players in the conference, more than any other conference and only the Big Ten is even close with 21. Duke and UNC seem primed for contention again, as long as the Tar Heels figure out what in the world happened last year when they went from No. 1 in the country to not in the tournament, and Armando Bacot when from the Value Add Basketball top returning player in the country to 2nd team all-ACC above. 

After decades of dominance, the conference slipped to 5th in the www.kenpom.com ratings in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 and since then have not even ranked as one of the top five conferences as the move to bring in West Coast Stanford and Cal. While UVA was the highest seed last year at 4, Duke and North Carolina certainly could return the strong ACC seeds to the tournament. While the new teams did not make the tournament last year, SMU and Stanford are top 100 and have had strong teams recently and could make a jump.

The three new additions for next year are shown here.

Team	2023	2024	2025	Seed23	Rnk24
Boston College	ACC	ACC	ACC		116
California	P12	P12	ACC		187
Clemson	ACC	ACC	ACC		43
Duke	ACC	ACC	ACC	5	9
Florida St.	ACC	ACC	ACC		69
Georgia Tech	ACC	ACC	ACC		157
Louisville	ACC	ACC	ACC		146
Miami FL	ACC	ACC	ACC	5	35
N.C. State	ACC	ACC	ACC	11	54
North Carolina	ACC	ACC	ACC		16
Notre Dame	ACC	ACC	ACC		179
Pittsburgh	ACC	ACC	ACC	11	51
SMU	Amer	Amer	ACC		88
Stanford	P12	P12	ACC		70
Syracuse	ACC	ACC	ACC		128
Virginia	ACC	ACC	ACC	4	41
Virginia Tech	ACC	ACC	ACC		56
Wake Forest	ACC	ACC	ACC		78

Better late than never - this is one of 32 lists of All-Conference teams based on the "resurrected" Value Add Basketball rankings at www.valueaddbasketball.com. The other 31 releases of Conference teams will all include this same explanation for the rest of the blog, including the 10 returning All-Americans and top 60 players from last season listed further down.

This paragraph is of interest to stat nerds only. The offensive ratings were easier to recreate, since the basis was to pull hundreds of players ranked as the most efficient last season (AdjO at www.kenpom.com) and adjusting their figures for their percent of possessions. A player who can produce about 1.2 points per time he has the ball who also gets the ball 25% of the time against tough competition and as part of a strong defense can be All-American level, but a player who doesn't get the ball nearly as often but produces even more at 1.3 points per possession can still be All-Conference even if fans feel other players handling and shooting the ball more are better due to higher points scored per game.

The new simplified system weighs their ability to produce points against the Adjusted Defense (AdjD) - that is how many points per 100 trips would their team allow against an average D1 team. This accounts both for defense and for level of competition. We also note if a player is a Point Guard, the most important position on the court.

The resulting "Value" listed in the third column is the Value Add of points the player would improve an average team over if he could not play if a decent replacement took his place. Zach Edey was by far the most valuable player in the country last year at 13.17 meaning typically he would turn a 65-70 loss for a team into a 72-64 win - a 13 point swing. The notes off to the first indicated the team's record, their seed if they made the tournament, and then if they went to the NBA in the 2023 draft or are projected to go in the 2024 or 2025 draft.

1st and 2nd Team Returning All-Americans; and Top 60 Players from Last Season

 

The table below is the list of the 30 most valuable players in college basketball for the 2022-23 season according to our simplified www.valueaddbasketball.com rankings. Obviously most of these top players finished their eligibility or went pro so are no longer playing. However, if we made this our All-American teams of returning players including transfers at their new school the headline would be from Creighton.

1st Team Returning All-Americans - Value Add Basketball calculates that Creighton now has two of the three most valuable players in 2022-23 in returning Ryan Kalkbrenner and Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth. Ironically, Thursday it was Colorado State that handed Creighton its first loss - a team that Ashworth had dominated four of seven times in conference games at Utah State. The other 1st Team All-Americans based on last year's Value Add would be J'Wan Roberts returning for Houston, and then Tylor Perry who transferred from North Texas to Kansas State.

Most Valuable Player for 2nd Year. However, the far and away Most Valuable Player in the Country could challenge Anthony Davis, Jon Scheyer and Zion Williamson for as the most Valuable college player of the century in the All-Time Value Add Basketball Rankings - Zach Edey who was almost 2 points better than anyone in the country last year at Purdue and has them at No. 1 this season.

2nd Team Returning All-Americans - The 6th most valuable returning player according to Value Add is Marquette Point Guard Tyler Kolek. He would be joined on a second team All-American squad of returning players by Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi, Texas transfer from Oral Roberts Max Abmas, Duke's Ryan Young, Arizona's Azuolas Tubelis and finally Cam Spencer, who transferred from Rutgers to UConn.

In all, 18 of the top 30 players finished their college careers, leaving those 10 returning All-Americans and then two other players - JaKobe Coles of TCU and USC's Boogie Ellis.
 

All-American 1st Team	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Zach Edey	Purdue	13.17	125.9	94.5	1-seed, 29-6, nba 58 in 2024
Adama Sanogo (gone)	Connecticut	11.37	122.6	90.9	4-seed, 31-8, Poss 26.4%
Marcus Sasser (gone)	Houston	11.25	123.4	90.4	1-seed, 33-4, nba 25 in 2023
Ryan Kalkbrenner	Creighton	10.80	133.4	93.2	6-seed, 24-13, Poss 19.4%
Steven Ashworth (Creigh)	Utah St.	10.72	127.7	98.9	10-seed, 26-9 (PG), Poss 21.6%
All-American 2nd Team	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Tylor Perry (K-State)	North Texas	10.37	124.3	94.1	31-7, Poss 24.4%
Brandon Miller (gone)	Alabama	10.23	117.0	88.2	1-seed, 31-6, nba 2 in 2023
Xavier Castaneda (gone)	Akron	9.94	121.9	103.4	22-11 (PG), Poss 29.4%
J'Wan Roberts	Houston	9.90	127.9	90.4	1-seed, 33-4, Poss 18.4%
Jordan Hawkins (gone)	Connecticut	9.88	121.2	90.9	4-seed, 31-8, nba 14 in 2023
All-American 3rd Team	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Jaime Jaquez (gone)	UCLA	9.80	113.1	88	2-seed, 31-6, nba 18 in 2023
Jalen Pickett (gone)	Penn St.	9.66	118.7	101.1	10-seed, 23-14 (PG), nba 32 in 2023
Jordan Walker (gone)	UAB	9.64	114.7	97.9	29-10 (PG), Poss 30.6%
Tyler Kolek	Marquette	9.63	118	96.7	2-seed, 29-7 (PG), Poss 24.1%
Santiago Vescovi	Tennessee	9.52	114.2	87.5	4-seed, 25-11 (PG), Poss 18.8%
All-American 4th Team	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Max Abmas (Texas)	Oral Roberts	9.47	120.2	102.2	12-seed, 30-5 (PG), Poss 27.6%
Trayce Jackson-Davis (g)	Indiana	9.45	118.5	97.2	4-seed, 23-12, nba 57 in 2023
Ryan Young	Duke	9.37	128.7	93.9	5-seed, 27-9, Poss 18.3%
Kendric Davis (grad)	Memphis	9.24	111.1	96.1	8-seed, 26-9 (PG), Poss 31.6%
Drew Timme (grad)	Gonzaga	9.21	119.6	99.3	3-seed, 31-6, Poss 30.6%
All-American 5th Team	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Markquis Nowell (gone)	Kansas St.	8.92	111	95	3-seed, 26-10 (PG), Poss 27.6%
Souley Boum (gone)	Xavier	8.87	119.2	98.6	3-seed, 27-10 (PG), Poss 21.2%
Oscar Tshiebwe (gone)	Kentucky	8.83	122.6	98.8	6-seed, 22-12, Poss 24.5%
Terence Lewis (gone)	Louisiana	8.74	131.2	102.9	13-seed, 26-8, Poss 20.3%
Darius McGhee (gone)	Liberty	8.68	114.5	97.5	27-9, Poss 33.4%
All-American 6th Team	Team	Value	AdjO	AdjD	Notes
Azuolas Tubelis	Arizona	8.68	116.1	96.3	2-seed, 28-7, Poss 28.7%
Cam Spencer (UConn)	Rutgers	8.66	119.4	90.8	19-15, Poss 19.8%
Sir'Jabari Rice (gone)	Texas	8.66	116.3	92.1	2-seed, 29-9, Poss 23.4%
JaKobe Coles	TCU	8.64	118.4	94.3	6-seed, 22-13, Poss 23.4%
Boogie Ellis	USC	8.56	113.3	97.5	10-seed, 22-11 (PG), Poss 25.7%

College Hoops Best Conference History - ACC (By Far)

 When we played our initial All-Time Great tournament using the first 96 Value Add Basketball Game teams, Michael Jordan led the 1982 UNC Tar Heels all the way to the title game before falling short against Bill Walton's 1972 UCLA Team.

Perhaps nothing indicates the ACC is clearly the top conference historically then the fact that Jordan's team in our game ranks as the 7th best team in the conference so far.

We rank conferences based on the top six teams, and those six in front of Jordan's UNC team have gone 17-7 with an average win margin of 8 points (75-67) against some of the greatest teams of all time. A couple of the Duke teams (2001 and 1992) have only paid two games a piece, so still need to prove themselves in more games. However, the new teams the ACC added included the great 2013 Louisville team and the great Syracuse and Pittsburgh - all from the great Big East years. Add them to the great UVa champs from 2019, the Tim Duncan's 1996 team that already stunned Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's team in our game, David Thompson's NC State team that ended UCLA's dynasty.

Despite growing up in Virginia, I adopted the Big East and rooted for them against the ACC from that point forward, but there is no way to argue this is not the top conference in history based on their current roster of teams.

Rnk	Great Team	Year	Key Player	W	L	Pts	Allow	Rate
	Top 6 Other Conf			17	7	74.8	66.9	9.1
1	Duke	2001	Shane Battier	2	0	84.5	74.0	12.8
2	North Carolina	2005	Sean May	3	2	72.2	64.4	9.6
3	Duke	1992	Christian Laettner	1	1	71.5	64.5	9.2
4	Virginia	2019	Kyle Guy	4	1	72.6	65.4	8.3
5	Duke	2010	Jon Scheyer	5	2	74.0	66.7	7.9
6	Louisville	2013	Russ Smith	2	1	74.0	66.3	7.0
7	North Carolina	1982	Michael Jordan	5	1	68.8	65.0	6.7
8	North Carolina St.	1974	David Thompson	2	1	72.0	72.7	5.1
9	Wake Forest	1996	Tim Duncan	2	1	66.0	64.7	3.9
10	North Carolina	1998	Vince Carter	2	1	80.7	83.7	2.7
11	Syracuse	2003	Carmelo Anthony	2	1	76.0	74.0	2.3
12	Syracuse	1987	Rony Seikaly	2	1	72.3	68.7	-0.3
13	Pittsburgh	2009	DeJuan Blair	1	3	60.0	62.3	-0.8
14	Duke	1986	Johnny Dawkins	0	1	106.0	108.0	-1.0
15	Georgia Tech	2004	Jarrett Jack	2	3	62.6	67.4	-1.1
16	Georgia Tech	1990	Dennis Scott	0	1	64.0	82.0	-5.2
17	Virginia	1981	Ralph Sampson	0	1	61.0	72.0	-5.4
18	Notre Dame	1981	Orlando Woolridge	0	1	68.0	74.0	-7.0
19	Notre Dame	1970	Austin Carr	1	1	67.0	76.5	-8.2
20	Wake Forest	2005	Chris Paul	0	3	64.3	85.3	-9.3
21	Louisville	1980	Darrell Griffith	0	1	52.0	82.0	-10.4
22	Miami FL	1965	Rick Berry	0	1	104.0	108.0	-14.6

We invented the Value Add Basketball Game, and since then have grown it to to 135 teams of all-time great teams and players. We have played 188 games to date, and 63,000 unique visitors have clicked on the game. 

Seven current conferences have at least six all-time great teams in the game. We decided to rank those conferences based on the average rating of their top six teams so far in our games against other teams.

Click on the game to play yourself - it contains everything you need to play the Value Add Basketball game, which lets you pit any of 136 great all-time college teams against each other. To pick your two teams it is best to click on this Google doc and print the pages of the teams you want (each team is one page). I track my games on this google sheet, but play your own for free!

Top College Basketball Centers this Season

In Value Add Basketball we consider the teams "center" the player who has some combination of the most defensive rebounds, blocked shots and height, but typically the fewest assists and steals. A great center will typically have even better raw numbers than a great point guard, because the guards typically need to get the ball to the center close to the basket for a closer shot - even though not nearly as many centers play with their "back to the basket" like they did for most of the history of basketball.  (for a summary of the top players at each position, click here).

Because www.valueaddbasketball.com calculates how many points per game a player improves his team compared to if a typical replacement player took his place, the raw value add is adjusted by position since the replacement player would be at the same position. Therefore, once the formulas are run, and centers raw value add is lowered by multiplying it by 0.9 to get the result you see below and at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

Top 10 most valuable centers are listed below. in general freshmen make so many mistakes (turnovers, bad shots etc.) the first half of the season that they do not rank nearly as high as more experienced players. However, they tend to improve more at the end of the season, so we watch for breakout freshmen first when looking at brackets. Therefore we start with the 10 most valuable freshmen centers in college basketball, starting with the Zags Chet Holmgrem who improves Gonzaga by 8.52 points per game - meaning there is a better than 50/50 chance the Zags would have LOST any game that they won by fewer than eight points.

In his case, he improves the Zags' offense by 5.04 points per game, while his defensive rating of -3.48 indicates he takes three to four points more away from the opposing team then a typical replacement center. Here are the most valuable 10 freshmen centers through games of February 15.

 

Rnk	Top Freshmen Centers	Team	VA5	Conf	HtText	Cl
5	Chet Holmgren #34	Gonzaga	8.52	WCC	7'0	Fr
8	Norchad Omier #15	Arkansas St.	7.79	SB	6'7"	Fr
12	Kenneth Lofton #2	Louisiana Tech	7.03	CUSA	6'7"	Fr
18	Johni Broome #4	Morehead St.	6.68	OVC	6'10"	Fr
34	DaRon Holmes #15	Dayton	5.84	A10	6'10"	Fr
57	Fousseyni Traore #45	BYU	4.91	WCC	6'6"	Fr
80	Jalen Duren #2	Memphis	4.27	Amer	6'11"	Fr
95	Charles Bediako #10	Alabama	3.92	SEC	7'0	Fr
111	Eddie Lampkin #4	TCU	3.67	B12	6'11"	Fr
112	Oso Ighodaro #13	Marquette	3.65	BE	6'9"	Fr

Top 50 Centers Overall

In true value, our calculations indicate the 1st Team All-American so far should come from Kentucky, and Holgrem is in a tight races for the 2nd Team All-American center with stars from Indiana, Auburn and UNC.

 

Rnk	Top Centers (5)	Team	VA5	Conf	HtText	Cl
1	Oscar Tshiebwe #34	Kentucky	11.14	SEC	6'9"	Jr
2	Trayce Jackson-Davis #23	Indiana	8.94	B10	6'9"	So
3	Walker Kessler #13	Auburn	8.66	SEC	7'1"	So
4	Armando Bacot #5	North Carolina	8.6	ACC	6'10"	Jr
5	Chet Holmgren #34	Gonzaga	8.52	WCC	7'0	Fr
6	Orlando Robinson #10	Fresno St.	8.4	MWC	7'0	Jr
7	Hunter Dickinson #1	Michigan	7.89	B10	7'1"	So
8	Norchad Omier #15	Arkansas St.	7.79	SB	6'7"	Fr
9	Jack Nunge #24	Xavier	7.61	BE	7'0	Jr
10	KJ Williams #0	Murray St.	7.27	OVC	6'10"	Jr
11	Kofi Cockburn #21	Illinois	7.22	B10	7'0	Jr
12	Kenneth Lofton #2	Louisiana Tech	7.03	CUSA	6'7"	Fr
13	Mark Williams #15	Duke	6.96	ACC	7'0	So
14	Christian Koloko #35	Arizona	6.93	P12	7'1"	So
15	Jake Stephens #34	VMI	6.88	SC	6'11"	Sr
16	Isaiah Whaley #5	Connecticut	6.72	BE	6'9"	Sr
17	Keve Aluma #22	Virginia Tech	6.71	ACC	6'9"	Sr
18	Johni Broome #4	Morehead St.	6.68	OVC	6'10"	Fr
19	Osun Osunniyi #21	St. Bonaventure	6.65	A10	6'10"	Sr
20	JT Shumate #32	Toledo	6.56	MAC	6'7"	Jr
21	Gaige Prim #44	Missouri St.	6.48	MVC	6'9"	Sr
22	Javon Franklin #13	South Alabama	6.47	SB	6'7"	Sr
23	Yauhen Massalski #25	San Francisco	6.46	WCC	6'9"	Sr
24	Ryan Kalkbrenner #11	Creighton	6.45	BE	7'1"	So
25	Zach Edey #15	Purdue	6.45	B10	7'4"	So
26	Matthias Tass #11	Saint Mary's	6.44	WCC	6'10"	Sr
27	Jamal Cain #1	Oakland	6.42	Horz	6'7"	Sr
28	Isaiah Mobley #3	USC	6.39	P12	6'10"	Jr
29	Trevion Williams #50	Purdue	6.28	B10	6'10"	Sr
30	Drew Pember #4	UNC Asheville	6.13	BSth	6'10"	Jr
31	Darius Days #4	LSU	6.07	SEC	6'7"	Sr
32	Jaylin Williams #10	Arkansas	6.05	SEC	6'10"	So
33	Jalen Slawson #20	Furman	5.86	SC	6'7"	Sr
34	DaRon Holmes #15	Dayton	5.84	A10	6'10"	Fr
35	Bryson Williams #11	Texas Tech	5.8	B12	6'8"	Sr
36	Jesse Edwards #14	Syracuse	5.79	ACC	6'11"	Jr
37	Eric Dixon #43	Villanova	5.76	BE	6'8"	So
38	Andre Kelly #22	California	5.72	P12	6'9"	Sr
39	Graham Ike #33	Wyoming	5.7	MWC	6'9"	So
40	Luka Brajkovic #35	Davidson	5.61	A10	6'10"	Sr
41	Felipe Haase #22	Mercer	5.52	SC	6'9"	Sr
42	John Harrar #21	Penn St.	5.48	B10	6'9"	Sr
43	Nick Muszynski #33	Belmont	5.44	OVC	6'11"	Sr
44	Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua #23	Baylor	5.36	B12	6'8"	Jr
45	Enrique Freeman #25	Akron	5.35	MAC	6'7"	So
46	Pete Nance #22	Northwestern	5.32	B10	6'10"	Sr
47	Nate Watson #0	Providence	5.28	BE	6'10"	Sr
48	Josh Carlton #25	Houston	5.25	Amer	6'11"	Sr
49	Tanner Groves #35	Oklahoma	5.22	B12	6'10"	Sr
50	Myles Johnson #15	UCLA	5.16	P12	6'10"	Sr

Gathers Heart Attack after Alley-Oop Dunk; Could Highest Scoring Team Ever Have Won it All?

The North Carolina 1998 now has a +4.8 simulated KenPom rating to place 28th of the 136 great teams in the Value Add Basketball Game after clinging onto a 104-101 win against the highest scoring team in history - Loyola Marymount.

That was an outstanding defensive performance, believe it or not, as Loyola averaged the all-time record 122.4 points per game for the 1989-90 season behind All-Americans Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers. Loyola fans will never know if this team could have gone all the way because after completing an alley-oop dunk near the end of the season Gathers (who was only the 2nd player to lead the nation in both scoring and rebounding the year before) collapsed and died of a heart attack. The team still made the Elite 8 even without him before finally losing to No.2 UNLV.

In our game at full strength they had already defeated Dan Issel's Kentucky (1970) by a score of 138-116 to make this second round, but fell just short. Their rating of +2.0 means they are rated as 2 points better than the average great team in this game (which means about 22 points better than an average team), which ranks them 45th of our 136 great teams in the game.

Here are the updated ratings for all teams, along with how tough their average opponents was, and their average score. The following are the 13 teams still left in the current tournament we are playing and their overall rank from Duke 2001 as the 5th ranked team to Kentucky 1948 as the 78th ranked team. Below that are all 136 teams with those 13 teams bolded.

1.       Duke 2001 – 5^th

2.       UCLA 1967 – 15^th

3.       Baylor 2021 – 17^th

4.       Kansas 1997 – 20^th

5.       North Carolina – 28^th

6.       Indiana 1981 – 29^th

7.       Houston 1983 – 35^th

8.       Michigan State 2000 – 41^st

9.       Jacksonville 1970 – 47^th

10.   DePaul 1980 – 59^th

11.   Maryland 1984 – 70^th

12.   Holy Cross 1950 – 77^th

13.   Kentucky 1948 – 78^th

 

Rnk	Team-Year-Player you might know	Won	Lost	KenPom	SoS	Score	Allow
1	Kansas - 2008 - Mario Chalmers	5	1	21.3	-7.0	75	56
2	UCLA - 1972 - Bill Walton	6	0	14.5	-3.0	72	62
3	North Carolina - 2005 - Sean May	4	2	13.8	5.5	73	63
4	Virginia - 2019 - Kyle Guy	4	1	12.6	2.0	73	65
5	Duke - 2001 - Shane Battier	1	0	12	7.5	80	69
6	Indiana - 1976 - Scott May	3	1	11.8	6.0	71	60
7	North Carolina - 1982 - Michael Jordan	5	1	11.2	2.0	69	65
8	Houston - 1968 - Elvin Hayes	3	1	11.2	-3.7	73	64
9	Gonzaga - 2017 - Nigel Williams-Goss	3	2	10.4	-6.0	69	59
10	Connecticut - 2004 - Ben Gordon	4	2	10.3	-6.0	74	64
11	Duke - 2010 - Jon Scheyer	5	2	9.6	-4.0	74	67
12	Villanova - 2018 - Mikal Bridges	6	2	9.3	1.3	76	70
13	Purdue - 2018 - Carsen Edwards	5	1	9.2	1.0	72	69
14	Louisville - 2013 - Russ Smith	2	1	8.2	-6.0	74	66
15	UCLA - 1967 - Lew Alcindor	1	0	8.2	-7.0	85	83
16	Kentucky - 1996 - Antoine Walker	0	1	7.6	2.5	64	67
17	Baylor - 2021 - Jared Butler	1	0	7.4	1.0	91	68
18	Auburn - 2019 - Chuma Okeke	8	1	7	5.0	71	65
19	Cincinnati - 1960 - Oscar Robertson	1	1	6	3.5	70	74
20	Kansas - 1997 - Paul Pierce	1	0	5.6	-0.5	84	68
21	Michigan St. - 2009 - Draymond Green	6	2	5.5	-5.0	72	70
22	Duke - 1992 - Christian Laettner	1	1	5.4	-1.3	72	65
23	Oregon - 2017 - Dillon Brooks	3	2	5.2	-2.0	69	68
24	NC State - 1989 - David Thompson	1	0	5.2	2.7	81	80
25	Michigan St. - 1979 - Magic Johnson	2	1	5	1.0	70	63
26	NC State - 1974 - David Thompson	1	1	5	-4.0	68	69
27	UNLV - 1991 - Larry Johnson	1	1	5	-1.0	77	76
28	North Carolina - 1998 - Vince Carter	2	0	4.8	8.0	88	84
29	Indiana - 1981 - Isaiah Thomas	1	0	4.8	0.5	82	64
30	Illinois - 2005 - Deron Williams	3	2	4.6	-11.0	72	70
31	Wake Forest - 1996 - Tim Duncan	2	1	4.6	-2.0	66	65
32	Michigan - 1989 - Glen Rice	0	1	4.6	3.0	69	70
33	Memphis - 2008 - Derrick Rose	4	2	4.5	1.0	69	66
34	Oklahoma - 1985 - Wayman Tisdale	3	1	4.2	0.0	75	74
35	Houston - 1983 - Hakeem Olajuwon	1	0	4	3.0	79	64
36	Iowa - 2021 - Luka Garza	1	0	4	-2.0	88	69
37	Syracuse - 2003 - Carmelo Anthony	2	1	3.6	-9.0	76	74
38	Kentucky - 2012 - Anthony Davis	4	2	3.5	2.2	72	66
39	Michigan - 1965 - Cazzie Russell	1	1	3.4	-2.0	81	72
40	Wisconsin - 2015 - Frank Kaminsky	2	2	3	5.3	65	63
41	Michigan St. - 2000 - Mateen Cleaves	1	0	2.6	5.0	108	104
42	Connecticut - 1999 - Richard Hamilton	0	1	2.4	-1.0	60	64
43	Ohio St. - 1960 - Jerry Lucas	0	1	2.2	3.0	78	79
44	Missouri - 1982 - Steve Stipanovich	2	0	2.2	-1.0	70	66
45	Loyola Marymount - 1990 - Bo Kimble	1	1	2	0.0	120	110
46	Arizona - 2015 - Stanley Johnson	3	1	1.8	2.7	75	71
47	Jacksonville - 1970 - Artis Gilmore	1	0	1.6	1.0	89	76
48	USC - 2021 - Evan Mobley	1	0	1.6	-1.0	77	67
49	Georgetown - 1984 - Patrick Ewing	2	1	1.4	2.0	67	65
50	Michigan - 2013 - Trey Burke	2	3	1.2	1.5	71	70
51	Arkansas - 1994 - Corliss Williamson	0	1	1.2	0.3	78	79
52	Colorado - 2021 - McKinley Wright	1	0	1	-1.0	86	82
53	Syracuse - 1987 - Rony Seikaly	2	1	0.8	2.0	72	69
54	UTEP (Texas Western) - 1966 - Bobby Joe Hill	2	1	0.8	3.0	64	66
55	Texas Tech - 2019 - Jarrett Culver	3	2	0.6	-2.5	66	67
56	Cincinnati - 2002 - Jason Maxiell	2	2	0.6	2.7	73	72
57	Seton Hall - 1989 - John Morton	1	1	0.6	-3.0	78	78
58	Loyola-Chicago - 1963 - Jerry Harkness	0	1	0.6	-1.0	62	68
59	DePaul - 1980 - Mark Aguirre	1	0	0.4	-8.0	82	64
61	Illinois - 1989 - Nick Anderson	0	1	0	2.0	82	86
60	Dayton - 2020 - Obi Toppin	1	0	0	1.5	87	82
62	Arizona - 1997 - Mike Bibby	2	1	-0.6	0.5	69	71
63	Purdue - 1969 - Rick Mount	0	1	-0.8	2.0	86	87
64	Duke - 1986 - Johnny Dawkins	0	1	-1	3.8	106	108
65	Marquette - 2003 - Dwyane Wade	2	2	-1.4	0.0	73	74
66	Marquette - 1971 - Jim Chones	1	1	-1.4	3.0	68	69
67	Georgetown - 2007 - Roy Hibbert	1	2	-1.6	7.0	77	75
68	Pittsburgh - 2009 - DeJuan Blair	1	3	-1.8	0.7	60	62
69	Kansas - 1957 - Wilt Chamberlain	1	1	-1.8	1.0	68	74
70	Maryland - 1984 - Len Bias	1	0	-2	-5.0	74	64
71	Marquette - 1977 - Butch Lee	1	1	-2.6	3.3	66	62
72	San Diego St. - 2011 - Kawhi Leonard	2	2	-2.8	1.0	69	72
73	LSU - 1992 - Shaquille O'Neal	0	1	-2.8	1.0	85	88
74	St. John's - 1985 - Chris Mullin	0	1	-2.8	1.8	75	76
75	Creighton - 2020 - Ty-Shon Alexander	1	1	-3	11.0	77	77
76	Kansas St. - 2008 - Michael Beasley	1	1	-3	-1.0	75	76
77	Holy Cross - 1950 - Bob Cousy	1	0	-3	4.0	108	106
79	San Francisco - 1956 - Bill Russell	0	1	-3.2	0.0	67	74
78	Kentucky - 1948 - Alex Groza	1	0	-3.2	7.7	88	85
80	UNLV - 1987 - Armen Gilliam	0	1	-3.4	5.0	64	82
81	South Carolina - 2017 - Sindarius Thornwell	1	2	-3.6	0.3	65	66
82	Ohio St. - 2007 - Greg Oden	2	4	-4	-1.0	69	72
83	Florida - 2006 - Joakim Noah	3	3	-4.2	-2.0	72	71
84	Oklahoma St. - 2004 - John Lucas	1	3	-5	2.8	69	71
85	Iowa - 2002 - Reggie Evans	1	2	-5	-5.0	71	75
86	St. Bonaventure - 1970 - Bob Lanier	0	1	-5	2.0	64	74
87	Georgia Tech - 2004 - Jarrett Jack	2	4	-5.2	-7.0	61	69
88	Davidson - 2008 - Stephen Curry	1	3	-5.2	-16.0	64	67
89	DePaul - 1945 - George Mikan	0	1	-5.2	1.0	51	55
90	Virginia - 1981 - Ralph Sampson	0	1	-5.4	-0.3	61	72
91	Indiana - 2002 - Jared Jeffries	1	3	-5.6	-2.0	67	73
92	Tennessee - 1977 - Bernard King	1	1	-5.6	7.0	76	83
93	California - 1959 - Jack Grout	0	1	-5.8	1.8	69	71
94	St. Joe's - 2004 - Jameer Nelson	1	2	-6	-2.0	68	76
95	Seattle - 1958 - Elgin Baylor	0	1	-6.2	1.4	62	64
96	Utah - 1998 - Andre Miller	0	1	-6.2	0.0	69	79
97	Oklahoma - 2016 - Buddy Hield	1	3	-6.4	1.0	60	67
98	Texas - 2003 - T.J. Ford	1	2	-6.6	2.0	69	76
99	Wichita St. - 2013 - Fred VanVleet	1	2	-6.6	2.7	64	71
100	Alabama - 1977 - Reggie King	0	1	-6.6	0.3	70	71
101	West Virginia - 2010 - Kevin Jones	1	3	-6.8	-15.0	70	76
102	Georgia Tech - 1990 - Dennis Scott	0	1	-6.8	2.8	64	82
103	UCLA - 2006 - Jordan Farmar	2	3	-7	0.0	66	72
104	Marquette - 2011 - Jimmy Butler	0	1	-7	-4.0	82	87
105	Kansas - 1988 - Danny Manning	0	1	-7.6	2.0	58	67
106	LSU - 2006 - Glen Davis	1	2	-7.8	-0.7	66	75
107	Indiana St. - 1979 - Larry Bird	0	1	-7.8	-5.0	69	76
108	Maryland - 2002 - Juan Dixon	1	3	-8.2	0.8	67	76
109	Notre Dame - 1970 - Austin Carr	1	1	-8.2	-2.0	67	77
110	La Salle - 1954 - Tom Gola	0	1	-8.2	4.0	67	76
111	Oklahoma St. - 1946 - Bob Kurland	0	1	-8.2	-3.0	80	82
112	South Carolina - 1973 - Mike Dunleavy	0	1	-8.2	-2.0	66	72
113	Wyoming - 1943 - Ken Sailors	0	1	-8.2	7.0	60	73
114	Auburn - 1984 - Charles Barkley	1	1	-8.4	2.3	72	77
115	West Virginia - 1959 - Jerry West	0	1	-8.4	2.0	68	69
116	Brigham Young - 1981 - Danny Ainge	0	1	-8.6	0.2	67	77
117	Kentucky - 1970 - Dan Issel	0	1	-8.6	-1.0	116	138
118	North Carolina - 1957 - Lennie Rosenbluth	0	1	-8.6	-5.0	76	89
119	Navy - 1986 - David Robinson	0	1	-9	1.7	61	77
120	Villanova - 1985 - Ed Pinckney	0	1	-9.2	5.0	65	72
121	Georgia - 1982 - Dominique Wilkins	1	1	-9.6	1.0	70	78
122	Arkansas - 1978 - Sidney Monfrief	0	1	-9.6	-3.0	58	79
123	Arizona St. - 1980 - Byron Scott	0	1	-10	3.4	64	79
124	Louisville - 1980 - Darrell Griffith	0	1	-10.4	-5.0	52	82
125	Notre Dame - 1981 - Orlando Woolridge	0	1	-10.4	2.3	68	91
126	George Mason - 2006 - Jai Lewis	0	3	-10.6	2.2	59	67
127	Dayton - 1967 - Don May	0	1	-11	2.8	69	88
128	Creighton - 2014 - Doug McDermott	0	3	-12.8	-1.6	66	80
129	Wake Forest - 2005 - Chris Paul	0	3	-13	5.3	64	85
130	LSU - 1970 - Pete Maravich	0	1	-13	4.5	66	67
131	Princeton - 1965 - Bill Bradley	0	1	-13	2.7	62	79
132	VCU - 2011 - Bradford Burgess	0	3	-13.8	4.0	60	71
133	Loyola-Chicago - 2018 - Cameron Krutwig	0	3	-14.6	-5.0	59	75
134	Miami FL - 1965 - Rick Berry	0	1	-14.6	5.0	104	108
135	Butler - 2010 - Gordon Hayward	0	3	-15.8	1.1	55	76
136	Niagara - 1970 - Calvin Murphy	0	1	-16.6	-0.5	68	84

1998 UNC Survives Highest Scoring Team in History, Loyola's Kimble 38 pts

After scoring 138 points in an upset opening round, Loyola-Marymount's Bo Kimble scored 38 and both Vince Carter and Makhtar N'Diaye fouled out trying to guard him.

The 20-seed 1990 Loyola squad was the highest scoring in the history of college ball, and their cards adjust to allow 26 extra possessions in a Value Add basketball game. By the time those extra 26 possessions we're played on one score sheet (13 by the bottom row reserves and 13 by the top row starters), Loyola led 53-44 when the game would normally start 20-20 with 44 possessions to play.

(the 104-101 UNC win gives UNC and updated rating of 4.8 to drop from 25th to 36th in the all-time ratings, and Loyola-Marymount and updated rating of 2.0 which will be good for 50th in those same ratings.)

Three steals by Ed Cota helped UNC tie the score 60-60 with 34 possessions to play, and respite Carter fouling out, the other two players who would go into have king NBA careers did just enough to send UNC to the Elite 8. Antawn Jamieson (34 points, 11 rebounds) dominated inside, and Shammond Williams (26 points) ran the point.

N'Diaye's foul out may have actually helped the Tar Heels, as it put 7-footer Brendan Haywood into the game for the final few minutes, during which he blocked 3 shots to finish with 5 blocks and send the Tar-Heels to the Elite 8. The other two already in the Elite 8 are 1-seed UCLA 1968, and 2001 Duke.

Many wonder who could have stopped Loyola in 1990 if Hank Gathers had not tragically died of a heart attack near the end if the season.

Schedule of Final 4 Round 1 Games in All-Time Great Tournament

 Only 4 Round 1 Games remain to be played in our tournament of 30 new All-Time Great College basketball teams. (In our original All-Time March Madness tournament featuring 96 teams, the favored seed dominated with a 62-33 record through UCLA (Bill Walton) defeating UNC (Michael Jordan) in the title game.)

#16 Michigan 1965 vs. #17 Arkansas 1978

#7 Illinois 1989 vs. #26 Notre Dame 1981

#10 Indiana 1981 vs. #23 Georgia Tech 1990

#11 Jacksonville 1970 vs. #22 North Carolina 1957