5 teams you might want to avoid banking on in building your NCAA Tournament bracket

It might be not necessarily be discernible no matter how many men’s college basketball analytical websites you scroll through.

It might not be conventional thinking. In fact, it can be downright counterintuitive. Something just tells you, mostly from the experience of watching a team play: THEY CAN’T BE TRUSTED.

As some point, often in at a critical juncture, these teams will come up short whether it’s a turnover, missed free throws or failing to play good defense. You can’t trust these teams in tournament play because those situations will arise when a team is playing multiple, single-elimination games over a short period of time. At some point, the result’s going to go the wrong way.

FrontPageBets takes a look at five teams who can be confounding as you consider building your NCAA Tournament bracket.

Auburn

The guards, Wendell Green and K.D. Johnson can make questionable decisions. Their aggressive pell-mell play can be intoxicating to behold but, in the clutch, wouldn’t you rather Jabari Smith have the ball? 

Purdue

The Boilermakers are an offensive marvel but what if they need to make a defensive stop at the end of the game? They probably won’t do it. You have two recent examples in losses to Michigan State and Wisconsin.

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Memphis

The Tigers have improved but there’s still that lingering hangover of bad team play and inconsistent defense that could rear its ugly head at a critical juncture. They lack a true point guard.

Connecticut

Let’s say the Huskies are rallying from a double-digit deficit. They’re within one or two and now they’re on defense. A foul is called. On the sidelines, coach Danny Hurley jumps in the air, stomps the court, bangs the scorer’s table with his fist, scowls and screams at the official. Technical foul. Two free throws, possession and the game is over.

Texas

The Longhorns have an abundance of transfer talent and that’s translated into a lot of victories but I don’t think Chris Beard has a grip on this team yet. Offensively, it seems like the wrong players have the ball in their hands too much such as Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr who lead the team in turnovers. It would be better if Andrew Jones or Courtney Ramey had it more. 

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