"The Big 10 bias is so unreal it hurts": College hoops fans show disappointment over Andy Katz's Top 12 third-year players list
College basketball fans expressed disappointment over NCAA.com analyst Andy Katz's list of the Top 12 third-year players in the nation this coming season.
The NCAA website released an article titled: Top 12 juniors for the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season, ranked by Andy Katz. It had UConn's Alex Karaban at No. 1 followed by Purdue guard Braden Smith and Ohio State's Bruce Thornton.
Iowa State's Tamin Lipsey was ranked No. 4 on the list followed by AJ Storr (Kansas), Robbie Avila (Saint Louis), Tyrese Proctor (Duke), Rylan Griffen (Kansas), Milos Uzan (Houston), Desmond Claude (USC), Fletcher Loyer (Purdue) and Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State).
NCAA March Madness posted a graphic on X/Twitter showing the Top 10 of the original 12 in the article which had some fans accusing the analyst of having a perceived bias on Big 10 players with Smith and Thornton placing No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, ahead of the likes of Iowa State star Tamin Lipsey.
Here's a look at some reactions from fans online:
"Katz should give up lol," one fan wrote.
"Who is Bruce Thornton??? Why is he above Lipsey??" another fan said.
"Dan Skillings. Another garbage Andy Katz list. Keep em coming," one fan wrote.
Meanwhile, other college hoops fans saw the list as fair enough and thought the Purdue point guard was better than Lipsey:
"Lmfao. You’re right, Smith made the final four," one fan said.
"Lipsey is a better defender than Smith but Smith is definitely better offensively," another fan wrote.
"No one nationally even knows who Lipsey is. Smith clears easily," one fan added.
Big 12 prominent in Andy Katz's Top 12 juniors list, Big 10 close behind
The Big 12 Conference had the most number of players in Andy Katz's Top 12 list of third-year players with five Tamin Lipsey, AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Milos Uzan and Ugonna Onyenso. Big 10 had four in Braden Smith, Bruce Thornton, Desmond Claude and Fletcher Loyer.
Big East was represented by UConn's Alex Karaban while Robbie Avila and Tyrese Proctor were part of the Atlantic 10 Conference and the ACC, respectively.
Top-ranked Karaban was a key part of the Huskies' back-to-back national championship runs and was supposed to apply for the NBA draft after the 2024 NCAA tournament.
However, Karaban withdrew his application to return for his junior season, boosting UConn's chance of winning its third straight national championship. In two seasons, the 6-foot-8 Karaban averaged 11.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
Do you agree with Andy Katz's list of the Top 12 best third-year players in the 2024-25 season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.