The Contenders

On the first day of February we take a look at the college basketball teams that have a legitimate shot at making it to the final four through games of January 31.

Over the last 5 years the recipe for reaching the final four has looked like this:
DE<=25 OE<=50 RPI<=27

Interestingly enough, once a team reaches the final four, offensive efficiency becomes much more important.

During that same time frame the recipe for winning the national championship has looked like this:
DE<=12 OE<=4 RPI<=16

Final Four contenders through games of January 31, 2009

Team	Def Eff Rank	Off Eff Rank	RPI Rank
Duke	2	7	1
Pitt	21	2	2
North Carolina	17	1	5
Xavier	13	38	6
Connecticut	9	5	7
Wake Forest	5	46	12
Villanova	14	37	15
West Virgina	6	30	16
Washington	24	16	22

No team meets the national championship criteria at this point, but North Carolina and Pittsburgh are the only two teams with the required offensive efficiency numbers to make the cut and Connecticut is one spot away from being a qualified NC contender.