It looks like size — or maybe height — does matter.
Last night while watching Kentucky just bludgeon West Virginia last night I was pretty taken aback by the sheer size difference. It was evident in the first round game as well, but didn't register as much against a No. 16 seed. Then, while watching the other games I naturally started thinking about who could match up with Kentucky. Obviously how they stacked up size-wise was the prevailing thought, and first I was just giving it the eye test. Eventually I figured it might be fun to look at the numbers. As always kenpom was there.
**For a more in-depth look KP breaks it down.
http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=82 <--- interestingly enough, KP points out that while height is crucial inside, it really isn't all that important in the back court as long as the kid can play.
The six teams already slotted into the Elite Eight by effective height per kenpom. He defines effective height as the average height of centers and power forwards with some kind of weight given to minutes played.
Kentucky - No. 1
Gonzaga - No. 3
Wisconsin - No. 4
*Arizona - No. 20
Louisville - No. 34
Notre Dame - No. 213
The four teams currently playing for the right to advance ranked in the same fashion.
Utah (No. 16) v Duke (No. 28)
Oklahoma (No. 135) v Michigan State (No. 233)
Also interesting are the high seeds that have been eliminated.
(1) Villanova - No. 161
(2) Virginia - No. 55
(2) Kansas - No. 104
Other Big 12 teams
(3) Iowa State - No. 191
(3) Baylor - No. 153
(5) West Virginia - No. 112
(9) Oklahoma State - No. 144
(11) Texas - No. 18
As with anything there are outliers with specific qualities (OU and ND can really shoot). This is definitely nothing earth shattering, but it's interesting when illustrated a bit with numbers.
*Arizona's Stanley Johnson is listed at 6-6 223 on kenpom.com, but most other sources show him as 6-8 245. He also plays small forward, so I'm not sure how he factors in. I'm sure other teams have similar discrepancies, but Johnson stuck out to me.
