Kentucky stars Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham go in top five heading in to March Madness

College basketball’s regular season is officially in the books and the greatest tournament in all of sports — the NCAA Tournament — is knocking at the door. I’m ready and I know you’re itching for that bracket as much as me. I feel ya. But before we dive headfirst into the goodness that is March Madness, and as a way to waste away some time between now and Selection Sunday, let’s pause, take a quick breather and assess the talent landscape of the upcoming tourney.

Last year’s NBA Draft was loaded with international talents and other professional players at the top, but this year looks especially rich with college kids comparatively. The Kentucky duo of Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham are marching up the ranks into the top five in our latest mock. Baylor’s big win Ja’Kobe Walter is also in the mix. And UConn — coming off a national championship and sending two players off to be drafted — has two in the lottery mix. All three of those teams are projected as top-four seeds or better in Jerry Palm’s latest bracket.

It’s a good year to be a fan of college basketball and perhaps an even better year for some of the top teams in the sport to be carried by some of the most promising NBA prospects of the cycle. Our mock below reflects as much, and even with a deep international class once again, there’s a heavy mix of college prospects who will likely be focal points of March.

The below mock is based primarily off of how I rank the class and does not take into account team need and fit given that there is still a huge chunk of the NBA season still left to play and a lot left unsettled for the time being as to how the actual draft order will look this summer.