By ESPN.com | ESPN.com
Every weekday, a panel of our college hoops experts discuss the biggest issues, trends and themes in and around college basketball.
1. Wichita State has company in the MVC this season. So which team right now is better: Wichita State or Northern Iowa?
Andy Katz: Tough question. I might lean toward Wichita State based on experience. But the Panthers may offer up the toughest competition for the Shockers since Creighton left the conference.
Eamonn Brennan: It's still Wichita State's conference, but it is nice to see the Valley add another team to the NCAA tournament mix. Last season's Shockers team was better, especially on the defensive end, but it was also an unusually low-mid-major-esque year from a conference that used to wedge multiple teams in the tournament field on a fairly regular basis. If anything, I'm just glad we don't have to have another protracted and unnecessary "how good is Wichita State really?" debate.
John Gasaway: Wichita State's still the top dog in the Valley, but the gap between the Shockers and the next-best team has shrunk from a canyon to a gully. Northern Iowa's improvement on defense since last season has been remarkable, and if Ron Baker isn't careful, UNI's Seth Tuttle will swipe MVC Player of the Year honors out from under his nose.
2. Most people don't know much about Northern Iowa. What's the one thing they should know?
Katz: Coach Ben Jacobson has a team that is all in. This team plays with an edge and isn't one to back down. The Panthers have experience and are extremely confident.
Brennan: The Panthers have one of the nation's best defenses. This is a recent development -- last season's team allowed 1.08 points per trip in conference play; this one is allowing a league-low 86.6. Northern Iowa has gotten considerably better even within this season: When the Panthers shut down Iowa in Des Moines in December, it felt like an aberrant shooting night, not a great defensive performance. A month later, they're still guarding about as well as almost any team in the country.
Gasaway: Coach Ben Jacobson is a believer in tempo-free metrics: "Any time you finish a basketball game and have held the opponent to less than one point per possession, you're going to win 95-plus percent of the time."
3. North Carolina has won eight of nine. What's the biggest reason why?
Katz: The Tar Heels are maturing. Marcus Paige is making big shots. And the bigs are finishing plays. North Carolina has the pieces for a late, great run in March.
Brennan: Since 2009-10, North Carolina has more often than not been a better defensive team than offensive. It hasn't always been obvious, because the Heels tend to play fast, but coach Roy Williams has had a knack for surfacing talented tall guys and getting them to defend really well, particularly on first-shot opportunities. The Tar Heels make it tough for shooters without giving up fouls. If you want to get stops, that's a good place to start.
Gasaway: And it was almost nine of nine -- the one loss came against Notre Dame by one point. Other than that, UNC has won the close ones (against Louisville and at NC State) and cruised against less daunting opponents. The Heels are crashing the glass on offense and limiting opponents' free throw tries on D.
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