Stock Watch

Devin Carter

Not all was lost when Bryce Hopkins went down with a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 3. Carter has made sure of that for Providence. He refused to let the Friars lose in Ed Cooley’s anticipated return, pouring in 29 points along with four steals and two blocks, and in the six games since Hopkins’ injury, the guard is averaging 23.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals. He’s a Big East Player of the Year favorite, a surefire All-American and a future NBA player.

Auburn

The metrics love the Tigers. They are a top-10 team in the NET, are ranked seventh by KenPom and feature a defense that is fifth in efficiency. And, yet, this team lacks a marquee victory, now 0-3 in Quad 1 games after road losses to Alabama and Mississippi State this week. This isn’t about whether Auburn will make the NCAA Tournament — the Tigers are pretty much a guarantee barring a major collapse — but for a team that has been so impressive for the better part of the season, the record against quality teams is concerning for March. Bruce Pearl’s group will have chances in the coming weeks to improve its résumé.

Grant McCasland

The first-year coach at Texas Tech has to be a Big 12 Coach of the Year favorite at this point. The Red Raiders were picked eighth in the conference, lost three of their top four scorers and all McCasland has done is lead them to the top of the best conference in the country after Saturday’s gutty road win at No. 11 Oklahoma. Oh, and he lost starting center Devan Cambridge to a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 6.

Pac-12

The final year of the current composition of the conference had a breakthrough football season. Basketball has not enjoyed the same success. Even Arizona, the league’s lone Final Four contender, stubbed its toe this week by losing to woeful Oregon State. UCLA and USC are under .500 overall as the two most disappointing teams in the country. The league has only three teams — Arizona, Colorado and Utah — in the top 40 of the NET rankings. That’s not a recipe for more than a few at-large bids come Selection Sunday.