NCAA Men’s Basketball rankings: Who is favored to win March Madness?
March Madness is right around the corner, but first we need to get through the conference tournaments before selection Sunday and the Big Dance.
The Madness is coming. Cinderellas are preparing for the Big Dance and Dark Horses are looking to make a deep gallop into the NCAA Tournament. Both top seeds, and long shots alike will be looking to knock off the UCONN Huskies who are two time defending champions coming into this postseason.
UCONN three-peat?
With the state of college basketball as it is, with NIL’s and transfer portals it seems like the power house dynasties of the past are gone. That’s what makes what the UCONN Huskies have done so impressive over the last couple years.
Two seasons ago, the Huskies came into the season unranked, but cruised through the regular season and reached the #2 spot in the country. They got a four seed heading into the tournament and crushed the competition beating each and every team by 13 or more.
Last year they got the #1 overall seed going into the tourney and won the title, blowing out the rest of the field by an average of 23.3 points per game which is an NCAA record. This year UCONN is currently outside of the Top-25, with a record of 14-6. They will most certainly be in the tournament, but can secure their spot by winning the Big East Tournament which starts on Wednesday.
Watch out for the SEC
The SEC, which has been known as a football conference for decades has suddenly emerged as a basketball powerhouse. They have three teams in the Top-5, and seven in the Top-25.
Auburn, Florida and Alabama are third, fourth and fifth in the AP Top-25, but only one of those teams knows what it is to lift the national title trophy. Florida has won two titles in school history. Both came in back-to-back years, from 2005-2007 and now Billy Donovan is looking to bring championship glory back to Gainesville.
The Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide have been in their glory days lately but neither have been the last team standing when the Big Dance comes to an end. Alabama went to the Final Four last year but were knocked out by the eventual champions, UCONN.
Top candidates
College basketball purists will be raving about seeing Duke at the top of the AP Top-25. They are trying to restore the order in the NCAA with their sixth National Championship. They haven’t won it all in a decade, but they have the No. 1 player in the nation in Cooper Flagg and he is on track give the Dukies a real shot at returning the title to Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Houston is second and they went to the Final Four four years ago, but haven’t made the jump to national champs. St. Johns are in a resurrection era as Rick Pitino has brought the Red Storm back to national relevance and they sit sixth in the Top-25.
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If you are looking for a long, long shot go with St. Mary’s. They are tourney regulars and have only loss four games this season. And if you want someone completely off the radar, take UC San Diego out of the Big West. They are 28-4 and have won 13 straight games, but they aren’t a top 25 team.
There is still a lot of basketball to be played over the next week as conference tournaments heat up around the country. The winners of those tournaments will get a direct ticket to the 68-team NCAA Tournament which starts March 18th.
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