The Kemba Candidates: Which Teams Are Best Positioned for a Magical March Run?

Six years ago, Kemba Walker and the Connecticut Huskies put together arguably the most incredible and most unlikely national championship run in college basketball history.

Prior to those 11 consecutive wins—five in the Big East tournament, six in the NCAA tournament—they were a bubble team. The Huskies went 4-7 over the final six weeks of the regular season to earn the No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament.

As long as they defeated No. 16 seed DePaul in the first round of the Big East tournament, they most likely would have gotten a ticket to the Big Dance. However, after blowing out the Blue Demons, they just kept going. In winning five games in five days, they climbed all the way up to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The rest, as they say, is history.

But what are the chances history could repeat itself?

With so many major-conference teams straddling the bubble as we enter the week of major-conference tournaments, there are a ton of teams in positions similar to what Walker's bunch faced in 2011. However, there's a big difference between having the opportunity to face quality opponents and actually having the ability to beat them. After all, there's a reason what Connecticut did was so special, and there's a reason these teams are on the bubble with a dozen or more losses.

Still, there are a handful of teams that each have more than enough talent to string together four or five straight wins to catapult from the bubble to a strong single-digit seed by winning their conference tournament. And as exhausting as it would be to win that many games in the span of a few days, that type of momentum could carry those teams to deep NCAA tournament runs as well.

Here are the three teams with the best chances of pulling it off, listed in ascending order of likelihood.

3. Xavier Musketeers

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Record: 19-12 overall, 9-9 in Big East, No. 7 seed in BE tourney

Resume: RPI: 34, KP: 43, SOS: 10, projected No. 11 seed in NCAA tournament

Potential Path to Glory: DePaul, Butler, Providence, Villanova

Before losing Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL at the end of January, Xavier had one of the better resumes in the country. According to WarrenNolan.com, the Musketeers were top 15 in RPI every week until mid-February, and they still have a strength of schedule that ranks among the 10 toughest in the nation.

With a strong run through February, they easily could have been a No. 3 seed. And after beating Seton Hall, Creighton and DePaul to begin the month, it looked as though they just might pull it off.

Instead, Xavier put together a six-game losing streak. Trevon Bluiett injured his ankle in a loss to Villanova and missed the next two losses at Providence and Marquette. The star of the Musketeers was back on the floor for the subsequent games against Seton Hall, Butler and Marquette, but they didn't play nearly enough defense to win any of those games.

Just like that, in the span of less than three weeks, the Musketeers went from a relatively solid No. 6 seed to a team that's only in the projected field by the slimmest of margins.

But what if they get back to playing like the team that—without Sumner—knocked off Seton Hall and Marquette?

In each of those games, the Musketeers avoided turnovers, shot well from three and got contributions from all over the place. In the win over Creighton, four starters scored at least 15 points each while Kaiser Gates nearly had a double-double off the bench. In the recent losses, though, they've been too reliant upon just Bluiett and J.P. Macura.

Take Saturday's win over DePaul with a grain of salt because of the caliber of opponent, but seven Musketeers scored at least seven points each, and they committed nine turnovers as an entire team. When they distribute the ball without turning it over, they still have a chance to do some damage.

Like Connecticut in 2011, Xavier might end up on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble if it loses its Big East opener against DePaul. But if they can get past the Blue Demons and play something resembling defense against Butler, it could jump-start a significant winning streak.

2. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

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Record: 18-12 overall, 9-9 in ACC, No. 10 seed in ACC tourney

Resume: RPI: 31, KP: 29, SOS: 11, projected No. 10 seed in NCAA tournament

Potential Path to Glory: Boston College, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Notre Dame, North Carolina

Considering the amount of oxygen we've wasted on comparing this year's ACC to the Big East that sent 11 teams to the 2011 NCAA tournament, it would only be appropriate for this league to produce the team that goes on a Connecticut-like run through Championship Week.

And given how unpredictable the ACC has been all season long, it certainly feels like the major-conference tournament most likely to produce an unlikely champ.

Truly, you could put any number of ACC teams in this spot and make a compelling argument. Syracuse and Virginia Tech both have wins over Duke and Virginia. Georgia Tech has already beaten North Carolina, Florida State and Notre Dame. And don't the basketball gods owe Clemson a few quality wins after the litany of close, soul-crushing losses the Tigers endured?

The smart money, though, is on Wake Forest.

First of all, the Demon Deacons are already red hot. They closed out the regular season with their two best wins of the entire season (vs. Louisville and at Virginia Tech). Not only did they win those games, but they also put up 88 points against an outstanding Cardinals defense before going on the road and dropping 89 on the Hokies.

That's nothing new for Wake Forest, though. It has now scored at least 80 points in 18 of 30 games, including a 96-79 win over a Miami team that has not allowed any other opponent to score 80 in a game all year. Led by John Collins and Bryant Crawford—the most underrated inside-outside duo in the nation—these Demon Deacons can put points on the board in a hurry.

But until these past two weeks, they were unable to turn all of those points into quality wins. Back before Clemson dropped out of the RPI Top 50, there was a point where Wake Forest was 1-11 against the RPI Top 50, 3-8 overall in games decided by seven points or fewer and 0-7 in RPI Top 50 games decided by seven points or fewer.

Now that they have finally gotten over the hump, though, the Demon Deacons might be gearing up for one heck of a run.

1. Michigan State Spartans

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Record: 18-13 overall, 10-8 in Big Ten, No. 5 seed in B1G tourney

Resume: RPI: 47, KP: 50, SOS: 8, projected No. 10 seed in NCAA tournament

Potential Path to Glory: Nebraska, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin

We've spent most of the season projecting the Big Ten for either seven or eight bids in the NCAA tournament, so how can its No. 5 seed possibly be on the bubble?

For starters, the sheer number of losses is a problem. Yes, the Spartans had a difficult start to the season, facing Arizona, Kentucky, Baylor and Duke while trying to recover from losing frontcourt seniors Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter to injury. But they also lost a home game to Northeastern and suffered a handful of not-great losses to Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois and Indiana.

They should be fine as long as they don't lose to Penn State or Nebraska in their first game of the B1G tournament, but that's the definition of life on the bubble, is it not?

Here's the thing, though: Michigan State is finally hitting its stride.

I know the Spartans have lost two in a row, but don't stress over the three-point road losses to Illinois and Maryland. Rather, look at how well their young studs have performed over the past two weeks.

Nick Ward has averaged 18.8 points and 10.0 rebounds in just 22.8 minutes in his last four games. Miles Bridges is right there with him at 19.0 points and 7.5 rebounds and looks much improved as a three-point shooter. Cassius Winston had a dud against Illinois, but the freshman point guard averaged 8.3 points and 7.0 assists in the other three games.

If they could just get one other guy going, they'd be in business. They darn near won Saturday's game at Maryland despite getting a grand total of 12 points from the rest of the roster.

There are plenty of candidates for the job. Whether it's Joshua Langford (17 points on Feb. 23), Matt McQuaid (15 on Feb. 26) or Alvin Ellis (15 on March 1), the Spartans have plenty of guys capable of being that third scorer—even with Eron Harris out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Just in case the Spartans do pull it off, let's preemptively note that this would be nothing compared to the minefield Connecticut had to navigate in 2011. In the last three rounds, those Huskies won consecutive games against teams that earned No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the NCAA tournament. In this year's Big Ten, there might not be a single team that gets a No. 4 seed or better.

Still, four RPI Top 100 wins in four days would be a great achievement that could push the Spartans up to a No. 6 seed. And are you really going to bet against Tom Izzo in March?

Stats are courtesy of WarrenNolan.com, KenPom.com and Sports-Reference.com and are current through start of play Monday, March 6. Win-loss records only include games played against D-I opponents.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @kerrancejames.