March Madness 2023: Predicting Favorites, Sleepers and Latest Men's Bubble Teams
Sixty-eight teams will learn their NCAA men's basketball tournament fate on Selection Sunday.
Most of the teams in the field are clear, including the Houston Cougars and Kansas Jayhawks at the top.
Houston and Kansas have been two of the most dominant teams all season, and they will be in competition for the No. 1 overall seed.
The final few teams on the field are up for debate. The Arizona State Sun Devils and Oklahoma State Cowboys are among two of the bubble teams that will be sweating until they see their team names inside the bracket.
Other teams know they will be in but are not sure of their seeding. Matchups could determine how successful one team can be, and if it will avoid a potential upset against a side like the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, Colgate Raiders or another strong mid-major side.
Favorites
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Houston
Houston has been near the top of the Top 25 for most of the season.
The Cougars are 31-2, and they have not lost since January 22.
Kelvin Sampson's team is aiming for its third straight trip to the Elite Eight. It advanced to the Final Four in 2021 and fell one game short of a repeat appearance in 2022.
Houston plays in a weak American Athletic Conference, but it tested itself in nonconference play with wins over the Virginia Cavaliers, Saint Mary's Gaels and Oregon Ducks. The Cougars lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Houston's season-long excellence and its NCAA tournament experience is a tough combination for any team to beat.
The Cougars will be in contention for the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday, and they should be one of the most trusted teams in any bracket that gets filled out between now and Thursday.
Kansas
Kansas won the regular-season title in the best conference in men's college basketball.
Bill Self's team survived the Big 12 gauntlet and then reached the Big 12 conference tournament final, where it lost to the Texas Longhorns.
Saturday's loss to Texas should not be a cause for concern because the Longhorns should be one of the top 12 seeds in the Big Dance.
The reigning national champion went 27-7 in a season where it lost a majority of its scoring from last season.
Dajuan Harris and Jalen Wilson bring vital NCAA tournament experience to the squad, and it has one of the best shooters in Gradey Dick.
Kansas is battle tested from the tough Big 12 schedule, and that should help it navigate any situation it faces over the next few weeks.
Sleepers
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Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts will be one of the most popular sleeper picks.
The Golden Eagles broke into the national spotlight two years ago with a Sweet 16 run as a No. 15 seed after they upset Ohio State in the first round.
Max Abmas, the star of that run, is still on the roster, and he is even more of a dangerous scoring threat this time around.
Oral Roberts will not be as low of a seed as it was in 2021. The Golden Eagles will probably be a No. 12 or No. 13 seed because they went 30-4.
Abmas and Co. will enter the field of 68 with plenty of confidence since they have not lost since January 9. They will be dangerous for any team that draws them.
Colgate
Colgate could be the mid-major squad that follows in Oral Roberts' legacy as a No. 15 seed to win multiple games.
The Raiders produced a 26-8 season and lost a single game in the Patriot League. They are making their third straight NCAA tournament appearance. They fell in in 2021 and 2022 as a No. 14 seed.
The sustained success at Colgate has made head coach Matt Langel one of the best coaching candidates from the mid-major ranks. One NCAA tournament win would boost that resume even more.
The biggest threat Colgate poses is from the three-point line. It is the only program in Division I that shoots better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Colgate is one of two teams with a team field-goal percentage over 50. Gonzaga is the other team over that mark.
Colgate's offense could pose a problem to any top team, and if anything, it should produce one heck of a first-round game.
Bubble Teams
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Arizona State
Arizona State probably did enough to get into the NCAA tournament field at the Pac-12 tournament.
The Sun Devils earned a quarterfinal win over USC to add to their collection of wins over Arizona, Michigan and Creighton.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi listed Arizona State as the last team in the field of 68 in his latest projection on Sunday morning.
The win over USC may end up being the difference between being in and out of the field of 68. Few bubble teams picked up better victories over the last week.
If they get in, the Sun Devils will head to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio as a No. 11 seed. They will likely face another power-conference team.
Oklahoma State
Lunardi listed Oklahoma State as his first team out.
The Cowboys finished 2-5 in their last seven games and failed to earn a quality win at the Big 12 tournament.
Oklahoma State did not produce many wins against the Big 12's best teams, and that could be a hindrance on its resume compared to Arizona State and other bubble squads.
The Cowboys went 0-9 against the four best teams in the Big 12 regular-season standings.
The late slide and lack of big wins in the most competitive conference could lead to OK State coming up just short of the field.
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