March Madness 2024: Predicting Top Four Seeds and Men's Championship Favorites

The 2024 men's NCAA Tournament comes clearer into focus as the college basketball world motors toward Selection Sunday.

While three No. 1 seeds seem set in stone, though, the fourth is very much up for grabs. And that's just one of about a billion difficult decisions sitting in front of the selection committee.

They might make the official call, but we can still place our predictions for how this field will shake out. After predicting how the top four seed lines will look, we'll dig into two of the tournament favorites.

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Predicting Top Four Seeds

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TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - MARCH 2: Dalton Knecht #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers brings the ball down court during the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Coleman Coliseum on March 2, 2024 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)

No. 1 seeds

Houston, Purdue, Tennessee, UConn

No. 2 seeds

Arizona, Iowa State, Marquette, North Carolina

No. 3 seeds

Baylor, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky

No. 4 seeds

Alabama, Auburn, Creighton, Kansas

Favorite: Houston

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HOUSTON, TX - FEBRUARY 19: Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson coaches Houston Cougars guard Jamal Shead (1) during a stoppage of play during the basketball game between the Memphis Tigers and Houston Cougars at the Fertitta Center on February 19, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kelvin Sampson's club has a credible case for being the best field in the tournament. In fact, that's exactly how KenPom and Net Rankings view the Cougars, who hold the No. 1 spot in both.

In its first season in the Big 12, the best conference in the country, Houston steamrolled its way to a regular-season title with a 15-3 record, boosting its overall mark to 29-3. This team has experience, great coaching and the ability to control contests on both ends of the court.

No team defends at a higher level than this one, but its offense packs a powerful punch, too. You won't find many teams with more backcourt firepower, as seniors Jamal Shead (the Big 12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year) and L.J. Cryer and sophomore Emanuel Sharp all average better than a dozen points per outing.

Favorite: UConn

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 20: Head coach Dan Hurley and Tristen Newton #2 of the Connecticut Huskies react after defeating the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on January 20, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Coach Dan Hurley's Huskies won it all last season, and this group looks even better than that one.

UConn's .906 winning is percentage is third-highest in program history—a program, mind you, with five national titles on its resume—and its plus-17.5 point differential is second-highest in the country. This is also the only team to crack KenPom's top-five in offense (second) and top-10 in defense (10th).

The Huskies are brilliantly balanced on offense with five different players averaging between 11.2 and 14.9 points. Tops on that list is senior guard Tristen Newton, a 2022 transfer from East Carolina, who also paces the team in rebounds (7.1) and assists (5.8).