NCAA Tournament 2017: Top Sleeper Teams Heading into March Madness

Selection Sunday is quickly approaching, and we'll soon know which four teams will head into March Madness with the coveted No. 1 seeds. 

But No. 1 seeds only win it all 59 percent of the time, according to an article from January by NCAA.com's Eric Vander Voort. 

Per Vander Voort, "Final Fours have had slightly more two, three and four seeds (55) than one seeds (52)." 

We can't really consider No. 2 and No. 3 seeds "sleepers," but any team seeded between four and seven can fit that definition. 

Why stop at seven? Sure, we've seen a couple eight seeds make the title game in recent years (Kentucky in 2014 and Butler in 2011) but, as Vander Voort points out, "of the 128 Final Four teams since 1991, just 12 (9.4 percent) have been seeded seventh or worse."

That being the case, let's take a look at some teams that could end up with seeds between No. 4 and No. 7 that have a chance of making it to the championship game. 

Florida 

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As of Tuesday, the Florida Gators are projected to be a No. 4 seed heading into March Madness, per TeamRankings.com. 

SEC Coach of the Year Mike White's squad had won nine consecutive games before dropping 76-66 to the Kentucky Wildcats on Feb. 25. 

That's a sour note so close to the end of the season, especially after the Gators bested the Wildcats 88-66 just three weeks earlier. Dropping what could have been the team's 25th win of the season to Vanderbilt on March 4 didn't help, either. 

But at 24-7, Florida is still doing far better than would have been expected after the team lost big man John Egbunu for the season. After nearly two years of being absent from the rankings, Florida returned to the AP Top 25 this season and is currently at 17 following the end of the regular season. 

Iowa State

The Cyclones are hoping that senior point guard Monte Morris, who is averaging 16.2 points per game, can lead them all the way this year. 

Iowa State will likely enter the tournament as a No. 7 seed. The competition in the Big 12 is no joke, and the Cyclones stand in fourth place. 

Now, coach Steve Prohm will see if his squad can replicate the kind of feats it pulled off earlier this season, when it bested two ranked opponents in Kansas and Baylor.

The former was a spectacular 92-89 win in overtime, and in late February, the Cyclones polished off the Bears 72-69.

Needless to say, Iowa State will face some adversity if it hopes to advance to the Final Four; currently, Team Rankings' algorithm places those chances at 5 percent. 

SMU

The SMU Mustangs are hot, riding a 13-game winning streak as they look to close out the American Athletic Conference. They are coming off their best season in school history. 

As CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein noted after SMU defeated UConn by 20, he "wouldn't want to play" the Mustangs in the tournament. 

The Mustangs have gone on to win 11 more games since that victory over the Huskies. And while those opponents aren't ranked, that doesn't mean there's not something special going on with this squad. 

"SMU is good enough to make the Sweet 16 regardless of its seed," wrote CBS Sports' Gary Parrish, who also noted that SMU is likely to be under-seeded "relative to its quality and ability."

That could create a problem for the other programs that have to face the Mustangs, who project to be seeded fourth in the NCAA Tournament, early on.

All seeding projections via TeamRankings.com.