March Madness 2018: Predicting Favorites, Sleepers and Latest Bubble Teams

Selection Sunday is finally here, and the field for the NCAA men's basketball tournament will be finalized during Sunday's selection show.

There are a handful of teams that will be considered favorites to win the Big Dance, but there are also a handful of teams that could come out of nowhere and make some noise. After all, March is chaotic for a reason.

While it's nearly impossible to make official tournament predictions before the brackets are filled out, there's still time to take a look at some teams that are on the bubble heading into the first-round matchups, which get underway Thursday, and at the teams that could end up making a run at the Final Four. 

Championship Favorites

Odds according to OddsShark.

Virginia +600

Villanova +600

Duke +600

Michigan State +700

Purdue +1,200

Michigan +1,200

Kansas +1,600

Arizona +2,000

Xavier +2,000

North Carolina +2,000

Florida +2,000

Cincinnati +2,000

Tennessee +2,000

Bubble Teams to Watch

Saint Mary's

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Saint Mary's has a good record at 28-5, but there isn't much to hang its hat on in terms of quality wins. 

If the Gaels won the West Coast Conference tournament, there would be no argument about whether the school deserves to be in the tournament. However, Saint Mary's lost to BYU in the semifinals, hurting their chances of automatic qualification.

The biggest win on Saint Mary's schedule is January's victory over Gonzaga, but that's about it in terms of impressive results, as the Gaels' next-best wins came at BYU and at home against New Mexico State.

They deserve to be in the tournament, but it's anything but a guarantee their season will continue. 

Middle Tennessee

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Similar to Saint Mary's, Middle Tennessee could have used a conference title to guarantee its spot in the NCAA tournament.

The Blue Raiders' three best wins came against Western Kentucky twice and Murray State, which doesn't do much in terms of building a team's resume.

With a record of 24-7, Middle Tennessee is an NCAA tournament team on paper. But that's for the selection committee to decide.

Top Sleeper

Arizona

Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Arizona is an interesting position entering Selection Sunday.

Not only are there concerns over the FBI's corruption investigation, which involves star player DeAndre Ayton and head coach Sean Miller, but the Wildcats have also been inconsistent this season. 

Forgetting about the scandals surrounding the program, Arizona is one of the most dangerous teams in men's college basketball and is a team no one wants to face. Ayton is, without a doubt, one of the most productive players in recent memory and should be a top-three selection in this year's NBA draft. 

After all, Ayton's numbers are downright ridiculous.

But Ayton can't carry the entire team's load, so his teammates have to step up. Dusan Ristic scored 16 points against USC in the Pac-12 tournament final Saturday. There was also a solid performance from Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who added 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Could Arizona win the NCAA tournament? It's possible. But it's more likely the Wildcats will wreak havoc on everyone's brackets before bowing out of the tournament in style. At worst, it will be entertaining to watch how Arizona does in the coming weeks.