NCAA Tournament 2019: Predicting Favorites for March Madness Bracket

College basketball teams have been playing since November. Now, the most important part of the season is here.

Tournaments for the major Division I conferences will unfold this week, as teams will continue to clinch automatic bids for the NCAA tournament. Then, on Sunday, March 17, the entire 68-team field will be unveiled for this year's March Madness.

Although many of the country's top teams haven't yet played in their conference tournaments, it's not hard to figure out who some of the heavy favorites will be for this year's NCAA tourney.

Here's a look at five teams that will be expected to make deep runs during March Madness and contend for this year's national championship.

Gonzaga

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After going 29-2 during the regular season, Gonzaga entered the West Coast Conference tournament as the No. 1 team in the nation, per the AP Top 25 poll.

The Bulldogs haven't lost a game since December, when they dropped consecutive games to Tennessee on Dec. 9 and North Carolina on Dec. 15. Since those losses, they've won 20 straight and cruised through their conference schedule.

Of course, the WCC doesn't have as many top teams as the major conferences. But Gonzaga proved that this year's team can hang with other top teams in the nation by notching a win over Duke on Nov. 21.

The Bulldogs should roll through the WCC tournament. They play Pepperdine in a semifinal matchup on Monday, and then they would face the winner of Saint Mary's-San Diego on Tuesday.

Gonzaga has never won a national championship, but it made it to the NCAA tournament finals in 2017, when it lost to North Carolina. Perhaps this is the year the Bulldogs go all the way.

Virginia, North Carolina and Duke

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Three of the favorites heading into March Madness all come from the ACC, and each has a case for why it could be the team from the conference that makes it the farthest in the NCAA tournament.

Virginia and North Carolina shared the ACC regular-season championship, going 16-2 in conference play. Duke went 14-4 in ACC action, but it played the last five games without star forward Zion Williamson, who is out with a knee sprain.

It's quite possible that if one of these three teams wins the ACC tournament, then it will also be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tourney.

Virginia is 28-2 with both of its losses coming against Duke. The Cavaliers' most impressive win so far was a road victory at North Carolina on Feb. 11.

North Carolina is 26-5, and that loss to Virginia is the Tar Heels' only one in their last 15 games. They've beaten Duke twice and also own a win over Gonzaga.

Duke is also 26-5, and although it has lost twice to North Carolina and once to Gonzaga, the Blue Devils have two wins against Virginia and one against Kentucky. And if Williamson returns, that makes them an even better team.

All three of these teams are poised to be March Madness contenders. But first, they'll likely compete against each other again to determine the ACC champion.

Kentucky

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Kentucky may not have won the SEC regular-season championship, but the Wildcats always seem to round into form around tournament time.

Last year, the Wildcats won their fourth straight SEC tournament title despite being the No. 4 seed in the conference. They are the No. 2 seed this year, behind only regular-season champion LSU.

Although Kentucky went 26-5 during the regular season, it lost to conference rivals LSU and Tennessee recently. The Wildcats fell to the Tigers on Feb. 12 and the Vols on March 2.

But that may only give this John Calipari-led Kentucky squad added motivation entering the SEC tournament.

The Wildcats may have reached at least the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament in three of the past four seasons, but they haven't won a national championship since 2012. Perhaps this is the year they rise back to the top.