March Madness 2022: Predicting Top Four Seeds and Championship Favorites

It's the month of Madness in the men's college basketball world, and conference tournaments will soon give way to the real Big Dance.

Chaos is already in the air with clubs competing for automatic bids, and the rest of the field will be locked in this weekend during Selection Sunday.

While teams may travel up and down seed lines through Sunday, the selection process is close enough that our crystal ball already has a good feeling of how things will shape up at the top.

After predicting the top four No. 1 seeds, we'll spotlight two favorites poised to enter the tournament as heavyweight contenders.

The Number Ones

Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-3)

Mark Few's crew exacted some revenge in the West Coast Conference championship, handling a St. Mary's squad that knocked it off to close out the regular season.

That was the Bulldogs' lone loss in conference play, while their others came against then-No. 5 Duke and then-No. 16 Alabama. The Zags also scored ranked wins over Texas, UCLA, Texas Tech and St. Mary's (twice).

Baylor Bears (26-6)

The Bears were bounced out of their first Big 12 Tournament tilt by Oklahoma, but the national champs should have a strong enough resume to stick at No. 1.

Baylor only suffered one non-conference loss all season (at Alabama) and won five times against ranked opponents: Villanova, Iowa State, Kansas and Texas (twice).

Arizona Wildcats (28-3)

First-year coach Tommy Lloyd has pulled all the right strings and already steered the Wildcats to 11 more victories than they had last season. Arizona's 28 wins are the school's most since 2016-17.

The Wildcats downed four of the six ranked teams they faced, topping Michigan, UCLA and USC (twice).

Kansas Jayhawks (26-6)

Kansas' winning percentage sits north of .800 for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. With Baylor out of the way, the Jayhawks have a chance to pad their resume with a Big 12 tournament title.

With the Big 12 loaded at the top and an out-of-conference date with Kentucky, the Jayhawks ran through a gauntlet once the calendar flipped to 2022. They handled the path well enough to notch ranked wins over Iowa State (twice), Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas.

Favorite: Gonzaga

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

While you technically can't call the Zags unstoppable, since three teams have stopped them, this club has come as close as it gets this season.

It's not just the awesome record or the frontcourt combo of the potential No. 1 pick in the NBA draft (Chet Holmgren) and an All-American candidate (Drew Timme). It really comes down to the way this team overwhelms opponents on both ends of the floor.

Most teams—even the really good ones—have a specialty. Think Purdue's high-powered offense or Texas Tech's dominant defense. Behind that specialty, though, there's a weakness. Teams can put up points in bunches on the Boilermakers, and the Red Raiders sometimes really struggle to put the ball in the basket.

There's no such give-and-take with Gonzaga. The offense is tremendous—second in the nation in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom.com. But the defense is almost equally spectacular, sitting seventh overall.

Add star power and depth to the equation, and the Bulldogs seemingly have everything they could want—let alone need—for a championship run.

Favorite: Kentucky Wildcats

Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The next team with an answer for Kentucky's bruising big man Oscar Tshiebwe might be the first.

There must be something in the Lexington water, as the West Virginia transfer has erupted during his first season with the 'Cats. He controls the interior at both ends, and his stat line shows the full reach of his impact. He averages a double-double (17.3 points, 15.3 rebounds), shoots 60.6 percent from the field and contributes at least 1.5 blocks and steals per outing.

Kentucky is more than a one-man wrecking crew, though. Four other Wildcats average double figures, including potential lottery pick TyTy Washington Jr. and top distributor Sahvir Wheeler.

It all adds up the nation's fourth-best offense, per KenPom, and Kentucky complements its attack with its 25th-ranked defense.