Four Teams That Will Flop in March Madness

Given the volatile nature of this college basketball season, and with top 10 teams losing almost every week, this year's NCAA tournament shapes up to be one full of shocking upsets.

Of course, it's hard to predict upsets in the tournament two weeks before the tournament begins.

With that said, here are four teams with high expectations for March Madness that I see bowing out early.

1. Kentucky  

That's right—I said Kentucky. While ESPN will definitely be putting Kentucky in the national title game, I don't see them getting past the Sweet 16.

Why? The Wake Forest Rule: I do not trust freshman-loaded teams in March Madness. The pressure and the intensity of March Madness does not jive well with big-time freshmen. Kevin Durant was out of the tournament in the second round. Michael Beasley didn't make it to the Sweet 16. O.J. Mayo lost in the first round.

While Greg Oden made it to the national title game and Carmelo Anthony won it, they were surrounded by talented veterans who had been to the NCAA tournament. Outside of Patrick Patterson, there aren't many major players for Kentucky who have NCAA tournament experience.

Another red flag is their résumé. Yes, they have a gaudy 28-2 record and are 13-2 in the SEC, but their strength of schedule is a little overrated in retrospect. While the SEC is king in football, they are mediocre at best in basketball. Two victories over Vanderbilt are nice, but they split with Tennessee, the only other ranked team in their conference.

While it's certainly not Kentucky's fault, their non-conference opponents are all having down years. Wins over North Carolina, UConn, and Louisville are not as impressive as they were at the beginning of the year, considering it's still possible all three of those teams miss the NCAA Tournament!

Once you take into account that home victories are nice for the résumé, but road and neutral victories show your true colors, you see a Kentucky team that you have to wonder whether or not they can live up to its lofty billing...

2. Duke

While the question mark around Kentucky is experience, the glaring hole in Duke is talent. Quite simply, this team is not very good. This team has three perimeter guys they depend on for nearly their entire offense, and none of the three players can consistently create his own shot.

While the team is bigger, it's fool's gold. Their frontcourt players (Brian Zoubek and the Plumlee brothers) are routinely dominated on the road by more athletic big men, and none of them are consistent offensive weapons.

Once again, they are a team that lives and dies by the jump shot.

I'm not even going to discuss their lack of athleticism (oops...I just did). 

Amazingly, all of these points aren't the biggest red flag concerning Duke. The biggest strike against Duke is their 5-5 record in true road games this season. The fact that they average almost 20 points less per game in these road games tells me their players only know how to shoot in Cameron.

Unless Durham secretly became a regional site for the NCAA tournament, that spells trouble for the Dukies. They'll be lucky to make it to the Sweet 16, one seed or not.

3. Georgetown

This is a classic example of a team that will probably be overrated by the media "experts" once the brackets come out, considering their impressive victories against Villanova and Duke.

But like I said earlier, while home victories are great for the résumé, it's what you do on the road that shows your true colors. Outside of a victory over Pittsburgh and "bubblicious" Louisville, Georgetown hasn't shown any true road strength.

Also, considering that Georgetown has lost five out of its last eight games, with three losses coming to unranked opponents, you have a team stumbling its way into March Madness, rather than peaking.

4. Purdue

This seems extremely unfortunate because Purdue was almost a sure lock for a No. 1 seed and seemed on its way to a Final Four, but losing a key contributor like Robbie Hummel, their second leading scorer and rebounder, is a crucial blow.

The team struggled last season while Hummel recovered from a back injury, going 1-3 in the process. Upon losing Hummel for the season, Purdue's offense struggled mightily again against a strong Michigan State squad.

Is this a sign of things to come for Purdue?

The Boilermakers will definitely be a high seed come tournament time, probably a two or three seed at worst.

However, you have to wonder if they'll survive the first weekend without their all-everything forward.