[KRIT]

I know we still have a ways to go, but we are in the home stretch.

Who do you like as an early favorite to win it all? What about a sleeper? Overrated team to get bounced early?

[gummo]

I am big on Gonzaga. Veteran team.

[Longwood20]

Oregon

Dayton sleeper

[Jack Hoverkamp]

Hofstra as a deep sleeper.
Wichita State as a dark horse
NJIT as a light horse.

[GoBlue77]

West Virginia or Virginia bounced early.

Gonzaga or Purdue

[BIGDAY]

Minnesota!

[Jack Hoverkamp]

Minnesota!

I don't think so Tim

[TPowell]

Florida +10000 on January 20 something
Cincy +12500 and Louisville +2000 on same day

[DOM_Toretto]

Multiple threads already started on our early Final Four favorites...

Let's instead talk "sleepers" or double digit seeds we think can pull an upset (obviously still early as much will depend on matchups).

Syracuse, SMU, Oklahoma State, VCU, Dayton, Akron, Middle Tennessee State, UNCW...

[Longwood20]

Multiple threads already started on our early Final Four favorites...

Let's instead talk "sleepers" or double digit seeds we think can pull an upset (obviously still early as much will depend on matchups).

Syracuse, SMU, Oklahoma State, VCU, Dayton, Akron, Middle Tennessee State, UNCW...

If Wilmington can get in there gonna make noise

[TPowell]

No sense talking about this. Bracket decides everything

[INVEGA MAN]

wait till the final 16 and bet all the dogs. easy money

[DOM_Toretto]

No sense talking about this. Bracket decides everything

Not true. Last year I crushed the Thursday-Friday opening days of the tourney. IIRC I went 11-1 on one of the days. It wasn't luck, it was because I followed these teams. Late Feb / early March pay attention to the major conference bubble teams, the 1-bid conference favorites, the bubble mid-majors (this year there aren't many).

[TPowell]

Not true. Last year I crushed the Thursday-Friday opening days of the tourney. IIRC I went 11-1 on one of the days. It wasn't luck, it was because I followed these teams. Late Feb / early March pay attention to the major conference bubble teams, the 1-bid conference favorites, the bubble mid-majors (this year there aren't many).

Still all about matchups. No sense in talking about sleepers and then that sleeper getting an awful draw

[shopbar picks]

Saw the the zags for the first time. Look real to me. Good point and 2 large bigs inside. . There is always a Cinderella team. But maybe it's them this year. A team I have always doubted because of the league. Other 3 are Oregon. Nova. KU.

[KRIT]

The tourney definitely has a lot to do with the bracket and how easy the path is. Probably a premature thread on my part.

As for sleepers, or mid seeds that could make a run, I really like SMU, Cinci and Dayton. Each of those teams dominate their conferences and I think they could keep up with most of the top 25. SMU I'm probably the highest on. Dayton is great but they don't have a lot of size, and Cinci is good but offensively challenges at times.

I think UNC is the best and most complete team right now. Nova and Kansas are really good but their lack of bigs may cost them. If Florida St had a better coach I'd be tempted to pick them to win it all, but at some point talent can only take you so far. That Florida St team is stacked with talent, size and athleticism though. Duke and UCLA are similar in that they can both flat out score and have tons of talent, but neither team plays defense. Good thing for them is they can out score almost anyone. Oregon and Zags are really complete and neither team really has a weakness so I can see either of them making a run.

[jjgold]

not even close to a favorite this year

College Hoops is very deep and now you throw in neutral courts

Blindly bet dogs and basically cannot lose like ncaa football bowl games

[mikemca]

Will echo others in that Gonzaga is legit. Willing to bet a lot of public will underrate them because of stigma.

UCLA will get bounced early.

Wisconsin could be my sleeper.

Purdue has the best player in the nation.

[StackinGreen]

wait till the final 16 and bet all the dogs. easy money

I always go sweet 16

Whats your angle here

[DOM_Toretto]

Will echo others in that Gonzaga is legit. Willing to bet a lot of public will underrate them because of stigma.

UCLA will get bounced early.

Wisconsin could be my sleeper.

Purdue has the best player in the nation.

Wisconsin could get bounced first game.

Biggie Swanigan is a total beast but idk if his gaurds are good enough to go deep in the tourney?

[Memento]

MTSU best true mid major...fully expect them to win first game of tournament as 10-11 seed. UNCW very good when 3 ball falls....just poor team defensively at times.

[Snowball]

Villanova

[KRIT]

Wisconsin could get bounced first game.

Biggie Swanigan is a total beast but idk if his gaurds are good enough to go deep in the tourney?

If Wisconsin can figure things out they will be a tough out because of how many veterans they have on that team.

I have the same concerns about Purdue. They are one of the best teams, but in the tourney you need guard play to win. Not sure you can continue to dump it down low to the two bigs and go far in the tourney.

[mikemca]

Multiple threads already started on our early Final Four favorites...

Let's instead talk "sleepers" or double digit seeds we think can pull an upset (obviously still early as much will depend on matchups).

Syracuse, SMU, Oklahoma State, VCU, Dayton, Akron, Middle Tennessee State, UNCW...

Syracuse, SMU, Oklahoma State, VCU, Dayton, Akron, Middle Tennessee State, UNCW could get bounced first game.

If Wisconsin can figure things out they will be a tough out because of how many veterans they have on that team.

I have the same concerns about Purdue. They are one of the best teams, but in the tourney you need guard play to win. Not sure you can continue to dump it down low to the two bigs and go far in the tourney.

There aren't many teams who have players that have been to the championship. Badgers have a couple. Of course they could lose right out of the gate, especially with the way they play . A style that is conducive to close games but also would give them a chance to beat better teams. Hence the word sleeper.

[texhooper]

Dom I like your list other than VCU. They've been the recipient of some very lucky breaks to get wins. Also from what I've seen, I think their halfcourt defense will get shredded if they get matched up with a team with good or even decent athleticism, which will probably be the case. I wonder if we're starting to see the very early beginnings of that program slipping back to reality. Still got some Shaka guys in there. Be interesting to see what Wade does in recruiting and what they look like in 2-3 years.

[chico2663]

got money on nc at 9-1 and 10-1 and cincy at 100-1

[chico2663]

screw up

[StackinGreen]

wait till the final 16 and bet all the dogs. easy money

I always go sweet 16

Whats your angle here

[UncleDoc]

Wichita St is flying under the radar and could make a little noise with the correct draw.

MTSU playing outstanding ball right now and will be a very tough out for someone. Same team that bounced Michigan St last march but now a year older. Watch out for them

[Itsamazing777]

Michigan