Legitimate Sleepers That Could Win March Madness

With the calendar moving to February, the college basketball season moves closer to its ultimate event – March Madness. Gonzaga (+600) and Baylor (+1000), who met for the national championship last season, are among the favorites to win it all this season. Auburn (+1000), which is ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time in school history, is also among the favorites at the top of the betting board. 

Fans and bettors alike love the NCAA tournament because of its upsets. When a Cinderella shocks a much higher-seeded team, it only makes March Madness madder. Most of those Cinderellas will fade away though and come nowhere near a national championship. Are there are any legitimate sleepers that could actually make a run through the NCAA tournament and win it all? Here’s a look at five with the potential to do so.

ARKANSAS (16-5, 5-3)

Eric Musselman has worked his magic at programs like Nevada where he won three straight Mountain West Conference titles in four seasons and finished with a record of 110-34 before taking the job at Arkansas. In his first season with the Razorbacks, he went 20-12 in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

JD Notae

Last year, Arkansas went 25-7, finished second in the SEC, and went all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. Musselman replaced his top two scorers – Moses Moody (16.8 ppg) and Justin Smith (13.6 ppg) – from last year and reloaded. He added Miami transfer Chris Lykes, Pitt transfer Au’Diese Toney, and South Dakota transfer Stanley Umude.

The Razorbacks started this season 9-0 then lost five of their next six games. Since then, Musselman’s crew is 6-0 with a big win over then-No. 12 LSU. JD Notae leads Arkansas with 18.8 points per game. Toney averages 11.1 and Umude 10.0 points per game. This is a team that can easily get back to the Elite Eight and, with the right matchups, can win a national title. The Razorbacks are given +5000 odds to win.

WISCONSIN (17-3, 8-2)

The Badgers are currently tied with Illinois for the lead in the Big Ten. They are a half-game ahead of Michigan State, which also makes this list and has beaten the Badgers once already this season. The Badgers have a player of the year candidate in guard Johnny Davis who averages 21.4 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. 

Wisconsin is big up front with 6-9 Tyler Wahl (10.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and 7-0 Steven Crowl (9.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg). The Badgers play solid defense and Davis has the ability to take over games at times. They have beaten ranked opponents such Houston, Purdue, and Ohio State this season. Wisconsin is listed at +4000 to win it all at SportsBetting.ag

MICHIGAN STATE (16-4, 7-2)

The Spartans are right in the thick of the Big Ten race. Their two conference losses are to a ranked Illinois team by one point and a two-point loss to Northwestern. The Spartans other two losses are to a then No. 3 Kansas and a No. 6 Baylor.

MSU is balanced, plays great defense, and rebounds. Those are all typical traits of Tom Izzo-coached teams. Gabe Brown leads the Spartans with 13.2 points per game. Michigan State is big too. Brown and Malik Hall (10.1 ppg) are both 6-8, Joey Hauser (7.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg) is 6-9, and Marcus Bingham Jr. (9.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.8 bpg) is a 7-footer. 

Izzo has only coached one national champion (2000), but he has taken eight teams to the Final Four. He has done it in seasons where you don’t expect it either. This could be one of those seasons and the Spartans are listed right now at +3500 to win March Madness.

HOUSTON (18-2, 7-0) & TEXAS TECH (16-5, 5-3)

If there is a trend in college basketball, it is that defense wins championships. The last two champions – Baylor and Virginia – are consistently among the top defensive teams in the country. In fact, Baylor is 16th in points allowed per game (60.6) and Virginia is 10th (59.8)

Two teams that could contend for this year’s national title are among the top 13. Texas Tech, which beat Kansas, Baylor, and Iowa State in a span of about two weeks, is 13th allowing 60.3 points per game. Houston, now ranked No. 6 in the country, is second in the nation giving up just 56.3 points a game. The Cougars are geared up to make another run to the Final Four where they would up last season. Both Houston and Texas Tech are listed at +3000 at top rated online sportsbooks.