With just 16 teams remaining in the tournament, it’s the time of year again when March Madness miracles keep fans on the edge of their seats. March Madness is the most electric time in all of college sports, and arguably even better than any professional sport. The unpredictableness of the bracket, along with the single game elimination means that anything can happen. We saw this two years ago when No. 16 seeded FDU took down No. 1 seeded Purdue in the first round. These underdog stories are what fuel March Madness to be unlike any other sport. With that being said, let’s take a look into what teams are being overlooked, overrated, and my title favorite.
Most Underrated – Michigan State
While Mich. St. hasn’t played the best competition so far, they’ve shown how much they can dominate in games, winning easily over Bryant and New Mexico in the first two rounds of the tournament. They dominated one of the most competitive conferences in all of college basketball in the Big Ten, finishing with a 29-6 record. This is a team that doesn’t rely on the 3pt shot and can consistently win on any given night. If they continue playing like they have, a final four appearance and maybe even a national title are definitely possibilities.
Most Overrated – Tennessee
Tennessee finished the season with a 29-7 in a talented SEC conference. With that being said, they are definitely a team that has some flaws. They struggle to score the ball against the top teams and rely heavily on their defense to make up for that. Meanwhile, they’re facing up against a familiar opponent in Kentucky that can light it up from deep on any given night as they shoot 37% from beyond the arc. Kentucky can outscore any team and has proven that by that by beating Tennessee in both of their matchups during the regular season. If they’re previous matchups are anything like their next one, Tennessee could be playing their last game sooner than people think.
Title Favorite – Florida
The champion of the best conference in college basketball, a team that finished with a record of 33-4, and they can score and defend with anyone. Of course the obvious answer would be Duke, but even with all the talent they have, they have two major flaws that I think will hurt them in the later rounds. The first of those being their competition. While Duke by no means played scrubs, the level of competition that Florida played in the SEC isn’t even comparable to Duke’s in the ACC. But the more important factor for why I’m picking against them is their experience. Florida has a great roster of players who know what it’s like to play at the highest level. Meanwhile, Duke has a starting lineup with three freshmen in it. While these freshmen are all amazing players, they haven’t had the experience to adjust their play once they go against some of the best players in the nation. With that being said, there’s no one that can check all the boxes to a championship level team quite like the roster that Florida has built.
