Missouri: Michael Porter Jr.’s late-season return makes the Tigers one of the most intriguing teams in the NCAA tournament, but his unimpressive outing in the SEC tourney — which resulted in an early exit to Georgia — likely will make the pre-bracket chatter about the Tigers’ issues and offset rhythm with Porter just joining the mix. Don’t listen to that noise. Porter was able to get some of the rust off in that first game back and coach Cuonzo Martin has a chip-on-their-shoulder group that had to prove themselves without their star freshman. Expect for Missouri to make a surprise run in these NCAAs.
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Florida: Another SEC team, the Gators have a lot of nice ingredients to make some noise in March, starting with a dynamic backcourt that can fill it up. Jalen Hudson (15.3 ppg), Egor Koulechov (13.6 ppg), KeVaughn Allen (11.3 ppg) and Chris Chiozza (11.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) gives coach Mike White a four-guard offense that will be tough for NCAA opponents to stop. Florida had an unexpected SEC tourney exit to Arkansas, but before that had major statement wins over Auburn and Kentucky. Look for UF to outplay its seeding line, and perhaps replicate last year’s Elite Eight finish.
Texas Tech: A Big 12 tournament exit to West Virginia in the semifinals and a late-season rough patch — having lost five of seven — might tell a misleading story about the Red Raiders and disguise the potential of a sleeping giant poised for a deep tourney run. Texas Tech is just getting fully healthy and will surely benefit from being battle-tested in the country’s toughest conference. Whichever team draws TTU will be getting a defensively-sound opponent, as Chris Beard’s group ranks in the top-20 nationally in points allowed (under 65 per game) and field goal percentage defense (40%). Keenan Evans serves as the key to this team’s ignition, averaging 17.5 points a game.
Seton Hall: The Pirates, a preseason top-15 team, underachieved most of 2017-18 — although they showed flashes of how good they can be. No matter. They’ve still got all the dimensions to go on a deep run in March Madness. This is a veteran-laden group led by great guard play (the three-headed monster of Desi Rodriguez, Myles Powell and Khadeen Carrington) and a double-double machine in Angel Delgado. Seton Hall has started to hit its stride late, and nail-biting losses to Villanova and Butler conceal how surging this squad really is.
Houston: Overshadowed by Cincinnati and Wichita State, two potential Final Four teams, the Cougars maybe didn’t get the love they deserved in building a solid all-around tourney profile and finishing tied for second in the AAC, a power conference nonetheless (ranking seventh in RPI). Houston has beaten both the Bearcats and Shockers and can easily play spoiler in the NCAA tournament against a similarly tough (and better-seeded) opponent. Coach Kelvin Sampson has a veteran group, fueled by Rob Gray (18.1 points and 4.7 assists per game), that utilizes a deep bench and plays with a determined grit — two key traits for teams that fare well in the Dance.
Read Again https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2018/03/11/ncaa-tournament-march-madness-sleeper-teams/414384002/
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