Conference championships are over and won, Selection Sunday has come and gone and we think that these three teams are hidden threats in the NCAA Tournament bracket. It should come as no surprise that all three of these teams have shown that they are able to win a tournament. As a matter of fact, they all won their conference championship just this past weekend. They may not be one-seeds but they are all up to the challenge of winning it all in March.
Duke comes in as a two-seed and hot off of an ACC Tournament Championship. The Blue Devils were crowned the ACC champs after defeating a very tough Notre Dame team on Saturday and became the first team in ACC history to win their conference tournament by winning four games in just four days. Duke seems to be in peak performance at the right time and will prove to be one of the toughest teams to defend with great scorers like Luke Kennard and Grayson Allen. Can the Blue Devils bring home two trophies in the span of a month?
SMU’s Mustangs are setting a program best season with an American Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and are 13-0 to close out the season. While they are just a six-seed, the underrated Mustangs are shaping up to be a sleeper team to look out for, in part, because they are giving up just under 60 points per game this season.
The Michigan Wolverines seem to be a team of destiny coming into the big dance. Like Duke, they won four games in four days to win the conference tournament. They started their championship campaign less than 24 hours after a traumatic plane crash. Follow the story lines people! If you don’t like to follow story lines then how about this? They have won seven of their last eight games and beaten the likes of Purdue, Wisconsin, SMU, Marquette and Minnesota this season.