Everyone knows about the favorites, but which fringe NCAA Basketball Final Four contenders should you be paying attention to? Buy or sell these four sleepers.
The 2019 NCAA Tournament is fast approaching and the favorites have already been established. Gonzaga, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, and Tennessee have created a clear top-tier in the national pecking order with other teams like Texas Tech and Michigan State trying to push their way in.
All of those teams are favorites to make the Final Four. But, as we all know, March is not a time when everything goes by the book.
Some of those teams are going to falter before many of us expect and teams seeded lower are going to make long runs. Sure, a Cinderella run might happen (though I don’t expect there to be another Loyola-Chicago type run in this year’s tournament) but a number of teams outside that top-tier have the potential to make a Final Four run.
Mid-major programs like Buffalo, Nevada, and Wofford could to be mentioned in this category and are the most likely mid-majors outside of Gonzaga to make a long run, but it’ll be a huge surprise if any of them make the Final Four.
Instead, we’re going to look at some teams outside that top-tier who are thought of as potential Final Four teams in Houston, Marquette, LSU (with all the off-court drama surrounding them), and Iowa State.
Which of these teams are more than just pretenders and should be considered legitimate Final Four contenders? Let’s start by breaking down the Houston Cougars.