NCAA Basketball: 10 teams most likely to win 2022 NCAA Tournament

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs

No team is more likely to capture the title this season than the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They were breathtakingly close to winning it all last year and many of the members of that team will carry a chip all postseason long to finish the deal.

Last year, the Bulldogs made it all the way to the title game. It seemed like everything was in place for Mark Few’s squad. Then, Davion Mitchell and the Baylor Bears smoked the Bulldogs all the back to Spokane.

This year they’re back with a few new weapons, namely a top recruit named Chet Holmgren. They also still have the likes of Andrew Nembhard and Drew Timme, hungry to avenge their loss and finally deliver Gonzaga its first national championship.

Gonzaga is arguably the best offensive team in the country. The Bulldogs average 87.8 points per game (second in the country) and 18.2 assists per game (fifth). The team also hits 37.9 percent of their threes; they don’t really have a weakness on that side of the ball.

Defense is strong too, although there may be opportunities for teams who could match the Bulldogs in a track meet. The biggest area of weakness is the amount of threes the Bulldogs give up, an average of 21.8 per game. Teams that can convert on those attempts could keep up with Gonzaga.

Georgia State will not be that team. Gonzaga will warm up for its NCAA Tournament run with a blowout of the Panthers, in all likelihood. The Bulldogs could have a tricky second game, though, against either Boise State or Memphis.

Other teams in Gonzaga’s region include UConn, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas Tech, and most notably, Duke. Plenty of those teams could put a scare into Gonzaga – none will be favored against the Bulldogs.

It feels like everything has come together for Gonzaga this year, and yet they’re flying slightly under the radar. It feels likely that this is the year the Bulldogs put two runner-up finishes behind them and finally capture the elusive national title they’ve been seeking.