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

10. Alabama Crimson Tide

The Alabama Crimson Tide has been one of the most confounding teams all year. When at their best, they can beat anyone in the country (and have), At their worst, they can lose to the likes of Georgia and Vanderbilt.

So tagging Alabama as one of the ten most “likely” teams to win the championship may seem like a stretch. But there might be no team in the country capable of getting hotter for a six-game stretch than the Crimson Tide.

Take this portion of Alabama’s schedule, for instance: in three consecutive games, the Crimson Tide beat a tourney-bound Miami team by 32 at a neutral site, beat No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga by 9 at a neutral site, then beat Houston at home by one. This team also has wins over Tennessee and Baylor on its resume.

Consistency has obviously been a problem, though. Alabama enters the NCAA Tournament on a three-game losing streak. One loss was a blowout at the hands of Texas A&M and one was the aforementioned SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt.

Alabama’s trio of guards has the ability to stack up with some of the nation’s best. Jaden Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly, and Keon Ellis strike fear in the eyes of opponents. But Alabama won’t match up well with teams featuring a strong frontcourt.

Alabama’s schedule is a bit murky, as they won’t know their First Round opponent until Wednesday evening. It will either be Notre Dame or Rutgers, both teams the Crimson Tide can beat and start the ball rolling on a long run.

The Crimson Tide is maddeningly inconsistent, but Nate Oats only has to get his players ready to play six games, one at a time. It’s a stretch, but there are worse bets to roll with in March than Alabama.