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

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - APRIL 05: (L-R) MaCio Teague #31, Jackson Moffatt #13, Jared Butler #12, Matthew Mayer #24 and Mark Paterson #35 of the Baylor Bears dance on the court after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs 86-70 in the National Championship game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 05, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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Arizona Wildcats NCAA Basketball (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

5. Arizona Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats rank as the least likely 1-seed to take home a title this season. Why? Kerr Kriisa.

Arizona has been one of the most surprising teams in the nation. Tommy Lloyd has done a remarkable job in his first year as the head coach of the Wildcats and deserves national coach of the year recognition for molding Sean Miller’s roster into a group of high-level winners.

Kriisa is a big part of that. The guard suffered a sprained right ankle in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals and didn’t play in the team’s succeeding two games. Lloyd has expressed hope about seeing Kriisa return during the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend, but pictures of the injury circulating online are not pretty.

Justin Kier is a solid fill-in for Kriisa, but it’s a different dynamic. Kriisa is one of the best distributors in the conference, averaging 10.1 points and 4.9 assists per game. While Arizona should be fine without him for the first weekend, if the injury drags on, that could spell trouble.

Arizona still has one of the best players in the country in Benedict Mathurin, who averaged 17.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season. They also have an impressive defensive stopper in Christian Koloko and his 2.7 blocks per game.

The Wildcats will face the winner of Wright State and Bryant in the First Round, which can be more competitive than many may expect if the nation’s leading scorer Peter Kiss advances with the Bulldogs. The winner of Seton Hall and TCU would await in the Second Round, potentially followed by Houston or Illinois.

Arizona has come very far this year. If an injury doesn’t detail them, they could go further still.

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