March Madness Sleeper’s
Christmas break, 2022. All I have been doing is eating food, watching sports, and sleeping. You know what is even better than sleeping? Sleeper’s. These are The Outlet’s top Sleeper candidates heading into the new year, just 3 months away from The Madness.
Let’s clear some things up. We are classifying our sleepers as teams that you will be shocked to see make a run in the tournament. If we are predicting a team to be a 7 seed, or below… they are considered a sleeper. They could be a double-digit seed, and could upset their opponent in round 1. In no particular order, we’ve got 8 sleepers, and 4 honourable mentions. Surely we can go at least 50%, right?
Florida Atlantic Owls (12–1)
Who? Who? Who? You might think I am asking “who are these guys?”, but really I am just embracing the Owl spirit. These boys shoot the lights out of the gym. Averaging 10 3’s a game on nearly 40%, they get a lot of boards, and have a +4 assist to turnover ratio. A top 30 offensive and defensive rating in the country. They may not have any big wins this year, but they play great team basketball and work their tails off on defense.
UAB Blazers (12–2)
A second team in a row from the C — USA. I am including these guys mainly because of Jordan Walker. Not only is he the leading scorer in the country, the Blazers are top 5 in the nation in Points per game, top 10 in pace, #2 in rebounds per game with nearly 40 a game, and top 20 in assists. These boys can hoop, and are led by a stud. They also have an impressive win under their belts with a victory over Georgia.
Utah State Aggies (13–2)
Making an appearance in back to back years on our sleeper list!!!! Unfortunately this year they will be missing the presence of The Outlet favourite Justin Bean. The Aggies are draining 3’s out here left and right looking like a prime Golden State. 15th in the country in PPG, the best 3pt% in the NCAA at 43.4%… ON 11 MAKES A GAME (6th in the country)! Top 20 in total FG% at 49.5%. Top 15 in assists per game with 18, and a +6 assist/turnover ratio. The Aggies have 5 double digit scorers, with their lead guard averaging 17 and 4 assists, while shooting 54% from behind the arc. The only issue — they have not had any great competition yet as conference play is just getting started. The Mountain West is no joke and will be hard-nosed basketball, but was this incredible shooting just a fluke?
Kansas State Wildcats (13–1)
Looking at their stats in a nutshell, this team does not excel at anything except for assists in which they are 7th in the nation. These Wildcats are in the top third of the nation in basically every statistical category, but these boys are just racking up wins over some of the best teams in the country. Most recently with a 116–103 win over #6 Texas (12–2), and NO there was no overtime in this game, that was a regulation score. They have also racked up wins against #24 West Virginia (10–3), LSU (12–2), Nevada (12–2). This next stretch of games will either prove their relevance, or prove me wrong as they take on Baylor, TCU, Kansas, and Texas Tech in 4 of the next 5 games. Either way this team has shown they can compete with the best of the best, and look out for them in March.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10–4)
I was not planning on including these guys before they beat Purdue. After that performance they at least deserve a quick cup of coffee on our list. They have big wins against #1 Purdue, and #10 Indiana. With a Big Ten team who will be battle tested all year long, I think we have learned in the past we can not glance over Big Ten teams in March. These boys play defense and have the third ranked D in the country and swipe 10 steals a game.
Sam Houston State Bearkats (11–3)
You know these boys are tuff because they spell Bearkat with a “K”. I’ll be kompletely honest, I didn’t know this skhool existed before this year. Top 50 in PPG, they make 10 3’s a game on nearly 40% from behind the ark. They rebound the ball extremely well and krash the offense boards in a way that Moses Malone would be proud with 13 a game. They move the ball, are DIALED in on defense kausing 20 turnovers a game by their opponents!!! With the 17th ranked offensive rating, and a top 5 defensive rating in the kountry, the Bearkats kould be for real. With 11 guys averaging over 10 minutes a game, this team does it by kommittee and everybody is on the same page. Their best win so far has been over a very solid Utah team. What is worrisome for these guys is the Western Athletik will not test them whatsoever, but the road map is there for a round of 64 upset if they keep gelling as a unit.
Missouri Tigers (12–1)
Saving the most polarizing for last. The Missouri Tigers are by a mile the best offensive team in the country. The number 1 offensive rating, 20 assists a game, the 3rd best true shooting %, 10 3’s a game on 37%, they shoot 51% from the field (4th), and average close to 90 points a game which is the 3rd in the country. Now for the weird part, they average 12.5 steals a game… but have a bottom third defensive rating. They got blown out by Kansas in their lone loss on the season, but have beaten Illinois (#16) and Kentucky (#19) since their loss.
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (12–3)
Still have Max Abmas. The team is averaging 11 3’s a game on 37.5%, under 10 turnovers a game, and are a decent rebounding team. We have seen Abmas wreak havoc in March before to the extent where draft projections had him being a first round pick. He decided to go back to ORU, and these Golden Eagles are no different from the team in 2021. Their three losses have been to very good teams in Saint Mary’s, Houston, and Utah State. They were very competitive against Utah State and Saint Mary’s, but were just outclassed against Houston with an extremely poor shooting night from Abmas. This experience has helped them rattle off win after win after win, these guys are starting to peak at the right time.
Honourable Mentions
MA-Lowell River Hawks (13–2)
Bryant Bulldogs (10–4)
Incredible offensive team, and have Doug Edert. That’s it.
Marquette Golden Eagles (12–4)
Charleston Cougars (14–1) *warning pick*
Just a quick mention for these guys who are just on a tear, but overall they don’t impress me that much. They do shoot the skin off the ball with over 10 a game, on bad efficiency. They can rebound at will, but also have a negative assist/turnover ratio. They have wins over Virginia Tech, and their lone loss came against a UNC team who has been so hot and cold. This isn’t so much a sleeper pick, but a warning pick to NOT buy into these guys.
- The Outlet.
