As we have entered the month of March, tasketball fans are eager for the NCAA Tournament. The men’s NCAA tournament is all about matchups, as sometimes, you find the right one, and other times, the wrong one finds you. That’s why the college basketball teams most likely to win it all aren’t necessarily the ones with the greatest talent, but rather the ones with the fewest and least troubling weaknesses. We at DGS Blueprint have decided to take an early look at 5 teams who may or may not bust brackets this year.
5: Texas Longhorns
With four games below .500 in conference play after doing a lot of nothing in the non-conference, Texas’s case for an at-large bid has become extremely questionable in a hurry. It’s most likely Arthur Kaluma, who had 34 earlier this season against Auburn and 20 in the December loss to Connecticut, but who hasn’t scored 15 in a game since early January. If he starts showing up in a big way again as the second fiddle to Johnson’s now well-established star, Texas might mess around and join 2011 VCU and 2021 UCLA on the list of teams who have gone from the First Four to the Final Four.
4: Memphis Tigers
Memphis hasn’t faced a top-100 opponent since beating North Texas on Jan. 5. The Tigers are languishing in an AAC where quality wins are just about impossible to come by, and where their only results of any needle-moving note are the losses. The Tigers have many problematic losses to Wichita State, Temple, and Arkansas State, as well as close calls against the likes of Rice and East Carolina. The Tigers could be the only seven seed that loses in the first round, or they might be the near-annual case of a seven seed that at least reaches the Sweet 16.
3: Louisville Cardinals
Because of how bad the ACC has been this season, it’s tough to gauge just how good Louisville is. The Cardinals entered Tuesday’s game against Virginia Tech having won 15 of their last 16, but without a single Quad 1A win on the season to show for it.
Louisville doesn’t have recent NCAA tournament experience, the only regular in the rotation who didn’t play in the 2024 NCAA tournament is freshman Khani Rooths. Add it all up and you’ve got a dangerous potential bracket buster.
2: Connecticut Huskies
Yes, we have included the twice-reigning champions. We believe they may be a bracket-buster because of an early loss that ruins the hopes and dreams of those picking them to make another Final Four run.
While Liam McNeeley recovered from his high ankle sprain, the Huskies lost at Villanova, at Xavier and vs. Creighton by a combined margin of 11 points. If they’re healthy and if Alex Karaban is feeling more Dr. Jekyll than Mr. Hyde, they could go on a tear.
If they get matched up with Duke or Auburn in the second round, buckle up for a possible championship-caliber showdown.
1: Illinois Fighting Illini
Every year, there’s at least one tournament team with what is just a wildly wide range of possible outcomes; a team that is just as likely to beat Kentucky in the Final Four as it is to lose to Northern/Eastern/Western Kentucky in the first round. Losing six games by double digits, barely engaged on defense, and jacking up threes like perimeter shots are the air they need to breathe.
Truly, it’s frustrating that Illinois hasn’t been more consistently great than it should be. And maybe the Illini will finally hit their stride when it matters the most.
Although the seeding of the teams above hasn’t been decided yet, the bar is set high for these teams and the stem of a Busted Bracket. Be sure to stay alert for more Blueprint coverage on this year’s NCAA tournament, where next week of our three-part series we will wrap up by covering the Bracketology of this year’s tournament as a whole. Be sure to go read my previous article about our top five sleeper teams if you haven’t already.
