2015 Free NCAA Tournament Picks & Predictions: Top National Title Sleepers

2015 Free NCAA Tournament Picks & Predictions: Top National Title Sleepers: While there have been a lot of surprise teams to reach the Final Four in the past decade, the list of national title winners hasn’t contained as many unexpected names. Yes, Connecticut made a surprise run to the national title last year, but the Huskies’ championship marked the first time since 1989 that a team seeded worse than fourth had won NCAA Tournament. In other words, there has been a big difference between the sleepers that have reached the Final Four and the sleepers that have been able to win the national title. With that in mind, here is a look at a few teams that could not only make it to the Final Four in Indianapolis but could also be the last team standing.

2015 NCAA Tournament Predictions – Top National Title Sleepers

North Carolina Tarheels (40/1): They made it all the way to the ACC title game before falling in a shootout to Notre Dame, and the fourth-seeded Tarheels out of the West Region have more than enough talent to win a national title. After all, North Carolina ranks in the top 20 nationally in scoring, second in rebound and second in assists. Marcus Paige is a dynamic playmaker at the point guard spot, and Brice Jackson, Kennedy Meeks, Justin Jackson and J.P. Tokoto give the Tarheels four gifted athletes up front. During the season, North Carolina was able to pull out victories over Louisville and Virginia, and they came up just short against the likes of Notre Dame, Duke and Kentucky. Closing games has been an issue for the Tarheels, but you find another team with as much individual talent as North Carolina getting 40/1 odds to win the 2015 NCAA Tournament Bracket.

Oklahoma Sooners (50/1): After losing four out of five games in late January, many people probably forgot about the Sooners. However, they closed the year on a 10-3 stretch, reaching the Big 12 title game and knocking off the likes of West Virginia, Iowa State and Kansas along the way. Perhaps more importantly, the Sooners are a balanced, experienced team with four upperclassmen averaging double figures, including Buddy Hield, who can take a game over on the offensive end. Meanwhile, Oklahoma nabbed the No. 3 seed in what appears to be a very wide-open East Region of the NCAA Tournament Bracket. The region is loaded with defensive-minded teams like Louisville, Virginia and Michigan State so the chances of the Sooners being blown off the court are slim. Meanwhile, the experience and balance of the Sooners should come in handy down the stretch of close games. For as much hype as the Big 12 has received heading into the NCAA tournament, Oklahoma has been flying under the radar. That could change in a big way when March Madness actually begins.

Louisville Cardinals (66/1): The Cardinals are the No. 4 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament Bracket, and as I just mentioned in my argument for Oklahoma, the region is filled with teams that are unlikely to blow out any opponent. This is especially important for a team like Louisville that can go through some offensive droughts. Meanwhile, Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell can be a nice inside-outside scoring combination when they are knocking down shots. They have lost some close games to top competition, but they have also won some big games. At the end of the day, the Cardinals are a battle-tested team out of the loaded ACC, and as with any Rick Pitino-coached team, they are going to pressure every opponent to death on the defensive end. Would you really be surprised if Louisville beat any team in the field? There are not a lot of teams I feel you can that about, and none of them offer 66/1 upside like the Cardinals.