4 2022 NCAA Tournament Sleepers (March Madness)

4 NCAA Tournament Sleepers

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Akron Zips (13) vs. UCLA (4)

The Zips made it out of the underrated MAC Conference after taking down top-seeded Toledo, riding an eight-game winning streak into the tournament. The team is effective at the dribble drive, ranking fourth in the nation at free throw rate.

Big man Enrique Freeman is the Oscar Tschiebwe of the mid-majors, rebounding everything in sight despite standing only 6-7. Ali Ali and Xavier Castaneda can sling it from deep.

The Zips have had their fair share of tough losses. Their slow pace and their struggles to defend the perimeter are flaws that can be exploited. This team shoots a lot of threes, and they do so at an above-average rate. They are capable of catching fire from deep and capitalizing on opponents facing foul trouble.

Colgate (14) vs. Wisconsin (3)

Colgate is back in the tournament for a third straight year. Head coach Matt Langel has done a solid job, as Colgate ranks as one of the best teams in the nation in terms of shot quality. The Patriots might not be the most athletic team in the nation, but they do one thing very well: shoot the three ball.

Colgate ranks second in the nation in three-point percentage 40.1%. Nearly 39% of their points come from beyond the arc, 21st highest in the nation. They are a consistent team with tournament experience, and they are capable of surprising a high-seeded team. Since Jan. 10, Colgate has only lost one game, and they beat Syracuse earlier this year. A lot of their losses came during a long stretch of away games when they were missing their star, Nelly Cummings.

Colgate basically takes no shots from midrange. They either are taking a deep look or finding a way to get to the rim. While the Raiders are good at what they do, their approach won’t surprise many teams. From a betting angle, I like Colgate first-half spread bets, as they led Arkansas after the first half. If they open against a team that focuses on interior defense, Colgate might be able to get open look after open look, forcing their opponent to adjust after the first half.

Beating Colgate involves beating them in transition, forcing them inside, and capitalizing on the glass. Colgate isn’t exactly a scary team, but they’re capable of a bracket-busting upset, given their prolific shooting.

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Texas Southern (16) vs. Texas A&M-CC (16) Play-In Game

After starting 0-7 with seven-straight road games, Texas Southern’s turnaround moment this season was a 69-54 road victory over Florida when they were missing two contributing players. After that, Texas Southern went 17-5 and earned an auto-bid.

A positive thing about this team is their ninth-ranked non-conference strength of schedule. The SWAC is probably the worst conference in the nation, and all those early non-conference games seemed to help this team the rest of the season and could have an impact in the tournament.

The Tigers lean on their defense, which is ranked 106th in the nation. Their defensive FG% is 13th best. Texas Southern is one of the deeper teams out there, ranking first in bench minutes. Considering that no player on the team has played more than 55% of the minutes, they can come at you any which way. Their offense isn’t great, but the surprises Texas Southern can bring gives me confidence in their ability to at least cover the spread.

Yale (14) vs. Purdue (3)

Yale played resiliently down the stretch, especially in the conference finals, to grab the Ivy League title and an automatic bid. While they held a comfortable lead throughout the last game against top-seeded Princeton, they let it to dwindle in the final minutes but fought to become back-to-back conference champions.

The Bulldogs were one of the best defensive teams in the conference, as they allowed the second-fewest points (69 ppg). Their standout offensive player is guard Azir Swan, as the offense runs through him and he can do it all — drive into the lane, shoot from the perimeter, or dish off. He came up big in the Ivy League championship, with a team-high 25 points and hit some clutch shots late in the game.

Yale is a physical on the boards and were second in the conference with 36 total rebounds per game and 26.9 defensive rebounds. If their opponent doesn’t have a good shooting day, Yale could win the rebound margin and come away with an early tournament win.

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