Hottest NCAA teams poised to go on a run
USA TODAY Sports examines the field of 68 and pinpoints the teams with the best winning streak or momentum from conference championship week, and/or the best path – matchup-wise – to stage a deep NCAA tournament run and go way further than their seeding line suggests.
Note: No. 1 seeds are excluded from this list.
Auburn (No. 5, Midwest Region): The Tigers (26-9) unexpectedly won the SEC tournament as part of their eightgame winning streak, which has included two impressive wins over Tennessee, headlined by a 20-point drubbing in the conference tournament title game.
Michigan State (No. 2, East Region): The Spartans (28-6) have won 10 of their last 11 games, including three wins over Big Ten rival Michigan – the last of which came in the conference tournament championship. What’s most impressive is coach Tom Izzo has this team doing so well while dealing with injuries.
Florida State (No. 4, West Region): The Seminoles (27-7) aren’t entering the tournament on a win streak, but they’re the definition of hot based on how they looked in the ACC tournament before falling to top overall seed Duke in the final. FSU has won 14 of 16.
Oregon (No. 12, South Region): After the Ducks’ Pac-12 tournament title, veteran guard Payton Pritchard said “the haters kept hating” throughout a regular season where this team (and basically all of the Pac-12) was looked at as not measuring up. Well, now’s the time for Oregon to ride its eight game winning streak – one that features two wins over Washington – to a Sweet 16.
Iowa State (No. 6, Midwest Region): The Cyclones (23-11) had lost three in a row entering the Big 12 tournament but rekindled their stride to win the country’s toughest conference (based on the NCAA’s NET metric), knocking out Baylor, Kansas State and Kansas in the process.
Villanova (No. 6, South Region): The defending national champion Wildcats (25-9) aren’t the same team as last year, but coach Jay Wright has instilled the same winning DNA into this group, and it showed in the Big East tournament. ‘Nova has won five of six, including a momentous victory over Marquette to help claim yet another Big East regular-season title.
Buffalo (No. 6, West Region): The Bulls (31-3) haven’t done much losing this season and were rewarded with a strong seed by the selection committee. They’ve won 12 in a row and come together nicely here in March.
Wofford (No. 7, Midwest Region): The Terriers (29-4) haven’t lost since Dec. 19 in a road game against Mississippi State. They’ve won 20 in a row, including going 18-0 in a Southern Conference that featured two bubble teams, UNC-Greensboro and Furman. So Wofford’s more battle tested than meets the eye, and if they didn’t have the mid-major umbrella, they might have been a No. 6 or No. 5 seed.
UC Irvine (No. 13, South Region): The Anteaters (30-5) have won 16 consecutive games and cruised through the Big West as the clear-cut best team.
Honorable mention: Murray State (won 11 in a row in Ohio Valley).