Burdge: My Top 3 NCAA Tournament Sleepers
Watch out for these three teams during March Madness
Lucy Burdge - Mar 15, 2022, 9:33am EDTMarch Madness is here, folks, and it's finally time to make your NCAA tournament bracket picks. What a glorious time.
My bracket is printed, filled out and my tournament winner is decided. And, because what is life without living on the edge once in a while, there are some deep sleeper teams included in my picks.
If you want to take some risks when it comes to filling out your bracket this year, here are some of my favorite sleepers I would suggest you mix in with your picks. For more help filling out your bracket, click below to sign up for a BetQL Day Pass and see all of our March Madness Rankings and best bets!
No. 13 Vermont (West)
The first big sleeper I'm looking at, and have gotten backlash for so I know I'm doing something right, is Vermont. While I don't have them winning it all, I like them to go pretty, pretty far here. I like them to beat Arkansas, Connecticut and then Gonzaga before beating Alabama to go to the Final Four. Yes, the Final Four, people.
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This team finished first in the American East Conference, went 28-5 overall, 17-1 in the conference, 16-0 at home and was on an eight-game winning streak to end the season. So I'm hammering the Catamounts here and I think they have the chops to beat Arkansas and move on swiftly to the Final Four; they have +10143 consensus odds to make the Final Four.
No. 5 Saint Mary's (East)
Another sleeper I'm really into here is St. Mary's. The Gaels finished second in the West Coast Conference with a 25-7 record, 12-3 conference record and went 16-0 at home. They beat tournament teams like Yale and San Francisco and even Gonzaga.
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Once they beat Gonzaga in February, that's when they grabbed my attention. They have +12579 consensus odds to win the national championship and I like them to beat UCLA/Akron and Baylor and make it to the Elite 8 before losing to Kentucky. They have +1972 consensus odds to make it to the Final Four, so I wouldn't overlook this team.
No. 4 Providence (Midwest)
And, of course, I have a longshot in Providence at +13125 consensus odds to win the national championship. They also have +2763 consensus odds to make it to the Final Four, which is not completely outrageous. This Providence team has been exciting this season and I see these players and Ed Cooley bringing that magic to the tournament. They beat tourney teams like UConn, Vermont (hello again), Saint Peter's and Creighton. They finished the season first in the Big East with a 25-5 overall record, a 14-3 conference record and a 16-1 home record. This is not a team to count out and I know I'm certainly not overlooking the value in the Friars.
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