The 3 Best Futures for March Madness

Intern's March Madness Future #1- Creighton To Make Sweet 16 (+156)

Creighton is my #1 sleeper of March Madness. I actually have them in my final four in one bracket and elite eight in my other in the Snapback Sports bracket challenge, but just to be safe we are just taking them to make the reach the sweet 16.

In the preseason AP top 25 poll Creighton was ranked #9 in the country. After starting the season 6-0 with wins over Arkansas and Texas Tech, they went on a 6 game losing streak with close losses against Arizona and Texas. The key to this losing steak was their best player and big man Ryan Kalkbrenner was out injured. A couple reasons I love Creighton going into the tournament.

• #1- They have 5 players who score in double figures. This is very big for March Madness because on any given night if Kalkbrenner or Trey Alexander isn't having their best night they have other players on the team who can score in bunches and bail them out
• #2- They are top 30 in offense and top 15 in defense which is another important thing in March. This balance allows them to win games in multiple ways. This is especially important for their path to the sweet 16 which most likely will be NC State and Baylor. They have the defense to stop these two very high powered offenses and if it comes down to it can score with a team like Baylor
• #3- Creighton played a top 15 strength of schedule this season. This includes the best Big12, SEC, and Pac12 teams. This experience in wins and loses against different styles of teams will provide a big advantage in the tournament

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Intern's March Madness Future #2- Houston To Win The Midwest Region (+135)

This for me is about not overthinking it. Houston has been the one of if not the best teams all season, but now people want to overthink Houston because they play in a relatively weak conference. Every single statistic says that Houston is the best team in the country, and one loss to Memphis because Marcus Sasser was injured shouldn't change that. They also have a chance to play a home final four which is an extra piece of motivation. A few reasons I love Houston:

• #1- They are top 10 in offense and Top 5 in defense. Similar to Creighton I love the balance they posses, and their defense really can win them any game on any given day.
• #2- They also have 5 players who average double digit scoring. If Marcus Sasser is injured in the first game or even the first two they have the depth that can win them games until he is back. Emanuel Sharp is a fantastic piece to have off the bench who can hit a couple 3's and turn the game on its head
• #3- They average 13 offensive rebounds per game. This is a huge advantage in any game being able to get 2nd chance points at the rate they do, and can be extremely deflating for teams playing them. I think this could be the difference in a potential elite 8 matchup against Texas who only averages 10 offensive rebound a game.

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Intern's March Madness Future #3- Marquette To Make Sweet 16 (-142)

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I know this is a lot of juice to give up, but you only have to pay the juice if you lose. I think Marquette is being extremely slept on especially in their region. Duke is an extremely public play to get out of that region, and while that doesn't affect Marquette's road to the sweet 16, I believe this is causing people to sleep on Marquette a bit.

Three Reasons Why I Like Marquette

• #1- They are red hot. Not only are they coming off a Big East Title, but they have won 9 straight games and 14 of their last 15 games. Getting hot at the right time is something I fully believe in, and this team could not be playing better right now.
• #2- Tyler Kolek is a name that you haven't heard too much when talking about the best players in college basketball, but he is quietly one of the best players in the tournament. He won Big East POTY, and has gotten better throughout the season. He scored 17+ points in each game of the Big East tourney and is ready to take this team deep.
• #3- I love their path to the sweet 16. They got a great draw in Vermont as their 15 seed. Colgate and Princeton are two tougher 15 seeds that they avoided. Then, in the round of 32 a matchup with either Michigan State or USC I think both are a good matchup for this Marquette team.

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