March Madness is here and with the bracket set and the experts’ Final Four picks and predictions in, it’s time to turn our attention to the sleepers. These are the teams that are not ranked in the top four in their respective region, and are still expected to make a run in the NCAA tournament and will be the key to you winning your office bracket pool.
Note: we are counting any team ranked lower than No. 4 beating a team ranked higher than it a sleeper, because those are the picks that will be most valuable in 2014. With that said, read on for a compendium of sleeper picks from the nation’s most esteemed bracketologists.
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Who Are the Experts’ Sleeper Picks for the 2014 March Madness Tournament?
CBS Sports
CBS doesn’t mess around when it comes to picking the Madness, and its many experts are amongst the most sought-after leading up to the NCAA tournament. Here’s a breakdown of several CBS Sports commentators and teams they’ve tapped to watch in the Big Dance.
Gary Parrish, like our resident Top Bet bracketologists, likes the Tennessee Volunteers to beat Iowa in their First Four game on Wednesday, before beating UMass in the Round of 64. In the second round he has No. 5 VCU to outlast UCLA and a strong No. 7 Uconn team to get by No. 2 Villanova.
Matt Norlander hates the chalk this year, picking six upsets in the first round and the darkhorse SF Austin into the Sweet Sixteen.
Gregg Doyel made the boldest pick of the CBS experts, predicting that the No. 12 North Dakota State Bison will make it past another sleeper, New Mexico State, and into the Sweet Sixteen.
Lastly, Jerry Palm was the only one on the CBS team that liked Ivy League bid No. 12 Harvard to get into the Round of 32, and was also the lone believer in the No. 6 Baylor Bears’ ability to get by Creighton in the Round of 32.
Expert
Round of 32 Sleepers
Sweet 16 Sleepers
Gary Parrish
North Dakota St., Nebraska,
Tennessee, Arizona St.
VCU, UConn
Matt Norlander
North Dakota St., North Carolina St.,
SF Austin, Providence,
Saint Joe’s, Arizona St.
SF Austin, Arizona State,
Gregg Doyel
North Dakota St.,
New Mexico St., Saint Joe’s, BYU
UMass, North Dakota St.
Jerry Palm
North Dakota St.,
North Carolina St., Tennessee,
Providence, Harvard, Dayton
Baylor
ESPN
ESPN doesn’t have the same college basketball obsession as CBS, but they certainly throw a lot of coverage the NCAA’s way this time of year. Their two bracket experts to announce their picks both liked the Baylor Bears to make a memorable run, while Jay Bilas put his name behind the Tennessee Volunteers.
Expert
Round of 32 Sleepers
Sweet 16 Sleepers
Myron Metcalf
Saint Joe’s, New Mexico,
Saint Joe’s, Baylor
Jay Bilas
SF Austin, Saint Joe’s,
New Mexico, Arizona St.
New Mexico, Baylor,
Tennessee
SB Nation
SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell made some picks you won’t find elsewhere. Specifically his Dayton-over-Syracuse gives Syracuse an even earlier exit than other pessimistic prognosticators are suggesting.
Expert
Round of 32 Sleepers
Sweet 16 Sleepers
Ricky O’Donnell
North Dakota St., Baylor,
Mercer, Harvard,
SF Austin, Dayton
Baylor, Mercer, Dayton,
New Mexico
Bleacher Report
One of the media presenting partners of the NCAA, Bleacher Report has been growing in influence for years. Their head college basketball writer, C.J. Moore, made some bold picks in his bracket.
Moore’s biggest move was taking No. 7 New Mexico into the Elite Eight, topping No. 2 Kansas (before the return of Joel Embiid) and the reeling No. 3 Syracuse. Similarly, he has No. 6 Baylor into the Final Four with wins over No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Creighton.
Expert
Round of 32 Sleepers
Sweet 16 Sleepers
C.J. Moore
SF Austin, Saint Joe’s, Tennessee,
Arizona St.,
Baylor, New Mexico,
Tennessee
Top Bet
We’d be remiss if we didn’t include our own bold picks in the mix here. And before you get too uppity, don’t forget we’ve spent hours watching these games ourselves, and feel like our upset-filled bracket could have a real shot at perfection…or somewhere near to it.
Sure, we’re the only ones in this list who like Oklahoma into the Sweet 16 (meaning we don’t have New Mexico on our sleepers list), but maybe we’re the only ones that remembered that the Sooners averaged 82.5 points a game in the Big 12.
Oklahoma were only knocked out in the quarters of that conference tournament because they played a Baylor team most expect to make a run in the Big Dance. Furthermore, they were second only to Kansas in the Big 12 regular season standings this year, ahead of popular picks Iowa State and Baylor. In short, don’t sleep on the Sooners!
Expert
Round of 32 Sleepers
Sweet 16 Sleepers
Top Bet Experts
Arizona St., North Carolina St.,
Tennessee, New Mexico St.,
Harvard
Oregon, UConn, UNC,
Ohio St., New Mexico
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And with that, you should be well on your way to a competitive bracket for the 2014 March Madness. If you’re feeling a little lost with the middle of the bracket, our compilation of experts’ predictions should have you well on your way to in no time.
And don’t forget, Top Bet is your home for March Madness betting all the way to the championship!
