There are a lot of trends to keep an eye on when looking for National Championship winners. We are looking for teams with balanced attack and defence. We are also looking for a team with two veteran players in the starting lineup.
The team should also have a reliable point guard who can score and pass quickly. A national championship team also often has a coach with a win rate above .600.
There are many trends to follow. But those are just some of the areas I'll be looking at when trying to find teams I can trust in this year's NCAA bracket.
Team 1: Houston Cougars (+550) Bet $100 for $650 Get the Best Odds, Available at DraftKings
Houston fits the mold.
Kelvin Sampson has a win rate of more than 68% throughout his head coach career. Houston also has experience with Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead as seniors.
Sasser injured his groin but should be ready for the NCAA Tournament. He's in the top 500 for assists and has an offensive rating of 123.5, which is in the top 100 in college basketball.
Team 2: UCLA Bruins (+1440) Bet $100 to get $1540) Get the best odds, available at DraftKings
Many college basketball fans don't join the UCLA Bruins for the NCAA Tournament. UCLA lost to Arizona in the Pac-12 and will be without Jaylen Clark. He is one of their best defenders.
But Mick Cronin also has a win rate of over 68%, and the offense includes two seniors Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell.
Campbell is a point guard with low rotation and plays as an excellent point guard.
Team 3: Kansas Jayhawks (+900) Bet $100 for $1000 Get the Best Odds, Available at DraftKings
Kansas just lost to Texas in the Big 12 Championship. It was a brutal game for the Jayhawks. But this team won it last year.
They don't have a lot of talent back. But Bill Self should be back on the bench for Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. He has a win rate of more than 76% throughout his career.
Kansas is also led by a junior, Jalen Wilson, and has a point guard, Dajuan Harris, who is also a junior guard. Harris has one of the highest assist rates in college basketball, and Jalen Wilson is one of the best scorers in all of college basketball.
That was enough to send Kansas into the Quarterfinals.
Team 4: Texas Longhorns (+1800) Bet $100 for $1900) Get the best odds, available at DraftKings
Texas will be a wild card. They had Chris Beard as head coach earlier this season. Now it's Rodney Terry. He only won 52% of his games as a college coach. But he won 73% of the games and the Big 12 championship with the Longhorns this year.
Texas is well balanced and played a lot better late game. Marcus Carr, Timmy Allen, Sir'Jabari Rice, Dylan Disu and Christian Bishop are all great seniors for Texas.
Then there's Tyrese Hunter, who moved from Iowa State after a frenetic tournament last year.
Texas pretty much fills the box.
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