UConn

Though I’m not a fan of repeating champions in any sport, I’ve seen enough. The UConn Huskies will become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators did it in 2006 and 2007.

The team lost the 2023 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo to the NBA, but head coach Dan Hurley has done a terrific job with this group, which currently sits at 31-3 overall and is a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance.

Rutgers graduate transfer Cam Spencer has established himself as one of the top shooters in the country with a 44 percent clip from behind the arc, while fellow grad transfer Tristen Newton chips in an additional 14.9 points per game.

Not only is this team strong on the wing, but it also has the dominating presence of 7-foot-2 center Donovan Clingan, who terrorizes opposing teams with his shot-blocking ability and scoring prowess.

As if that’s not already a massive headache for opposing coaches, UConn’s defense allows 63.8 points per contest, adding more firepower to an already loaded unit. The Huskies are one of the few teams in the country that rank in the top 25 in both offense and defense.

As a No. 1 seed, UConn will have the comfort of playing close to home in the East Regional in Boston. Obviously, UConn must get there first, but it will play its first and second-round games near Brooklyn. Both cities are about a two-hour bus ride from the university’s campus in Storrs, so it’s possible the Huskies won’t have to board a plane until the Final Four in Phoenix.

It’s been very hard to find an elite team in college basketball over the last few seasons, but this Huskies squad fits that mold. They can beat you with elite scoring, but they aren’t afraid to turn a game into a grudge match either.

The road to the Final Four is one of the most challenging journeys in sports, but UConn has been there before, and I’m confident they will bring back the program’s sixth national title in 2024.

Kentucky

UConn is the obvious favorite to win the 2024 National Championship. But as I looked at team stats and reminisced on games that I’ve watched this season to make as accurate of a prediction as possible, I decided to look in another direction.

It came down to Houston, Kentucky, Purdue, Iowa State, or North Carolina for me. But at the end of the day, this game will always be about getting a bucket, and nobody does that better than the Kentucky Wildcats.

Yes, they recently fell to Texas A&M, 97-87, in the SEC Tournament, but it took 97 points to beat them. The Aggies averaged 74.8 points per game, while the Wildcats averaged 89.4 points per game, which is the second-best scoring average in the nation. The Aggies also grabbed 20 offensive boards and took nine more shots than the Wildcats, putting Kentucky’s defensive woes on full display.

At the same time, there’s only a handful of teams that can keep up with or minimize Kentucky’s scoring output. The Wildcats sit atop the nation shooting 41.2 percent from three, second with 32.2 field goals made, fifth with a 49.7 percent field goal percentage, seventh in the nation with 64.7 field goals attempted, and 10th with 17.6 assists per game.

Kentucky owns a 23-8 record heading into the NCAA Tournament. In those games, they have gone 10-5 when allowing opponents to score at least 80 points and are 15-3 when allowing less than 80 points. As for the offense, they’re 22-5 when scoring at least 80 points and just 3-3 when scoring less than 80 points – 27 total games scoring at least 80 points to 15 total games allowing at least 80 points.

Kentucky has seven players averaging at least seven points per game and five players averaging at least 10 points per game, including 20 points per game from Antonio Reeves. Standout first-years Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard are two of the most talented players in the entire country and have willed the Wildcats to multiple wins down the stretch.

All in all, this Kentucky team is a dark horse to win the NCAA Tournament.