Men's NCAA Tournament 2024: Buying or Selling for Top Contenders

Now that the 2024 NCAA men's tournament bracket is set, it's time to start digging into this year's top contenders for the national championship.

An underdog could always emerge, and plenty of words will be dedicated to Cinderella picks and teams on upset alert in the days to come. Heck, just last year we saw the first time in tournament history that no team slotted on the top three seed lines reached the Final Four.

For now, though, we're focused on the 10 best teams in this year's tournament.

Each team's strengths and weaknesses, current momentum based on recent performance and path through the bracket were taken into account before an ultimate determination of buy or sell was made on its chances of winning it all this year.

Let's get to it.

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Seed List Ranking: 6

The Arizona Wildcats proved they belong among the nation's elite with wins over Alabama, Duke, Michigan State and Wisconsin during non-conference play, and they were the class of the conference in a weak season for the Pac-12.

However, road losses to USC (NET: 88), Stanford (NET: 113) and Oregon State (NET: 165) during conference play showed they are also capable of laying an egg on any given night, and a glaring lack of perimeter defense was a common thread across those losses.

Leading scorer Caleb Love has been one of the most impactful transfers of the year after coming over from North Carolina. And while his 18.1 points per game have provided a huge boost, he also comes with some red flags.

The Wildcats finished just 4-5 in games where he took more than 18 shots, so it needs to be a well-rounded offensive effort if this group is going to go on a deep run.

Buy or Sell: Sell

Seed List Ranking: 9

The Baylor Bears have one of the most balanced offenses in men's college basketball, with six different players averaging in double figures for a group that checked in at No. 6 in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency.

On the other hand, their defense leaves something to be desired, with at least 75 points allowed on 13 different occasions and the No. 64 spot in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency, which is a couple spots below the Vermont Catamounts.

That's not meant to be a knock on a solid Vermont team, but we're talking about national title contention.

Freshman star and leading scorer Ja'Kobe Walter was silenced by Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament, and he had nine different games this year where he was limited to single-digit points. They have a lot of weapons, but their most dynamic has not been a consistent go-to scorer.

The winner of the No. 6-seed Clemson vs. No. 11-seed New Mexico matchup will pose a tough test in the second round, and both teams are capable of giving the Bears a serious run for their money.

Buy or Sell: Sell

Seed List Ranking: 1

The UConn Huskies lost Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson to the NBA from last year's national championship team, but they haven't missed a beat.

Tristen Newton, Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan all took a significant step forward, with Newton filling up box scores all season with 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game as one of the nation's most impactful players.

Transfer Cam Spencer has also made a huge impact, averaging 14.5 points per game while knocking down 88 threes at a blistering 44.4 percent clip.

The Huskies have the best offense in the country, a top-tier defense and ample March Madness experience. Any attempt to poke holes in their NCAA tournament outlook would simply be nit-picking.

This is the team to beat.

Buy or Sell: Buy

Seed List Ranking: 10

With a quality point guard in Trey Alexander (17.6 PPG, 4.8 APG), a knockdown perimeter shooter in Baylor Scheierman (18.4 PPG, 99 threes, 37.2 3PT%) and one of the nation's best centers in Ryan Kalkbrenner (17.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.0 BPG), the Creighton Bluejays are a walking matchup nightmare.

They average 80.5 points per game and rank 17th in the nation with 17.1 assists per game, making the most of their wide variety of weapons.

If there's an obvious knock, it's their reliance on the three ball.

They rank in the top 10 in the nation in three-point attempts (29.3, eighth), but they sit outside the top 50 in three-point percentage (36.1%, 64th). To that point, they went 2-6 in games where they shot under 30 percent from beyond the arc,

They also really only go six players deep in the rotation, so if they have an off night from the perimeter or get into foul trouble, things could get dicey.

Buy or Sell: Sell

Seed List Ranking: 2

Don't let that ugly showing against Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament final sour you on this Houston Cougars team

The Big 12 regular-season champions boast the nation's best defense, allowing 57.0 points per contest while holding opposing teams to 37.9 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc.

They also do a great job protecting the ball, surrendering just 8.9 turnovers per game, and star point guard Jamal Shead as he averages 13.1 points and 6.2 assists with a 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

If there's a glaring hole in their game, it's that they can struggle to put the ball in the basket for extended periods of time, and they shoot just 43.4 percent from the floor on the year, which ranks 255th in the nation.

It usually doesn't matter because they do such a good job limiting things on the defensive end, but they fell behind early in that 69-41 loss to the Cyclones on Saturday and simply didn't have the firepower to erase the deficit. That was also the third time those two teams had faced off this year, which is a level of familiarity they likely won't face in the NCAA tournament.

This team still looks more than capable of a title run.

Buy or Sell: Buy

Seed List Ranking: 8

The Iowa State Cyclones turned in one of the most dominant performances of the season last Saturday, holding the No. 1-ranked Houston Cougars to 41 points on 26.8 percent shooting in a 28-point blowout.

In a battle of the nation's top two defenses, the Cyclones proved to be the more dangerous offensive team, with Milan Momcilovic (18 points) and Keshon Gilbert (16 points) both getting hot at the right time.

The Cyclones can go nine deep in the rotation, and that's part of the reason they can play such high-intensity defense, forcing 17.5 turnovers per contest while limiting the opposition to 61.3 points and 40.0 percent shooting.

The question will be whether they can find enough consistency on the offensive end to string together wins, but that smothering defense gives them a significant margin for error, and point guard Tamin Lipsey could be one of the breakout stars of March Madness.

Buy or Sell: Buy

Seed List Ranking: 7

Is Tyler Kolek healthy?

The Marquette Golden Eagles star point guard missed the final three games of the regular season and the Big East tournament with an oblique injury, and the team went 3-3 in those games, losing twice to UConn by a combined 30 points.

Kolek averaged 15.0 points and 7.6 assists per game prior to the injury, and while he is expected to return for the start of the NCAA tournament, there is no telling if the injury will be a nagging issue that limits his production.

It's hard to pencil them in for a title run when filling out your bracket if you're not sure how their best and unquestionably most important player is going to perform. But assuming he is 100 percent, there are still some question marks.

If the undersized Golden Eagles run into a team that can dominate the glass, or a knockdown perimeter team that can exploit their three-point defense, they could be in trouble.

Buy or Sell: Sell

Seed List Ranking: 4

Guard RJ Davis (21.4 PPG, 40.6 3PT%) and big man Armando Bacot (14.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG) are still around from the North Carolina Tar Heels squad that made it to the 2022 national championship game as a No. 8 seed.

Meanwhile, the additions of Harrison Ingram (Stanford) and Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame) in the transfer portal gave this roster further experience and two more 10-plus point-per-game scorers, leaving the Tar Heels with ample weapons up and down the lineup.

It's also worth noting that they went 8-2 on the road, including victories over Duke, Clemson, Pitt, Virginia and NC State.

If there's one major red flag it's the fact that top-tier opponents UConn, Tennessee, Duke and Kentucky put up an average of 85.8 points per game against them over five games, and while they went 3-2 in those contests, the shootout approach is always a risky one.

Buy or Sell: Buy

Seed List Ranking: 3

It's really hard not to hold the past failures of Purdue against this year's team.

With first-round exits against No. 13 North Texas in 2021 and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023 sandwiched around being one of the victims of No. 15 Saint Peter's during their Cinderella run in 2022, the Boilermakers have frequently burned fans who penciled them in for a deep March Madness run.

However, to overlook this year's team for that reason would be foolish.

Zach Edey (24.4 PPG, 11.7 RPG) is a game-changing talent inside, and he is surrounded by a collection of knockdown perimeter shooters who connect on 40.8 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.

They finished 12-4 in Quad 1 games, beating Gonzaga, Tennessee and Marquette at the Maui Invitational before also adding non-conference wins over Alabama and Arizona. That's as impressive a resume as any team in the country.

Their recent March struggles are tough to overlook, but so is how good this team has been all season while going 29-4 and winning the Big Ten regular-season title with a 17-3 record in conference play.

Buy or Sell: Buy

Seed List Ranking: 5

Dalton Knecht is legitimately one of the two or three best players in college basketball, and one who is capable of leading his team to a national championship.

The Northern Colorado transfer averaged 21.1 points and hit 79 threes at a 39.7 percent clip, and he saved his best work for top-tier competition. His four highest-scoring outputs of the season came against Kentucky (40 points), Florida (39 points), Auburn (39 points) and North Carolina (37).

The Volunteers also have a quality big man in Jonas Aidoo (11.9 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.9 BPG) and a veteran point guard in Zakai Zeigler (11.9 PPG, 5.8 APG), and while they don't lead the nation in any notable offensive or defensive categories, they are solid across the board.

A long track record of disappointment for Rick Barnes in the NCAA tournament and a 73-56 dismantling at the hands of Mississippi State in the SEC tournament aside, this team has looked like a title contender all year.

Buy or Sell: Buy