Predicting This Year's NCAA Champ

Part of the allure of college basketball is Cinderella. The wonderful thing about the NCAA Tournament is, theoretically, any of the teams in the tourney can come out the other side as national champions. And, as we've seen in recent years, quite a few "mid-major" teams have made it very, very deep in the tournament. The underdog is a huge drawing card for the sport.

But in actuality, every team isn't created equal – you can whittle the true title contenders down before the season even starts. Run The Floor recently posted an article studying the past 18 NCAA basketball champions. Of these championship teams, 78% of them had at least four players who went on to become NBA draft picks. So, using that guideline, here are the true title contenders for this season.

1) Kentucky – 8 players

Julius Randle – 2014 top five pick

Andrew Harrison – 2014 top 10 pick

Willie Cauley-Stein – 2014 lottery pick

Aaron Harrison – 2014 or 2015 first round pick

Alex Poythress – 2014 first round pick

Marcus Lee – 2015 top 10 pick
Dakari Johnson – 2015 first round pick

James Young – 2015 first round pick

2) Michigan State – 4 players

Adreian Payne – 2014 first round pick

Keith Appling – 2014 second round pick

Branden Dawson – 2014 second round pick

Gary Harris – 2014 second round pick

3) Louisville – 4 players

Montrezl Harrell – 2014 top 10 pick

Chane Behanan – 2014 second round pick

Wayne Blackshear – 2015 second round pick

Russ Smith – 2014 second round pick

4) Duke – 5 players

Jabari Parker – 2014 top 10 pick
Rasheed Sulaimon – 2014 first round pick

Andre Dawkins – 2014 second round pick

Rodney Hood – 2014 second round pick

Quinn Cook – 2015 second round pick

5) Kansas – 5 players

Andrew Wiggins – 2014 #1 pick
Joel Embiid – 2014 top 10 pick

Wayne Selden – 2014 lottery pick

Tarik Black – 2014 first round pick

Perry Ellis – 2014 first round pick

6) Arizona – 4 players

Aaron Gordon – 2014 top five pick

Brandon Ashley – 2015 second round pick

Nick Johnson – 2015 second round pick

Kaleb Tarczewski – 2015 second round pick

7) Michigan – 3 players (included in the list since they have two projected lottery picks on the roster)

Mitch McGarry – 2014 lottery pick
Glenn Robinson III – 2014 lottery pick

Nik Stauskas – 2015 second round pick

8) Oklahoma State – 4 players

Marcus Smart – 2014 top five pick

LeBryan Nash – 2014 second round pick

Markel Brown – 2014 second round pick

Michael Cobbins – 2014 second round pick

9) Syracuse – 5 players

Jerami Grant – 2014 first round pick

C.J. Fair – 2014 second round pick

Tyler Ennis – 2015 first round pick

DaJuan Coleman – 2015 second round pick

Rakeem Christmas – 2015 second round pick

10) Florida – 4 players

Patrick Young – 2014 second round pick

Chris Walker – 2015 lottery pick

Kasey Hill – 2015 first round pick

Dorian Finney-Smith – 2015 second round pick

11) Ohio State – 4 players

LaQuinton Ross – 2014 second round pick

Aaron Croft – 2014 second round pick

Sam Thompson – 2015 second round pick

Shannon Scott – 2015 second round pick

12) North Carolina – 4 players

James McAdoo – 2014 first round pick

P.J. Hairston – 2014 first round pick

Brice Johnson – 2015 first round pick

Joel James – 2015 second round pick

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Predicting This Year’s NCAA Champ

Alan Draper

Alan Draper

Alan Draper