2024 March Madness: 8 Most Overrated Teams In The Nation
Every year there are overrated teams that make the tournament. So which overrated teams are in the NCAA Tournament this year? Jason Radowitz shares his top 8 most overrated teams in the nation.
Jason Radowitz - March 18, 2024, 8:00 AM EDT
5 min2024 March Madness: 8 Most Overrated Teams In The Nation
When you join March Madness pools, you'll see many people pick the higher seeds to win most games.
But some of those higher seeds are overrated. Some of those teams peaked earlier in the year, and others were never as good as some thought.
I'll save your bracket. Here's a list of the eight most overrated teams in the nation.
Top 8 Most Overrated Teams In The Nation
1. Virginia Cavaliers
I don't even know how Virginia is in the NCAA Tournament.
Virginia lost five of its last nine games and has one of the worst offenses in all of college basketball.
The Cavaliers have hit 63.7% from the foul line and have only shot 46.8% from inside the arc this season. Beyond that, Virginia is weak on the offensive glass and really can't be trusted offensively.
While Virginia is a terrific defense, there are way too many offenses that can score enough and beat the Virginia Cavaliers, who are inept on offense.
2. South Carolina Gamecocks
The South Carolina Gamecocks don't deserve a six-seed. They finished 26-7 on the season, but analytically, South Carolina has no business being compared to some of the other six seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gamecocks have been blocked on 13.4% of shots and have earned under 15% of turnovers per game this season.
3. Utah State Aggies
Everyone loves the Mountain West. I do, too. However, Utah State struggles from three-point range and doesn't defend all that well inside the arc.
They had success against other Mountain West teams, but against Power-5 teams, it might be difficult to get by. Lucky for them, the Aggies drew another overrated team: the TCU Horned Frogs.
4. TCU Horned Frogs
After losing five of their last seven games, the Horned Frogs sneaked into the NCAA Tournament as a nine-seed. I'm not sure how.
TCU has turned the ball over nearly 18% of the time and can't defend much inside, allowing teams to shoot about 51%.
Beyond that, the Horned Frogs are sending teams to the foul line at a very high rate. While they don't have any bad losses, TCU doesn't have much of a resume outside of the Big 12 Conference.
5. Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats won 21 games, but they're probably closer to a bubble team than a nine-seed. The Wildcats lost to Chicago State at home earlier in the year and lost to Rutgers in the middle of February.
While Northwestern shoots very well from downtown, they also struggle to defend from downtown. Northwestern is too inconsistent for my liking.
6. Florida Atlantic Owls
How do you lose to Temple in the AAC Semifinals? That's unacceptable.
FAU also lost to Bryant, FGCU, and Charlotte. This team was fun last year and can do the same thing this year, but I don't expect it. The defense isn't good enough.
7. Clemson Tigers
The Tigers are coming into the Tournament losers of three of their last four games. Clemson couldn't even knock off Boston College in the ACC Tournament. A six-seed is super generous.
Clemson began the season 11-1, but finished 21-10. They're a .500 team after that non-conference slate. They peaked earlier in the year.
8. Dayton Flyers
The best teams in a conference don't lose in their first game of the conference tournament. Dayton did, and that's alarming.
The Flyers went 24-7 this season but didn't have a single win against other at-large tournament teams. They beat LSU and St. John's earlier in the year. But neither of those two teams are tournament teams. The same goes for their wins against SMU and Cincinnati.
I don't think Dayton's a seven-seed.
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