The unpredictability and annual underdog stories are one of the primary reasons why the NCAA Tournament is so beloved, and we've had plenty of them recently in college basketball. In each of the past eight NCAA Tournaments, a No. 5 seed or worse has reached the Final Four, with No. 11 seed UCLA being the most recent example last season.
This time last season, the Bruins had just fallen out of the AP Top 25 and were beginning a late-season slide that relegated them to a No. 11 seed and a spot in the First Four of the Big Dance. Back in 2019, Auburn dropped out of the top five and slipped all the way to No. 20 late in the regular season before its Final Four run.
In mid-February 2018, Loyola Chicago was unranked -- in fact the Ramblers were unranked that entire season -- before capturing the nation's attention on its way to the Final Four. The list goes on. Just because you're outside the top 15, or even unranked, in February doesn't mean your season is shot.
For this week's edition of the Dribble Handoff our writers are taking a look at some Final Four contenders from outside the obvious pool as they respond to the following prompt: "What team ranked outside of the top 15 of this week's AP Top 25 poll could you see making the Final Four?"
UConn
AP Top 25 ranking: 24 | Record: 15-6 | Bracketology seed: No. 7
UConn has lost two straight games and dropped to 24th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. So this probably isn't the best time to suggest the Huskies are legitimate Final Four contenders. I get it. But, don't ever forget, this is still a team that's only lost four times this season when its starting center is available — and still the only team that's beaten top-ranked Auburn. So I remain a believer and will not be surprised if the Huskies advance to the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans.
R.J. Cole and Adama Sanogo provide UConn with one of the nation's best inside-outside combos. The point guard and center are combining to average 31.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. When they both play well, the Huskies are tough to beat — evidence being that they've only lost twice in the past month, once at Villanova, which is obviously understandable, the other time at home to Creighton, a game in which Cole and Sanogo combined to go just 8-of-26 from the field.
Right now, CBS Sports' Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm projects UConn as a No. 7 seed, which suggests even advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament is far from guaranteed. But the most important thing to do when trying to identify unlikely Final Four participants is to look for teams that have the pieces to advance to the Final Four despite a lackluster resume, and, I think, UConn is one of those teams. -- Gary Parrish
Alabama
AP Top 25 ranking: RV | Record: 14-9 | Bracketology seed: No. 7
Parrish, I'm not even convinced UConn's making the NCAA Tournament (beating Marquette on Tuesday night would go a long way). But that's an intriguing pick. I'm going with the Crimson Tide. The cynic can say that the only predictable quality of Nate Oats' team is its unpredictability, but that's not true. Alabama is a sub-par 3-point shooting team and that's what's keeping it from living life as a top-15 club. In fact, my pick is a team that's not only ranked outside of this week's AP top 15, it's not even ranked altogether. However, Alabama does have six wins against Quad 1 opponents and owns victories over Gonzaga, Houston and Baylor, three 2021 Final Four teams that are a combined 58-8 this season. That counts for a lot. If the Tide could find a way to find their long-distance stroke and improve their averages from behind the arc up to 35 or 36%, it might be enough. It's also going to depend upon matchups, naturally, as Nate Oats' roster could ultimately prove to have multiple future NBA players, led by JD Davison. -- Matt Norlander
Texas
AP Top 25 ranking: 20 | Record: 18-6 | Bracketology seed: No. 6
There are internal messages to prove my selection of Texas for this exercise came before the No. 20 Longhorns knocked off No. 8 Kansas 79-76 on Monday night. Nevertheless, the Longhorns' strong performance against the Jayhawks is further confirmation that UT is rounding into form under first-year coach Chris Beard. Their only loss in the last six games came in one of the most hostile environments imaginable at Texas Tech, and the Longhorns handled that scene reasonably well given the circumstances. In some ways, this is a race against the clock for Texas, which is hoping its incredible mix of transfers and returning talent can finish blending together into a championship-caliber squad before the postseason arrives.
Faith in Texas as a potential Final Four team centers on who is doing the blending. Beard had Texas Tech in the national title game during his second season there after performing a remarkable turnaround at Little Rock in one season. He's got Texas playing great defense, and Monday's win showed Texas can keep pace offensively even when an opponent is playing well. Kansas shot 58.3% from the floor, but Texas dominated 24-6 in points off turnovers and made key plays offensively when it mattered. The Longhorns were my preseason pick to win the national championship, and while that now seems far-fetched, I'll still ride with them as a dark-horse Final Four team. Who knows? If Tre Mitchell keeps banking in clutch 3-pointers, maybe a national championship is in play. -- David Cobb
