March Madness: 3 NCAA Tournament Sleepers Who Could Reach the Sweet 16

The NCAA Tournament has arrived, and this week is one of the best weeks on the sports calendar.

Which sleeper teams should be on your radar for this year's Big Dance?

Let's dive in and take a look at three dark horse teams who have a chance to bust brackets and get to the Sweet 16 this season.

All March Madness odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook's college basketball odds and may change after this article is published. Stats come from Bart Torvik and KenPom.

March Madness Sleepers

Miami Hurricanes

The 7 seed Hurricanes check a few boxes as a team capable of getting out of the first weekend.

First-year coach Jai Lucas had a quality opening season, going 13-5 in the ACC and 25-8 overall. The 'Canes have been playing their best ball in the second half of the campaign. Miami has lost only three times since January 21, with two of the defeats coming to Virginia. The other loss was at the hands of Louisville, and Miami got their revenge on the Cards by beating Louisville last week in the ACC Tournament.

Miami rates out as a good-not-great squad both defensively and offensively, with KenPom ranking the 'Canes 33rd in offense and 38th in defense. Their calling card is rebounding as Miami owns the nation's 13th-best rebound rate (55.6%). That is something that can come in handy in a potential second-round matchup with a Purdue team that is 11th in rebound rate and has made a killing on the boards this season.

To get the chance to beat Purdue, Miami will need to move past 10 seed Missouri in the opening round. Miami is a slim -128 moneyline favorite in that game (as of Monday morning), but KenPom has Miami 21 spots in front of the Tigers.

If the Hurricanes can beat Mizzouri, I think they'll be a scary matchup for Purdue in the second round as they have the size and athleticism to neutralize one of the Boilers' biggest strengths.

UCLA

Nothing says sleeper like the program with the most college basketball national titles! While UCLA is a huge brand, they're a sleeper by seed this year as they landed a 7 seed.

I like UCLA for two reasons -- they are pretty dang good for a 7 seed, and they were drawn into a four-team, opening-weekend pod with the bracket's worst 2 seed.

Let's start with the Bruins. UCLA is 24th on Torvik, so they rate out as a pretty strong 7 seed. They were playing well late in the year and had ripped off four straight wins -- including triumphs over Michigan State and Nebraska -- prior to a Big Ten Tourney semifinal loss to Purdue.

But the loss to the red-hot Boilermakers comes with a big asterisk as Tyler Bilodeau missed the game due to injury while Donovan Dent exited early with an injury of his own. Despite being without its two best players, UCLA was tied with four minutes left before Purdue pulled away.

Fortunately for the Bruins, Dent and Bilodeau are expected to be fine for the Big Dance, so UCLA should have its full arsenal.

As for the aforementioned worst 2 seed in the bracket, the team I'm referring to is UConn. The Huskies were fortunate to get a 2 seed. KenPom ranks Connecticut 11th overall and slots them behind a trio of the 3 seeds. The Huskies fall outside of the top 10 in both offense (30th) and defense (11th), per KenPom, and they've lost three of their last eight games, including a 20-point defeat against St. John's last weekend.

UConn is still very good and may have the country's best coach, but they're the easiest 2 seed the Bruins could've gotten.

Of course, we can't overlook UCLA's first-round date with UCF, a game where the Bruins are a 5.5-point favorite. But all in all, I think UCLA is a dangerous team, and I like their draw.

Texas A&M

The Aggies have two things going for them that make them a high-variance team -- they play at a blistering pace, and they take a lot of threes. Those are the kind of teams I like to back in the tourney, so even though I'm not in love with the Aggies' draw, they have the ability to make some noise.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first -- Texas A&M will have to beat 10 seed St. Mary's and (likely) 2 seed Houston to get to the second weekend. Houston is clearly one of the nation's best teams while St. Mary's has been a very solid program for a long time under coach Randy Bennett. In short, it's an arduous path.

With that said, the Aggies should put some fear into the Gaels and Cougars.

As mentioned, A&M loves to run and fire threes. The Aggies rank 29th in adjusted tempo and own the 42nd-highest three-point attempt rate (.463%). That gives them a wide range of outcomes, which we've seen play out this season as they're capable of winning by 15 at Georgia and losing by 20 to Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament.

While they're tough to predict, the Aggies have it in them to beat anyone if they're playing well. They're a 2.5-point favorite against St. Mary's, and A&M's fast pace can make them a tricky matchup for a Houston team that ranks only 352nd in adjusted tempo.

Which March Madness odds stand out to you this year? Check out FanDuel Sportsbook's latest college basketball betting odds to see the full menu of options.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.