Early Final Four 2012 Favorites

Predictions for the 2012 Final Four include some of the top NCAA Division I Men's Basketball teams who are projected to be among the last four remaining in the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Also known as March Madness, the NCAA Tournament Final Four represent the best and sometimes the luckiest teams in all of college basketball. Many teams will try but only four will make it to the 2012 Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana, and these teams have the best shot to get there.

But before teams can make plans to reach the Final Four first they'll need to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Of the 344 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball teams, only 68 will get an invitation to the Big Dance either from winning their conference tournament or getting an at-large bid. From there, teams need to win each round through the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight to finally reach the Final Four. While reaching the Final Four is commendable, only one team will win the NCAA Tournament and go down as the best NCAA Men's Basketball team of the season.

Which team will that be in 2012? That's the question oddsmakers and college basketball experts are asking themselves in the time leading up to March Madness. According to the voters in the NCAA Men's College Basketball polls, the Kentucky Wildcats, Syracuse Orange, Missouri Tigers, Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils are the best in the country but once March Madness begins it's anyone's game.

The top teams in the country are definitely among the early favorites for the 2012 Final Four and will likely have the top seeds when the entire field of 68 is revealed on Selection Sunday but they are far from guaranteed spots in the Final Four. There's always a Cinderella team waiting to shock the world and hundreds of underrated men's basketball teams hoping to be that Cinderella in 2012. There's a reason it's called March Madness and that's proven time and time again.