1. Virginia is my national champion for a variety of reasons. The Cavaliers defend at a high level, they now have a sneaky efficient offense to go alongside with the packline defense, they have a player in Malcolm Brogdon who can hit shots down the stretch, they have some players with really cool hair, they can't lose to Michigan State again (right?..), and they have a coach in Tony Bennett who is due for NCAA tournament success with the program he's built.
2. Seton Hall's guards won me over in the Big East Tournament. Almost picked them to beat the Spartans. Guard play always seems key in the tournament, and Khadeen Carrington and Isaiah Whitehead can flat out ball. Wichita State falls into the same category with Ron Baker and Fred Van Vleet.
3. Not seeing too many upsets early on. Very few one seeds won their conference tournament which likely corresponds to a hot stretch over a few days, rather than a team capable of beating some really good teams at the top of the bracket. Also, some of the teams on the 4/5 line were grossly underseeded. Look for Hawaii, Yale, or Chattanooga should anybody be able to get it done.
4. The East region is going to provide some fantastic basketball. North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Xavier? It's going to be a gauntlet with some of the sport's most historic programs. Went with the Musketeers because of Ohio bias, they have a lot of quality depth on the bench, and they never seem to bow out early in the tournament. Xavier's never made the Final Four before, but this might be the best team in school history. They won't be intimated by any of the blue bloods in the region, and I don't think enough people give the Big East 2.0 enough credit as a basketball conference.
5. Keep an eye on all the Big 12 team's in the tournament. All year, it's been lauded as the best conference, and with how the bracket ended up, Kansas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia could all be playing in Houston. Or, they could all be going home before the first weekend because this season has taught us no team should be considered a safe bet.
6. The West region is going to be an absolute crapshoot. UNC Wilmington could beat Duke. I took Yale to beat Baylor. I considered Cincinnati (or Saint Joseph's) to beat Oregon. Oklahoma is one bad Buddy Hield game away from going home. Are we sure Texas A&M is good? They definitely were overseeded. Can Shaka Smart lead Texas to a Final Four? Went with the best player in the region, but it wouldn't surprise me if a team comes out of the left field to win one of the wackiest regions in recent memory.
7. Maryland and California in the second round could provide fans with a peek at a lot of future NBA talent. The winner of that hypothetical game would draw Kansas, should the Jayhawks be able to get by a Connecticut team that is hitting its stride at the right time. Villanova has a lot of motivation to redeem an early exit last year. Miami has a lot of veteran players and one of the most underrated basketball minds in the country as their coach. What does this all mean in the South region? Kansas, the most popular pick to win it all, won't get it done without some tough trials along the way before the Final Four. But Bill Self's team hasn't lost since January, so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.
8. I hate only having Kentucky winning one game. Tyler Ulis is going to be a great late first round pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Draft, Jamal Murray is one of the tournament's best pure scorers, and John Calipari sold his soul to the devil to make sure his NBA bound players haunt the tournament for as long as possible. Indiana might be my favorite team to watch play in the entire country this season, though. The Hoosiers jack up threes at an absurd rate, Yogi Ferrell embodies everything a college basketball player should be for his program, and they managed to win a Big Ten title without one of their best players- All with one of the most inconsistent in-game coaches in the game today at the helm. If there's one game in the entire tournament I want to watch, it's Kentucky/Indiana. So Stony Brook and Chattanooga, don't mess this up.
9. Running out of time...
10. Leonardo DiCaprio has an Oscar. Donald Trump might be our president. The Golden State Warriors are going to break one of sport's most historic records. 2016 has been crazy. So when a 16 seed beats a 1 seed this year, just embrace the craziness. The world has lost its collective mind. The NCAA Tournament never makes sense anyways, so I can't wait to watch the tournament in the unbalanced universe we now live in.
J. Nave
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