The one and only big and bad Gonzaga Bulldogs are the #1 seed once again, and with very good reason. This team has been the one seed for over a month. a month. This team isn’t as good as last year’s team, who entered the big dance with an unbeaten record, but thanks to the arrival of 7ft-1 freshman Chet Holmgren, winning it all is a major threat. There is nobody in sport like him.Gonzaga is an elite offensive machine. Drew Timme and Andrew Nembhard return as starters for last year’s Final Four team. The Zags run, shoot 61% from 2-point range, and are the best defensive line since the team that made the 2017 national championship game. There are plenty of viable national title contenders in this year’s group, more than last year, sure, but Gonzaga’s bottom is higher than any other team while its ceiling is as good as any other team. The Wildcats are having a dream freshman season under Tommy Lloyd, who guided Arizona to the No. 1 spot, only the third coach to accomplish the feat in his freshman year as head coach.The Wildcats might be the most entertaining team in this tournament. How far Arizona can go likely depends on the health of point guard Kerr Kriisa’s ankle. He sprained it badly in the Pac12 semifinals. However, he is scheduled to play this week. However, Dalen Terry immediately showed that he could replace Kriisa.Then there’s Bennedict Mathurin, a lottery-level talent who rivals them all. This team shares the ball exquisitely, has a 611 workhorse at Azuolas Tubelis, and is the second-biggest team in the country according to KenPom.com. Final Four since 2001. There’s a better than good chance the drought will end here. While the Wildcats aren’t the top seeds, that doesn’t mean this isn’t one of the top three teams in the country.John Calipari has never built a roster like this in Kentucky. Oscar Tshiebwe, favorite for national player of the year: transferred. The ever-valuable Kellan Grady hat-trick: traded.And then there’s TyTy Washington, an outstanding lead-shooting talent who needs a big tournament to lead Britain to their 18th Final Four. Tshiebwe is the best rebounder the sport has seen in decades. It starts with him, and then so many pieces fit together around him. Kentucky was getting old and you didn’t know it, the formula works. The reigning national champions lost four starters from last season’s team, but that didn’t stop Scott Drew from once again building one of the toughest rosters in the country.Baylor has been resting longer than expected — Oklahoma dropped it in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament — but that may have been the doctor’s order for a team handicapped by injuries for most of the season. In fact, reaching 266 is quite an achievement for Drew’s team. I rate them so highly because they were so good despite their bad luck. The suffering continues in the foot of top scorer LJCryer is something that could prevent another Final Four run, but this is still a balanced team with solid athletics, reliable defense, good shooting and above-average guard play. Keep an eye out for freshman duo Kendall Brown and Jeremy Sochan; You can both jump out of the gym. The Cougars have recovered from injuries to two of their four key players, but UH are once again among the best teams in the country. After a Final Four last year, Houston has a top-12 defense but sits 10th in points per possession. Sampson has a balanced team led by 611 senior Josh Carlton and 68 senior Fabian White.Preparing for Houston is a nightmare. Difficult to calculate, but the Cougars will probably go into the tournament undervalued again. These are the teams to watch, and they should go a long way.
