7 March Madness storylines
This year’s men’s NCAA Tournament is as wide open as it’s ever been.
As an Associated Press Top 25 voter, I can attest to that. Filling out a poll this season was a weekly challenge harder than past years. There are certainly a handful of favorites to cut down the nets in Houston in April, but there are no dominant teams. The gap has closed between high-major, blueblood programs and the rest of the pack. The extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic – making for more experienced teams across the landscape – and the introduction of NIL are among the factors.
All of this is to say – this should be another incredibly exciting tournament. Let’s dive into some of the top storylines as the tourney begins Thursday with a 12:15 p.m. tip between Maryland and West Virginia.
CAN KANSAS REPEAT?
The defending champion Jayhawks had a terrific regular season even after losing Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun, winning the Big 12 regular-season title and winning 17 Quadrant 1 games – an NCAA metric that is used as an evaluation tool – which is the most since the NCAA’s NET rankings went into effect in 2018.
Jalen Wilson, Gradey Dick and Co. earned the No. 1 seed in the West region, but they face a difficult road back to the Final Four. They missed out on going to the Midwest region, where they would have played games in Kansas City. If the Jayhawks advance to the Sweet 16, a potential matchup with UConn – which was a Top 5 team at the start of the season and has surged recently – looms, then possibly either UCLA or Gonzaga in the Elite Eight. They were given no favors.