1. A No. 7 or worse seed has reached the Elite Eight each of the past years, including two teams in 2017. This season's surprise could be No. 10 seed Providence, the only team in the country with three victories over top-five opponents (Xavier twice and Villanova). Plus, how can you not root for Coach Ed Cooley after he wore a towel on his backside to cover his ripped pants in the Big East tourney final?
2. It's easy to see 7-foot-1 Arizona man-child Deandre Ayton — arguably the best NBA big man prospect since Shaquille O'Neal — as a star capable of leading his team to a national title. But Kentucky's Anthony Davis in 2012 and Kansas' Danny Manning in 1988 are the only players to win the championship and get drafted No. 1 overall in the past 30 years. In fact, the Final Four had just one lottery pick in four of the past five seasons, including in 2017 (Gonzaga's Zach Collins) and 2016 (Oklahoma's Buddy Hield).
3. For the first time since 1988, every Big Ten team in the NCAA tournament is seeded No. 5 or better, and all four teams appear to have a shot of at least making the Sweet 16. For what it's worth, none of the five Big Ten NCAA tourney teams in 1988 made it past the Sweet 16.
4. The selection committee is taking heat for five teams getting at-large bids that finished with losing records in conference play (Alabama, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Syracuse and Texas). Syracuse is particularly interesting considering its best nonconference victories were Buffalo and Iona. Two years ago, though, the Orange became the first No. 10 seed to reach the Final Four.
5. Don't sleep on the "First Four" teams. At least one play-in winner has won another game since the field was expanded to 68 in 2011. Arizona State was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation this year with victories over Kansas and Xavier, but the Sun Devils barely made the field after losing five of their past six games.
6. How safe is the NCAA's No. 1 overall seed? Virginia might have a reason to be upset because of a potential Sweet 16 matchup against Kentucky or Arizona. Both of those Wildcats teams are much more talented than the Cavaliers and won their respective conference tournaments.
7. North Carolina probably would have been a No. 1 seed if it defeated Virginia in the ACC tournament title game. Coach Roy Williams is attempting to reach the national championship game for the third consecutive season, which hasn't been done since Kentucky won two titles in three appearances from 1996 to '98.
8. The No. 1 seed in the most trouble could be Xavier, which earned a No. 1 for the first time in school history. Xavier could meet talented Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr. in the second round in the West. Porter, a potential top-five pick, has only played in one game since returning from a near season-long back injury.
