This time last year Villanova's name popped up on the NCAA tournament bracket and everyone had the same thought: Can the Wildcats at least get out of the first weekend, for goodness sake?
Now the question for the Wildcats, the No. 1 overall seed, is can they repeat as national champions?
What a difference a year makes? Yeah, you could say that.
The last time a defending champion entered the tourney as the No. 1 overall was in 2007. That team was Florida, and we all know how that ended.
If Jay Wright's squad is going to make history, it's going to have to get through a pretty formidable bracket, with a potential date with the preseason No. 1 team and owner of five national championships.
A little program by the name of Duke.
East region: Five players to watch
Josh Hart, Villanova: The national player of the year candidate is an opportunist in the best sense of the word. His game-winning play against Seton Hall is emblematic of who Hart has been his entire career -- a player who always is in the right place at the right time.
Luke Kennard, Duke: Through all of the Blue Devils' drama, there has been one consistent, and that's Kennard. As Grayson Allen's season detoured, Kennard emerged as the team's All-American, hitting one big shot after another. Kennard was held under double digits just once this season -- when he finished with nine against Boston College.
Johnathan Motley, Baylor: The three-star recruit and something of an afterthought has blossomed into the best player in a Baylor uniform. Motley is a defensive beast and an offensive machine.
Zach LeDay, Virginia Tech: The Hokies could be a sneaky team in this region, and LeDay is the reason. He's averaging 25 points over Virginia Tech's last three games and has really taken over since Chris Clarke went down with a torn ACL.
Semi Ojeleye, SMU: The one-time Duke player waited nearly two years to make his debut in an SMU uniform, sitting out under NCAA transfer rules for one season and redshirting the next. Still, he wasn't considered much of a factor, a former three-star recruit. Instead, in three seasons, Motley has grown into an All-American candidate, a guy who personifies the where-did-they-come-from Bears.
Team that could ruin your bracket: SMU. It's not out of the question to pick UNC Wilmington here, but the Mustangs have the double whammy of talent and hunger. SMU hasn't lost since Jan. 12 and finished the regular season ranked 12th, but because of the strength of the American Athletic Conference (or lack thereof), the Mustangs earn a 6-seed here. They are one of the best defensive teams in the country, pound the boards, yet can score as well. This is a very solid, sound team looking to prove itself. Watch out.
Matchup we'd like to see: Duke-Villanova. A Mike Krzyzewski-Steve Wojciechowski second-round matchup would be fun and all, but the preseason prohibitive favorite Blue Devils versus the defending national champions in Madison Square Garden with the Final Four on the line is just too delicious to pass up. Good luck scoring a ticket if it pans out. The Wildcats converted the doubters into believers last year, and Duke turned its tide in the last week. Plus, with a game featuring Hart, Kris Jenkins, Jalen Brunson, Kennard, Grayson Allen and Jayson Tatum, what's not to like?
Who wins the region and goes to the Final Four: Villanova. Coming off that epic effort in the ACC tournament, Duke is going to be the hot pick, but the Wildcats have been the model of consistency all season. Jenkins, Darryl Reynolds and Hart will graduate having never lost back-to-back games in their careers. This is a team that doesn't get rattled and won't lose here. --O'Neil
West region
Is this the year? We've been asking that question for some time now, and every time, Gonzaga has come up with the wrong answer.
Nope, not yet.
Now making its 19th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, Mark Few's team comes in dogged by the same issue -- are the Zags really good, or is their gaudy one-loss record merely fraudulent, puffed up by the less-than-competitive West Coast Conference.
So is this the year that everything changes? That's the biggest question in the West Region.
Five players to watch
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga: Why are the Zags more poised to make their first Final Four this year than before? Williams-Goss is a big part of the answer. The Washington transfer leads the Zags in scoring and, partnering with Przemek Karnowski, makes for one of the more formidable inside-outside combos in the country.
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame: Were it not for more Duke heroics, Colson would have emerged as the story of the ACC tournament, his 29 points and nine boards almost single-handedly taking the Irish to the title. Derided for his entire career for being too small, Colson proved once and for all that size doesn't matter. He's a matchup nightmare who can shoot 3s and with such long arms that he's much tougher in the post than anyone thinks.
Jevon Carter, West Virginia: Bob Huggins thinks Carter is one of the best point guards in the country and insists he's not merely biased. Carter is, true enough, the engine that runs Press Virginia, a phenomenal distributor, a savvy scorer and, of course, a terrific defender.
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona: He's been compared to Dirk Nowitzki. Is that enough? The 7-foot freshman can score at the rim, block shots, sink 3s and essentially stemmed the Wildcats' tide until Allonzo Trier returned from suspension.
Melo Trimble, Maryland: The Terps have been maddeningly inconsistent all season, and Trimble's career hasn't exactly gone the way anyone --- including Trimble -- predicted. But as long as he's on the court, the Terps are still dangerous. He's good enough to be a one-man bracket buster if he gets hot.
Team that could ruin your bracket: Notre Dame. The Irish are trying to make their third consecutive Elite Eight, a ridiculous run for a team that constantly flies under the radar. This team has all the tools to do it. Matt Farrell is a bulldog as a point guard, V.J. Beachem, Steve Vasturia and Rex Pflueger are lethal from the arc, and then there's Colson, the guy who simply does everything well.
Matchup we'd like to see: Arizona versus Gonzaga, aka the something's-gotta-give regional final. Sean Miller's exemplary resume lacks a Final Four appearance. Ditto for the Zags. And in a year in which the West Coast finally has produced some of the best basketball in the land, it would only be fitting to let the West Region offer the final answer to which team on the left coast is best.
Who wins the region and goes to the Final Four: Gonzaga. Yes, this is the year. The Zags are this year's Villanova, a team sick of hearing the same old questions, tired of being dogged by the same old critics. More than that, Gonzaga this year is not the same as Gonzaga of years past. Few's bunch is still very good offensively, but so much better defensively, and that will be the difference as Gonzaga finally breaks through. --O'Neil
South region
The blue bloods play here.
The championship rings are with them too, but it's been a while since North Carolina (2009), Kentucky (2012) and UCLA (1995) have gotten sized for one.
The common thread that could lift any one of them back to the Final Four and potentially raising a championship banner is a high-powered offense.
The Tar Heels are tough to stop because of their proclivity for offensive rebounding. The Wildcats have arguably the best freshman backcourt duo ever in Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox. And UCLA might just be the most fun team to watch when it has the ball.
Five players to watch
Lonzo Ball, UCLA: Hopefully his father's boasting has not in any way diminished Ball's appeal. He's one of the most exciting players in college basketball to watch, and he doesn't need to score to have an impact. Ball leads the nation with 7.7 assists per game.
Malik Monk, Kentucky: One of the most prolific scorers in college basketball. Sure, he's a volume shooter, but once he gets rolling, he's hard to stop. Monk has scored 30 or more points in four games -- including 33 against Florida in which he dropped 30 in the second half.
Justin Jackson, North Carolina: The ACC's Player of the Year was the Tar Heels' most consistent scorer this season. He improved his range from last season and increased his 3-point shooting from a paltry 29 percent his sophomore season to 37.4 percent as a junior.
John Collins, Wake Forest: Collins has played his way into an NBA first-round draft pick as a sophomore, according to Chad Ford's big board. Collins is a bit of a unicorn in today's game -- a big man who plays like a traditional, back-to-the-basket post player. His 12 consecutive 20-point games this season was a school record topping a former Deacon named Tim Duncan.
JaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee State: Transferred after Arkansas dismissed him before the 2015-16 season, he has rehabilitated his image in what will be his only year at MTSU. Williams started every game this season and led the Blue Raiders averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Team that could ruin your bracket: How many times does Butler have to do it before we start believing? As a reminder, the Bulldogs handed overall No. 1 seed Villanova two of its three losses this season. Forward Kelan Martin leads a squad that shoots the ball well, doesn't turn it over much and forces opponents to play defense for extended periods. Butler will again be a tough out.
Matchup we'd like to see: Is this even a discussion? North Carolina vs. Kentucky, Round 2. College basketball's blue bloods played arguably the most entertaining game of the season in Las Vegas on Dec. 17. The Wildcats took that game 103-100 on the strength of Monk's 47 points including a late 3-pointer for the dagger. (A Kentucky-UCLA rematch would not be a bad second option. The Bruins won in Rupp Arena 97-92 on Dec. 3.)
Who wins the region and goes to the Final Four: Before the confetti hit the ground, North Carolina has been waiting for a shot at redemption after last year's national title game loss to Villanova. That experience of coming up 4.7 seconds short of potentially winning it all has been in the back of their minds all season. It will fuel another run for the Tar Heels, who ironically also lost in the ACC tournament semifinals in both their 2005 and 2009 national championship years. --Brown
Midwest region
It should come as no surprised to see Kansas on the No. 1-seed line. The Jayhawks' 13 top seeds trail only North Carolina.
To the victors come the spoils, and, should they advance, the Jayhawks will play essentially in what will be Allen Fieldhouse East in a Kansas City regional.
It's going to take a team with a lot of toughness to knock the Jayhawks off their perch. But of the top five seeds in the region, four teams, including Oregon, Purdue and Iowa State, were crowned either regular season or tournament champions in their respective conferences.
Kansas will have to buck a bit of its own history. The past four times KU was a No. 1 seed, it has not advanced to the Final Four.
Five players to watch
Frank Mason III, Kansas: By all accounts, Mason is the Wooden Award front-runner for National Player of the Year. He has a toughness about him and has sometimes seemingly willed KU to wins this season. He's not afraid of the big shot. The Jayhawks will go as far as he leads them.
Dillon Brooks, Oregon: Has two of the more memorable buzzer-beaters from this season with buzzer-beating 3-pointers to beat both UCLA and California. He'll take a lot more responsibility to lead with senior forward Chris Boucher lost to an ACL injury.
Caleb Swanigan, Purdue: Finished tied with Seton Hall's Angel Delgado as the nation's leader with 26 double-doubles. Swanigan returned for his sophomore season instead of turning pro to expand his game and accomplished just that, expanding his range to shoot 43.1 percent from 3-point range.
Donovan Mitchell, Louisville: Perhaps there's no more athletically explosive 6-foot-3 guard in college basketball. Mitchell played his best when the Cardinals needed him most during a six-game stretch they were without starting point guard Quentin Snider.
Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State: Dynamic guard can score in all kinds of ways and was second only to Mason in the Big 12 in scoring with a 19.0 average. But he's not just about the points, Evans also led the league with 6.2 assists per game.
Team that could ruin your bracket: Both Michigan and Iowa State seemed to figure things out in the second half of conference play. Both have won 10 of their last 12 games en route to capturing the Big Ten and Big 12 tournament titles, respectively. The Wolverines, however, are playing like a team of destiny after their life-altering experience on a flight that skidded off the runway and had to be evacuated.
Matchup we'd like to see: Michigan's John Beilein and Louisville's Rick Pitino faced off in an epic 2005 Elite Eight game when Beilein was at West Virginia. Both teams combined for 29 3-pointers, and the Cardinals eventually rallied from down 13 to win in overtime. Pitino also got the best of Beilein when the two battled in the 2013 national championship game. The matchup would come down to if Louisville's vaunted defense could contain the Wolverines' perimeter-oriented offense.
Who wins the region and goes to the Final Four: Oregon is without one rim protector in 6-foot-10 forward Boucher, but Jordan Bell quietly amassed 72 blocks with a 2.1 average per game. The Ducks fell short in the Elite Eight last season and still have enough pieces -- led by Brooks and complemented with Tyler Dorsey, Dylan Ennis and Bell -- to make up for losing Boucher. It's been a long Final Four drought for the Pac-12 (UCLA 2008), but that finally comes to an end. --Brown