Kansas, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier — the No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament — should remember the Alamo.

The last time all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four was 10 years ago. That was the last time the NCAA Tournament wrapped up in San Antonio, and the last time coach Bill Self and Kansas cut down the nets as national champions.

Before getting to this season’s Final Four, there are 64 NCAA Tournament games to be played over the next two weeks to determine if the Alamodome will be filled with No. 1 seeds again. Or if some lower seeds, or even a potential Cinderella, make it to those national semifinal games March 31.

Here are a few things to watch with the NCAA Tournament about to get underway:

— AGAIN AND AGAIN: Coach K, Self and Tom Izzo keep going back to the NCAA Tournament. All have won national titles, and they’re in the same regional this season.

Mike Krzyzewski and Duke are in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd year in a row, two more than Izzo and Michigan State.

The school with the most consecutive appearances is Kansas, which stretched its active streak to 29 in a row as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.

Self is in his 20th NCAA Tournament in a row, the 15th with Kansas after the Jayhawks won their unprecedented 14th straight Big 12 Conference championship . Before that, Self went to the NCAA twice with Tulsa and three times with Illinois.

The Spartans (29-4) are the No. 3 seed and get to stay in their home state for Friday’s game against Bucknell. Kansas (27-7) also has a short trip for the opening weekend, staying in the Sunflower State to play Penn on Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.

The Jayhawks last year beat Michigan State in the second round of the Midwest Regional, but the only way to meet this year would be if both make it to the regional final in Omaha, Nebraska.

Duke (26-7), the No. 2 seed that plays Iona on Thursday, could face a potential Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan State.

— WHERE ARE THE 1s?: Only twice since the 2008 tournament has the NCAA title game even been a matchup of No. 1 seeds.

That included last season in Arizona when North Carolina beat Gonzaga, a year after the Tar Heels were the national runner-up. UNC tied the 2016 title game in Texas on a double-clutch 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left before Villanova won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Duke beat Wisconsin for the 2015 championship, the only other title game matchup of No. 1 seeds since the Jayhawks’ overtime win over Memphis in 2008. North Carolina and UCLA were the other No. 1 seeds in San Antonio.

— WE ARE MARSHALL: While this isn’t Marshall’s first NCAA Tournament since the 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people, including 36 members of the Thundering Herd football team, this appearance is special for fourth-year head coach and alumnus Dan D’Antoni.

Marshall won the Conference USA Tournament for an automatic NCAA berth, ending a 31-year drought.

“A lot of people think the plane crash was just the football team, but I think you have to understand all the biggest supporters of basketball were on the airplane too, and we lost all of them,” said D’Antoni, who at the time was a young basketball assistant coach there only months after finishing his playing career as a Herd point guard.

Along with the players killed in the worst disaster in U.S. sports history , there were 39 coaches, administrators, community leaders, fans and crew who died when the team’s chartered jet crashed on Nov. 14, 1970, when returning from a game.

D’Antoni said he lost some close friends and a mentor in Dr. Ray Hagley, the team physician who was on the plane with his wife.

“They always wanted me to coach at Marshall,” said D’Antoni, now 70. “It didn’t look I was going to get the chance. It took 50 years for me to finally get back here, but that’s a lot of what it meant to me, and then it’s building back the program that he really gave his life for.”

— HURLEY BRACKET: The Hurley brothers both have their teams in the NCAA Tournament . The only way they can match up against each other is if Arizona State and Rhode Island both make it to the Sweet 16.

Bobby Hurley’s team at Arizona State would have to win an extra game to get there. The Pac-12 Sun Devils (20-11) have to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday against Syracuse.

Rhode Island (25-7), an at-large team from the Atlantic 10 coached by Dan Hurley, plays Thursday against Oklahoma.

— WILDCATS IN THE SOUTH: Four teams of Wildcats are in the South Regional. Three of them play first-round games in the same arena.

No. 5 seed Kansas plays No. 12 Davidson on Thursday in Boise, Idaho. The winning Wildcats in that game face a potential second-round matchup against the Arizona Wildcats, the No. 4 seed that plays Buffalo in another first-round game in Boise.

The other Wildcats in that regional are No. 9 seed Kansas State, which takes on Creighton on Friday in Charlotte.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Last March, the statistical sages of The Washington Post told you that a wide-open NCAA tournament featured no fewer than 26 men's college basketball teams capable of cutting down the nets as national champions — and of those 26, there were three clear favorites. We hope you were listening.

Not to toot our horn too loudly, but here's how last season's tournament played out in relation to our list: 14 members of the Sweet 16 came from that list, as did, three members of the Final Four, including both finalists. That right there should tell you something about the importance of playing efficient basketball at the collegiate level.

It should also tell you that you'd be wise to pay attention to what our metric to identify the best bets to win it all says about the 2018 field. And because the scoring systems of most bracket pools weight the champion pick so heavily, it's virtually impossible to win if you don't pick the title winner. That's where the stat comes in.

Every NCAA tournament winner since 2002 has cleared a very simple statistical bar that we've dubbed WTEff, or Winner's Total Efficiency. The metric is simple enough: We look at the number of points a team would produce if it played a 100-possession game, adjusted for strength of schedule, and as compiled by stats guru Ken Pomeroy, and then subtract the number of points the team would allow in such a contest. The difference provides a single number that sets the bar for smart title picks and significantly reduces the number of potential champions the savvy pool player will select for his or her bracket.

Here's how teams have profiled in the past and the key thresholds for potential title teams in 2018:

The low bar: 20.4. Not to diminish the achievement, but when the Connecticut Huskies won the title in 2014, they set a new low of the WTEff bar. We suspect they care little. You, however, should care because if you're selecting a title winner with a WTEff lower than 20.4, you're betting against history and making a very risky title pick.

The "average" champs: 27.7. Historically the 2002 Maryland Terrapins of Maryland profile closely as the average title-winner, though last season's national champion Tar Heels checked in at 28.0 on Selection Sunday. Picking any squad above this threshold is a very solid selection (at least before you consider the specific matchups they'll face in the bracket and teams well-suited for upsets … don't sweat it, we've got you covered there too).

The best of the best: 32.9. The 2008 Kansas Jayhawks remain the gold standard for efficient teams winning the title, emerging from a Final Four field that contained all four No. 1 seeds.

No team from 2018 quite compares to the Jayhawks, but one comes pretty close thanks to its remarkable play on the defensive end. In all, three seemingly special teams meet or surpass the efficiency profiles of past "average" national champs, but a total of 18 clear the bar.

Arizona and Michigan State are going to be trendy title picks, but while the Spartans would come in close to average compared to past tournament winners, the Wildcats don't clear the bar. If you're looking for a safe, smart pick, then these three teams are your best bets:

Virginia: The Cavaliers are a wet blanket of a team. They stick to opponents, they slow them down, they inhibit the glorious scoring of points, they are zero fun, and, oh yeah, they win a lot of basketball games. It's dull, but it's been wildly effective this season, and they also boast a WTEff (32.1) close to that record-setting 2008 Kansas squad. Virginia's defense matches that of Kentucky's 2015 Final Four team as the most efficient since 2009. If you're the type who loves to tell everyone how defense wins championships, this is your team.

One caveat that could come into play: Washington Post colleague Matt Bonesteel pointed out recently that every NCAA title winner but one has ranked in the top 20 of offensive efficiency since 2002. The lone exception? That 2014 Connecticut team. The Cavaliers sit at No. 21. That doesn't bode well for the Cavaliers, but overall, this Virginia team is much, much, much more efficient overall than that title-winning U-Conn. squad.

Another potential problem: Virginia's bracket is stacked with the No. 4 team according to WTEff — Cincinnati — as the No. 2 seed. Still, the Cavaliers are easily among the three best bets to take home the title.

Villanova: Like offense? You'll love this team. The Wildcats can shoot from everywhere and own the single most efficient offense in the country. They score a ton of points off three pointers, which can be risky, but they're also the second-best shooting team in the nation inside the arc and don't rely on foul shots to score. So if they're not getting the calls on a given night, it doesn't really matter.

Defensively, Villanova is not nearly the match of Virginia, but it's definitely not a deficiency, ranking No. 22 in the nation.

No. 2 seed Purdue is Villanova's biggest stumbling block in the East Region. West Virginia also could prove meddlesome given its ability to force turnovers, but the Wildcats are the No. 8 team in the nation in terms of holding on to possessions.

Duke: Of the three teams that surpass our bar for "average" past champions, Duke is by far the most rounded. The Blue Devils rank third in the nation in terms of offensive efficiency while sitting seventh on the defensive end. Two big keys to that success? They're the single best team in the nation at chasing down their missed shots, putting up an offensive rebound rate of 39.1 percent. They also don't put opponents on the line, with the nations lowest ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts.</s>The field is set for the NCAA basketball tournament and there is legitimate controversy about the brackets concerning an Oklahoma team.</s>Kansas, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier — the No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament — should remember the Alamo.

The last time all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four was 10 years ago. That was the last time the NCAA Tournament wrapped up in San Antonio, and the last time coach Bill Self and Kansas cut down the nets as national champions.

Before getting to this season’s Final Four, there are 64 NCAA Tournament games to be played over the next two weeks to determine if the Alamodome will be filled with No. 1 seeds again. Or if some lower seeds, or even a potential Cinderella, make it to those national semifinal games March 31.

Here are a few things to watch with the NCAA Tournament about to get underway:

— AGAIN AND AGAIN: Coach K, Self and Tom Izzo keep going back to the NCAA Tournament. All have won national titles, and they’re in the same regional this season.

Mike Krzyzewski and Duke are in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd year in a row, two more than Izzo and Michigan State.

The school with the most consecutive appearances is Kansas, which stretched its active streak to 29 in a row as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.

Self is in his 20th NCAA Tournament in a row, the 15th with Kansas after the Jayhawks won their unprecedented 14th straight Big 12 Conference championship . Before that, Self went to the NCAA twice with Tulsa and three times with Illinois.

The Spartans (29-4) are the No. 3 seed and get to stay in their home state for Friday’s game against Bucknell. Kansas (27-7) also has a short trip for the opening weekend, staying in the Sunflower State to play Penn on Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.

The Jayhawks last year beat Michigan State in the second round of the Midwest Regional, but the only way to meet this year would be if both make it to the regional final in Omaha, Nebraska.

Duke (26-7), the No. 2 seed that plays Iona on Thursday, could face a potential Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan State.

— WHERE ARE THE 1s?: Only twice since the 2008 tournament has the NCAA title game even been a matchup of No. 1 seeds.

That included last season in Arizona when North Carolina beat Gonzaga, a year after the Tar Heels were the national runner-up. UNC tied the 2016 title game in Texas on a double-clutch 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left before Villanova won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Duke beat Wisconsin for the 2015 championship, the only other title game matchup of No. 1 seeds since the Jayhawks’ overtime win over Memphis in 2008. North Carolina and UCLA were the other No. 1 seeds in San Antonio.

— WE ARE MARSHALL: While this isn’t Marshall’s first NCAA Tournament since the 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people, including 36 members of the Thundering Herd football team, this appearance is special for fourth-year head coach and alumnus Dan D’Antoni.

Marshall won the Conference USA Tournament for an automatic NCAA berth, ending a 31-year drought.

“A lot of people think the plane crash was just the football team, but I think you have to understand all the biggest supporters of basketball were on the airplane too, and we lost all of them,” said D’Antoni, who at the time was a young basketball assistant coach there only months after finishing his playing career as a Herd point guard.

Along with the players killed in the worst disaster in U.S. sports history , there were 39 coaches, administrators, community leaders, fans and crew who died when the team’s chartered jet crashed on Nov. 14, 1970, when returning from a game.

D’Antoni said he lost some close friends and a mentor in Dr. Ray Hagley, the team physician who was on the plane with his wife.

“They always wanted me to coach at Marshall,” said D’Antoni, now 70. “It didn’t look I was going to get the chance. It took 50 years for me to finally get back here, but that’s a lot of what it meant to me, and then it’s building back the program that he really gave his life for.”

— HURLEY BRACKET: The Hurley brothers both have their teams in the NCAA Tournament . The only way they can match up against each other is if Arizona State and Rhode Island both make it to the Sweet 16.

Bobby Hurley’s team at Arizona State would have to win an extra game to get there. The Pac-12 Sun Devils (20-11) have to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday against Syracuse.

Rhode Island (25-7), an at-large team from the Atlantic 10 coached by Dan Hurley, plays Thursday against Oklahoma.

— WILDCATS IN THE SOUTH: Four teams of Wildcats are in the South Regional. Three of them play first-round games in the same arena.

No. 5 seed Kansas plays No. 12 Davidson on Thursday in Boise, Idaho. The winning Wildcats in that game face a potential second-round matchup against the Arizona Wildcats, the No. 4 seed that plays Buffalo in another first-round game in Boise.

The other Wildcats in that regional are No. 9 seed Kansas State, which takes on Creighton on Friday in Charlotte.</s>Florida State is in the Big Dance for the second consecutive year.

The Seminoles (20-11) landed on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, earning a March Madness invite when the field of 68 was announced on Sunday.

"Our body of work was pretty solid," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"When you look at all the numbers, we had accomplished enough of the criteria that we deserved to have an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament."

FSU is the ninth seed in the West Region and will play No. 8 seed Missouri (20-12) in the first round Friday in Nashville, Tennessee. Tip-off is 9:50 p.m.

The Tigers are in the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since 2013.

Seven of the nine most utilized players on FSU were part of last year's NCAA tourney team. The Seminoles entered as a No. 3 seed before they were upset by 11th-seeded Xavier in the second round in Orlando.

Senior forward Phil Cofer believes last year's NCAA Tourney experience can benefit the Seminoles.

"I think it definitely helps a lot," Cofer said.

"Just talk to the younger guys about what we have to do and what we do not do."

With a win in its opener, FSU would likely meet No. 1 Xavier in the next round on Sunday. Xavier opens with the winner of North Carolina Central and Texas Southern.

"We know if we win this one and Xavier wins the next one, it's another matchup just like last year," senior guard Terance Mann said.

"Everybody thinks about that in the back of their head, but we just have to worry about Missouri."

It's the sixth time in Hamilton's 16 years at FSU that the Seminoles are in the NCAA Tournament.
• None FSU's Leonard Hamilton wants one-and-done rule examined in wake of FBI investigation

With the first of those not coming until the 2008-09 season, each of the six has come in the last 10 years.

That's the most NCAA Tournament appearances in a 10-year span in FSU history.

It's also the most ever by a single coach at FSU as Hamilton passes Pat Kennedy, who led FSU to five appearances from 1986-1997.

"That's a positive from a program standpoint, but I'm not sure that's going to have anything to do with the game," Hamilton said of FSU's recent run.

"The most important thing is how we come to practice tomorrow and how we prepare."

FSU's best NCAA Tourney showing under Hamilton was in 2011, when the Seminoles reached the regional semifinals, losing to Virginia Commonwealth 72-71.

Missouri lost its first-round game in each of its last three tournament appearances in 2011-13. The Tigers last won a game in the 2010 tournament</s>Kansas, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier — the No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament — should remember the Alamo.

The last time all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four was 10 years ago. That was the last time the NCAA Tournament wrapped up in San Antonio, and the last time coach Bill Self and Kansas cut down the nets as national champions.

Before getting to this season’s Final Four, there are 64 NCAA Tournament games to be played over the next two weeks to determine if the Alamodome will be filled with No. 1 seeds again. Or if some lower seeds, or even a potential Cinderella, make it to those national semifinal games March 31.

Here are a few things to watch with the NCAA Tournament about to get underway:

AGAIN AND AGAIN

Coach K, Self and Tom Izzo keep going back to the NCAA Tournament. All have won national titles, and they’re in the same regional this season.

Mike Krzyzewski and Duke are in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd year in a row, two more than Izzo and Michigan State.

The school with the most consecutive appearances is Kansas, which stretched its active streak to 29 in a row as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.

Self is in his 20th NCAA Tournament in a row, the 15th with Kansas after the Jayhawks won their unprecedented 14th straight Big 12 Conference championship .

Before that, Self went to the NCAA twice with Tulsa and three times with Illinois.

The Spartans (29-4) are the No. 3 seed and get to stay in their home state for Friday’s game against Bucknell. Kansas (27-7) also has a short trip for the opening weekend, staying in the Sunflower State to play Penn on Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.

The Jayhawks last year beat Michigan State in the second round of the Midwest Regional, but the only way to meet this year would be if both make it to the regional final in Omaha, Nebraska.

Duke (26-7), the No. 2 seed that plays Iona on Thursday, could face a potential Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan State.

WHERE ARE THE 1s?

Only twice since the 2008 tournament has the NCAA title game even been a matchup of No. 1 seeds.

That included last season in Arizona when North Carolina beat Gonzaga, a year after the Tar Heels were the national runner-up. UNC tied the 2016 title game in Texas on a double-clutch 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left before Villanova won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Duke beat Wisconsin for the 2015 championship, the only other title game matchup of No. 1 seeds since the Jayhawks’ overtime win over Memphis in 2008.

North Carolina and UCLA were the other No. 1 seeds in San Antonio.

While this isn’t Marshall’s first NCAA Tournament since the 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people, including 36 members of the Thundering Herd football team, this appearance is special for fourth-year head coach and alumnus Dan D’Antoni.

Marshall won the Conference USA Tournament for an automatic NCAA berth, ending a 31-year drought.

“A lot of people think the plane crash was just the football team, but I think you have to understand all the biggest supporters of basketball were on the airplane too, and we lost all of them,” said D’Antoni, who at the time was a young basketball assistant coach there only months after finishing his playing career as a Herd point guard.

Along with the players killed in the worst disaster in U.S. sports history , there were 39 coaches, administrators, community leaders, fans and crew who died when the team’s chartered jet crashed on Nov. 14, 1970, when returning from a game.

D’Antoni said he lost some close friends and a mentor in Dr. Ray Hagley, the team physician who was on the plane with his wife.

“They always wanted me to coach at Marshall,” said D’Antoni, now 70. “It didn’t look I was going to get the chance. It took 50 years for me to finally get back here, but that’s a lot of what it meant to me, and then it’s building back the program that he really gave his life for.”

The Hurley brothers both have their teams in the NCAA Tournament . The only way they can match up against each other is if Arizona State and Rhode Island both make it to the Sweet 16.

Bobby Hurley’s team at Arizona State would have to win an extra game to get there. The Pac-12 Sun Devils (20-11) have to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday against Syracuse.

Rhode Island (25-7), an at-large team from the Atlantic 10 coached by Dan Hurley, plays Thursday against Oklahoma.

Four teams of Wildcats are in the South Regional. Three of them play first-round games in the same arena.

No. 5 seed Kansas plays No. 12 Davidson on Thursday in Boise, Idaho. The winning Wildcats in that game face a potential second-round matchup against the Arizona Wildcats, the No. 4 seed that plays Buffalo in another first-round game in Boise.

The other Wildcats in that regional are No. 9 seed Kansas State, which takes on Creighton on Friday in Charlotte.

 ___

 For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>St. Norbert College earned the No. 1 seeding in the West Region in the NCAA Division 3 Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament and will host a national quarterfinal game for the 17th straight tournament appearance.

The Green Knights will host Augsburg University in a national quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 17 at the Cornerstone Community Center in De Pere. The winner will advance to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four on March 23-24 at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.

The Auggies (18-9) knocked off Marian 3-1 on Saturday in Minneapolis in a first round game.

This tournament appearance for the Knights will be their 18th. They’re 28-13-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament and with National Championships in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014. St. Norbert is 19-4 in its last 23 NCAA Tournament games dating back to 2008.

Augsburg is making its fifth NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. the Auggies are 4-6-1 all-time, advancing to the Frozen Four in 1998.</s>Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico made one thing clear Monday night: She still isn’t pleased with last year’s NCAA snub.

But after waiting through much of Monday’s NCAA tournament selection show and not hearing the Wolverines’ name called, U-M got to exhale when it was given an at-large bid to the field of 64.

Michigan (22-9), which felt it should have been invited to last year’s NCAA tournament but instead won the WNIT, is a No. 7 seed in the Lexington Region and faces No. 10-seed Northern Colorado (26-6) at 5 p.m. Friday in Waco, Texas (ESPN2).

“It will always leave a mark on us,” Barnes Arico told reporters on a conference call, referencing last season’s snub. “From year to year, it definitely matters who’s on the committee and what they’re looking for in each team. This year is a different team and we were on a mission.”

The suspense was building by the minute Monday night for Barnes Arico and her team, most notably seniors Katelynn Flaherty — the program’s all-time leading scorer — and Jillian Dunston.

Finally, Michigan received its first bid to the NCAA tournament since 2013.

“We were actually getting a stomach ache,” Barnes Arico said. “I could see (Dunston) starting to put her hand over her face. My own children were like, ‘We can’t watch anymore.’ Everyone was getting a little stressed.

“Then it was ‘Michigan’ and we jumped up, started screaming. We didn’t really hear much after that. Thank goodness we recorded the show so we can go back and watch it again.”

Although the Wolverines are excited to make the field, surviving past the opening weekend will be tough. With a win over Northern Colorado, U-M likely would face No. 2-seed Baylor — on its home court — in Sunday’s second round.

“You’re happy to be in, but obviously, the goal is to continue to win and advance,” Barnes Arico said. “I don’t want it to end. It will be difficult going to Waco, but every team right now is a great basketball program. Every team is fighting to survive.”

Central Michigan (28-4) won the MAC tournament last week, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Chippewas, the No. 11 seed in the Spokane Region, will draw No. 6 seed LSU at 11 a.m. Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, on ESPN2.

It's the fourth NCAA tournament appearance for CMU, the first since 2013.</s>FGCU Eagles hope to do some damage in the NCAA Tournament

Only one team could claim the trophy that comes with the ASUN Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. And FGCU came out on top.

Championship contenders FGCU and Jacksonville were familiar foes, and since the Dolphins knocked off the top-seeded Eagles in the title game in 2016, FGCU says this was also a chance for some payback.

It was a tough challenge, but with a final score of 68-58, FGCU women’s basketball won the ASUN title. FGCU clinched a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in seven seasons.

“I’m excited! Being the (seniors) last time on our court, why not win a championship and go home with a big smile on our faces? You know I got a couple scratches and bruises that’ll probably hit me tomorrow, but we won, so all those bruises are worth it!” said senior guard China Dow.

Coach of the Eagles, Karl Smesko, said it was one of the most physical games the Eagles played all year.

“It’s always a challenge for us, and you know, I’m just really proud of our effort from these ladies winning this tournament,” Smesko said. “Every time we’ve been in the (NCAA) tournament, the first round we’ve been really competitive, and hopefully…you know, I think this team’s good enough to win games in the NCAA tournament.”</s>How about a bucketful of figures to add to your at-home or in-office NCAA Tournament research?

Listen, I know you love to pore over the stats and try to find the keys to unlock the best bracket possible. It's a fun annual exercise. So what I've got here is a cornucopia of facts, stats and nuggets to help bring some perspective both to this year's field and historical performance of teams and seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

What I cannot recommend is that you use these numbers explicitly to build your bracket. You'll go crazy and contradict yourself in the process. But still, these figures are interesting to keep in mind as your make your way to a national title pick. Doing this kind of stuff brings me a lot of joy. I hope it gets you even more excited for the start of the tournament.

[Make sure to sign up and play Bracket Games through CBS Sports by creating a pool with your office, family or friends, or filling out your bracket online.]

[Check out SportsLine's Upset Tournament Bracket here. Their computer simulation correctly predicted nine out of 12 double-digit seed upsets in the first round the past two years.]

If you want a chance to win the whole thing, best to increase your odds by entering the NCAAs with a top 40 per-possession defense and a guard reasonably expected to be drafted. Nine teams fit that criteria. Only two have two guards who apply:

The rest of the list:

80: This is the 80th NCAA Tournament. Thirty-five programs have won a national title dating to 1939, when Oregon, won its only championship. The Ducks aren't in the field this year but the three other teams from that inaugural Final Four are: Ohio State was runner-up; Villanova and Oklahoma were semifinalists.

1: The Xavier Musketeers and Virginia Cavaliers are the highest seeded teams in the field without a national title.

6/1: Villanova's odds, as a No. 1 seed, to win the national championship. It's the favorite. (See all teams' title odds here).

28: The percentage of brackets at CBS Sports that have Virginia winning it all, the most popular pick.

18.5: According to our Bracket Voodoo forecast, that's Villanova's title chances, the best of all schools. So the popular pick matches the smartest pick. highest of any team, of winning the national title. For perspective, 2016 Kansas was slated at 29 percent at the start of the tournament. In 2015, then-undefeated Kentucky started the tournament at 41 percent. The top five are Villanova (18.5), Virginia (17.7), Duke (13.1), North Carolina (8.3) and Purdue (6.7).

1: Only three times has the No. 1 overall seed won the NCAA Tournament since the selection committee began ranking the No. 1s in 2004: Florida (2007), Kentucky ('12) and Louisville ('13). The No. 1 overall seed has also lost in the second round thrice. Virginia is this year's No. 1 overall seed. Villanova was last year's and has earned a top-line placement for the third time in four seasons.

17: Kansas has 17 wins against teams in the field, the most of any participating. Next best is Virginia (14), then Villanova and UNC (12). Teams with no wins against 2018 tournament teams: North Carolina Central, LIU Brooklyn, Texas Southern, UMBC, Radford, Lipscomb, Cal State Fullerton, Wright State, Iona, Penn, Stephen F. Austin, Bucknell, Buffalo, Montana, Murray State and Charleston.

.875: Virginia's win percentage this season against teams in the field, the highest of any team. Kansas is second at .850. Villanova third at .800.

O-fer: Infamously, no team has lost its first conference tournament game and then won a national title. This year, you should be suspicious of Auburn, Ohio State, Florida and Miami.

11 of 20: In the past 20 years, 11 national champions won their conference tournament. Performance in league bracket play seems to matter little when it comes to winning the whole shebang.

16: We know who has the most wins and fewest losses (Virginia at 31-2). But the most losses? Texas Southern (15-19), which plays North Carolina Central on Wednesday in Dayton.

14: Gonzaga's winning streak is the longest of any tournament team. The last time the Catamounts lost was Jan. 18 at home to Saint Mary's, which is in the NIT.

-22.5: Virginia's line against UMBC is the biggest of the first round. It matches Gonzaga's opening line vs. South Dakota State last season. There are no pick-ems on the board as of now. Here's every line for every Thursday and Friday game.

9: Coaches with top-four seeds to never have made a Final Four:

Last year, Mark Few, Dana Altman and Frank Martin pulled a rarity by making it three of four coaches who were in their first Final Four in the year.

63: Combined NCAA tourney wins from Tom Izzo, Mike Krzyzewski and John Calipari over the past eight seasons. Izzo, Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Lute Olson -- and now Bill Self, this year -- are the only coaches to make 20 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Krzyzewski's in his 23rd straight, which ties Dean Smith's record.

1-6: Kansas' success rate as a 1 seed in getting to the Final Four under Self.

24.9: Average margin of victory for No. 1 seeds over No. 16s in the modern tournament. No. 1 seeds are 132-0. Yes, I still root against the 16s versus the 1s every single year.

6 or fewer: Thinking Penn's got a shot vs. Kansas? Well, in seven instances, a 16 seed has finished a game within two 3-pointers of a No. 1 seed. Those results were: 2013 Southern vs. Gonzaga (64-58); 1996 Western Carolina vs. Purdue (73-71); 1990 Murray State vs. Michigan State (75-71 in OT); 1989 McNeese State vs. Illinois (77-71); 1989 East Tennessee State vs. Oklahoma (72-71); 1989 Princeton vs. Georgetown (50-49); and 1985 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Michigan (59-55).

2016: The last time all four No. 1 seeds reached the Elite Eight. Before that, it was 2009.

2008: Famously, the only time all four No. 1s reach the Final Four. But since 2010, only 10 of the 32 Final Four appearances have come from No. 1 seeds.

2017: Well, last year broke the streak. You almost never wanna go all chalk at the top on Thursday and Friday. In 2017, all 1s 2s, 3s and 4s won their first round game. Prior to that, the last time that happened was 2007. It's happened just six times since 1985.

54 vs. 49: No. 1 seeds have made the Final Four 54 times. That's more than the combined Final Four showings of Nos. 4-16 since seeding began (49).

No. 2: Only one time in the past 21 NCAA Tournaments have all four No. 2 seeds made the Sweet 16. Simply incredible. And just four times since 1985: '89, '95, '96, '09. It's hard to do, but chances are it will happen, so which 2 are you booting from your bracket?

12: Every seed, from 1-11, has made a Final Four. When does a 12 do it?

7: Though 7-10 games feel like 8-9 games, they're not. The 10s have never swept the 7s with the exception of one year.

60.4-to-1: Per bracketodds.com's calculator, those are the chances we'll have four No. 1 seeds reach the 2018 Final Four.

9,223,372,036,854,775,808: The number of different possible bracket outcomes. Wondering how to pronounce that number? I got you. That would be nine quintillion, two hundred twenty-three quadrillion, three hundred seventy-two trillion, thirty-six billion, eight hundred fifty-four million, seven hundred seventy-five thousand, eight hundred eight. That's basically the size of the universe.

9: For the second straight season, the ACC's nine bids lead all conferences. The SEC has a league-record eight teams in the NCAAs.

28: Saint Mary's, which is 28th at KenPom, is the highest team in that metric to not make the tournament, which was also true in 2016, when SMC was No. 34 and didn't get an at-large. Last season Clemson, at 35, was the highest left out.

34: USC's 34 RPI set a record. The Trojans were there highest-rated team from a major conference to not get an at-large. Missouri State's 21 in 2006 is still the all-time record, unlikely to be broken.

66: Arizona State owns a 66 RPI, making it the lowest-rated team in the field of all at-large selections.

7: In the past seven years, a No. 7 seed or lower has cracked the Elite Eight. Who will you find the will to pick this year?

26: It has been 26 years since a No. 6 seed made the Final Four. Who was it? Chris Webber and the Fab Five at Michigan.

+.145: UMBC, a 16 seed, rates as the "luckiest" team in the field, per KenPom. In the past 16 NCAA Tournaments, the luckiest team in the field lost its first game 14 times.

28: Xavier has the most NCAA Tournament appearances (28) of anyone in the field to not make a Final Four. It also has the most Big Dance wins -- 27 -- of any school in college basketball without a Final Four showing.

23/21: Tennessee coach Rick Barnes will be making his 23rd appearance in the NCAAs. The Volunteers as a program are going to their 21st Big Dance.

2,156: The distance as the crow flies from College of Charleston to the San Diego airport. The Cougars have the longest trip of any team in this year's field. Rams have, by far, the longest opening trip of anyone in the tournament.

13: A No. 13 seed has beaten a No. 4 in six of the past nine NCAA Tournaments. Looking at the bracket this year, Charleston over Auburn is the only 13 that's got some buzz around it.

14: A No. 14 has beaten a No. 3 in four of the past five NCAA Tournaments. I've already told you why Montana over Michigan is a Cinderella you need to be strongly considering.

7 > 8: Seeding matters. A 7 seed has made it to the Sweet 16 25 times since 1985. Contrast that to a No. 8, which has only gotten there 13 times. Heck, 10 seeds have reached the second weekend 23 times since the field expanded to 64 teams. You want that 2 instead of a 1 in the second round.

12: Iona is making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance. In this field, it has the most Big Dance showings without ever winning a game. The Gaels are seeded 15th and will play Duke on Thursday.

1: The number of teams making an NCAA tourney debut. Welcome, Lipscomb!

0 for 36: The Northeast Conference is still the only league that has never won a game in the first round. If that changes this year, it might erupt the earth's core: LIU Brooklyn needs to beat Radford in the First Four on Tuesday night and then topple No. 1 Villanova.

29: Most consecutive NCAA tourneys: Kansas (29), Duke (23), Michigan State (21), Gonzaga (20). Duke's Mike Krzyzewski making 23 straight ties Dean Smith's all-time record. Kansas' Bill Self -- this is lunacy -- is coaching his 18th straight NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed or better.

16: Combined national titles in the East Region, thanks in large part to UCLA. The teams in that quadrant who've got banners are UCLA (11), Florida (2), Villanova (2), Arkansas (1). The Midwest has the most programs with a national title (five): Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina State and Syracuse

1 for 8: Bill Self's success rate at Kansas in getting to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed. It happened in 2012.

9: Kansas is in its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. No other team has ever done this (John Wooden's UCLA run was pre-seeding).

2.26: Are you experienced? At 2.26 average seasons of playing experience for Wichita State, the Shockers are the oldest on-the-court team in this year's tournament. Next up: Iona, St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island. Kentucky, for the second straight season, is the greenest team in the NCAAs (a startling 0.18 years of playing experience prior to 2017-18 on this roster). Duke is right behind UK (0.67), and Alabama, Syracuse and Texas round out the bottom five. If veterans matter more to you than talent, keep that in mind.

44: A No. 12 seed has won 44 first-round games since the field expanded 1985. The 1988, 2000, '07 and '15 tournaments are the only ones since the field expanded in 1985 to not have a 12th seed win. Middle Tennessee got it done last year by beating Minnesota. South Dakota State, New Mexico State and Davidson are all trending this year as 12-over-5s.

.808: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's win percentage in the second round and Elite Eight. He is 21-5 in those games (i.e., on two-day turnaround). If Michigan State gets past Bucknell, it would play TCU, Syracuse or St. Bonaventure.

21-17: Since seeding the field began, No. 1 seeds have more national titles (21) than the rest of the seeds combined (17).

10-15: Pick at least one double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16, because it has happened all but two years since '85 (1995, 2007). And 15 times there have been at least three double-digit seeds who made the Sweet 16.

7: Since 1980, there have been seven reigning champions who've made the Final Four the next season. Second-seeded UNC will try to be the eighth. Florida was the most recent, the Gators winning back-to-back in 2006-07.

7 for 7: Hate the First Four if you must, but the format is providing the NCAA Tournament with a vital part of the March Experience. Since the First Four was initiated in 2011, every year has seen at least one team -- always one of the at-larges -- win at least one game once it gets to the field of 64. Last season it was USC. Who's it gonna be this year: St. Bonaventure, UCLA, Arizona State or Syracuse?

Now that you've made it this far, listen up to see how Gary Parrish and I picked each of our brackets.
The 2018 NCAA tournament begins, with the First Four starting in Dayton, Ohio.