A few thoughts about this year's men's NCAA basketball tournament

This tournament is one of the few times that, given the choice between one team and the field, I would bet on the one team.

The two best teams in the tournament not named Kentucky are Wisconsin and Arizona. Unfortunately, they are both in the West bracket.

The final game I would love to see would be Kentucky vs. Wisconsin, but the way the tournament is set up, they would meet in a semifinal game. I see Kentucky shellacking Duke 77-62 in the finals.

There will be upsets, but most of them will come in the early rounds. As the tournament progresses, chalk will prevail. In fact, this year’s Final Four should consist of three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 (Virginia).

The major upsets I see in the first round are Buffalo over West Virginia and Texas over Butler in the Midwest, BYU over Xavier in the West and Eastern Washington over Georgetown in the South.

The biggest upset I see in round two is North Carolina State knocking off No 1 seed Villanova in the East. (A mild upset in the East is Northern Iowa defeating Louisville.) Other significant upsets I’m predicting in round two are Wichita State over 2-seed Kansas in the Midwest and BYU over 3-seed Baylor in the West.

I see an Elite 8 consisting of three No. 1 seeds ( Kentucky, Wisconsin and Duke), two No. 2s (Arizona and Virginia), two 3s (Notre Dame and Iowa State) and one eighth-seed (North Carolina State).

Word to the wise: Don’t wager large amounts of money on what I’ve just said. I’m never correct about these things.