No other playoff system offers a greater chance for a feel-good, Cinderella story. Since it's one loss and you're out, any team can realistically upset another team on any given night.
For that reason, a No. 1 seed means nothing. Sure, you seemingly have an easier road to the championship game. But we've seen over the years that upsets are aplenty, and that holding a No. 1 seed really just means teams are gunning for you even more.
This year, Kentucky earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament after a 32-2 season. The Wildcats won 24 straight games until falling to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament final. They'll be the top seed in the South Region.
Michigan State is the No. 1 seed in the West Region, which comes after the Spartans defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game on Sunday.
In the East region, which will go through Boston, Syracuse emerged as the No. 1. Despite falling to Cincinnati in the Big East tournament, Jim Boeheim's bunch went 31-2 and will be an extremely difficult out for any time in the tourney.
And then in the Midwest region, it's North Carolina who earned the top seed. The Tar Heels will play the winner of the Lamar-Vermont play-in game, and Roy Williams could end up facing his former team in the Elite Eight, as Kansas earned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region.
Every road to the big game is a difficult one, but some prove to especially rocky. Since history shows we won't have four No. 1 seeds, which top dog do you think will be the first to fall?
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