March is here and so is the NCAA March Madness Tournament. March Madness has finally arrived as the first two play-in games tipped off Tuesday Night to commence this year’s edition of the Big Dance.

Sunday brought the selection show as the 68 team field was released and each team found out who’d they would be squaring off against in the first round. The first overall seed went to the Bulldogs from Gonzaga for the second straight year. The other top seeds were awarded to Baylor, Kansas, and Arizona.

Gonzaga enters the tournament for the second straight year with the number 1 overall seed. The Bulldogs seem to be the consensus favorite to be the ones cutting down the nets in April, but by a slimmer margin this year as they enter with a record of 26-3 versus the perfect 26-0 record they had entering the tournament last year.

The Bulldogs are led by the 7 foot Freshman Chet Homgren, along with a loaded backcourt including the former Iowa and Penn State guard Rasir Bolton, along with former Florida guard Andrew Nembhard. Also returning this year is the dominant big man Drew Timme who proved to be an integral part of the Bulldogs championship run a year ago.

Pat Forde from Sports Illustrated described the Zags by saying “They arguably have the best trio of players in the tournament in big men Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme and point guard Andrew Nembhard—and the supporting cast is plenty capable as well. Add the elite coaching of Mark Few and both the experience and hunger of last year’s run to the national title game, and this is the team to beat.”

Another team who has grabbed the attention of many are the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats captured the Pac-12 tournament title last week with a win over UCLA. The Wildcats have proved to be one of the more consistent teams all year as they finished with a record of 31-3. The team has averaged 84.6 points per game and have shot around a 50% clip.

The Wildcats are led by Bennedict Mathurin and Kerr Kriisa in the guard position who are both potential future NBA players. Mathurin has led the team in scoring as he has averaged nearly 17.4 points a game.

Bruce Pascoe from the Arizona Daily Star wrote in an article describing the Wildcats by saying “They love to run, and they love to defend. They’re connected, resilient and tough.”

The Wildcats were tested all year long and proved to many their resilience in big moments. The road to the Pac-12 title wasn’t easy for the Wildcats as all three of their games were decided by less than 10 points.

The two other top seeds in the tournament are both representing the Big 12 Conference: Kansas  and Baylor.

Baylor is entering the tournament this year as reigning champions and are looking to defend their title once again. Despite earning the 1 seed, the Bears have battled lots of adversity down the stretch entering the tournament.

After opening the season 15-0 the Bears were plagued with injuries to close out the regular season. Baylor lost their big man Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua to a season ending knee injury, along with leading scorer LJ Cryer who has battled a foot injury for the better part of the last 6 weeks.

The Bears are now led by Jeremy Sochan and Kendall Brown who have stepped up in the absence of Tchatchoua. The Bears do lack a presence in the guard position though as Cryer remains out for the early rounds of the tournament and the play from James Akinjo has been somewhat inconsistent at times.

Coach Scott Drew told Fox 44’s Eric Kelly “There’s always a chance” for the return of LJ Cryer beyond the first weekend of the tournament, as Cryer has not seen action since February 16.

The Jayhawks from Kansas are the owners of the final 1 seed in the tournament this year. Many have described the Jayhawks as playing the best basketball of anyone entering the tournament this week.

Kansas hit their stride at the right time as the team found some major success in their Big 12 Tournament run as they captured the title over Texas Tech. The Jayhawks looked dominant in the championship game win against the Red Raiders who have often been referred to as having one of the best defenses in the nation.

The Jayhawks are coached by Bill Self who has led them to three Final Four appearances during his tenure at Kansas. Offensively, Self’s team is not great, but they make up for it with their stout defense. The Jayhawks held teams to an average of 66 points a game this season and gave teams problems down in the paint.

The NCAA tournament this year should prove to be an exciting one as there is no clear front runner in the field. Although Gonzaga has the most picks to win the title, many still question their ability to get over the “hump.” Each top seed has been through adversity over the span of the regular season and only time will tell who will be the last one standing in April.