The march to Minneapolis begins this week with the official start of practice.
And the coaches are hardly focusing on the streaks at stake.
So why not make a number of predictions that you鈥檒l have to hold me to in March and early April.
Everyone's favorite part of March Madness - One Shining Moment, circa 2011.
鈥 草莓网站在线看 Final Four (@FinalFour)
What was your favorite moment of the men's basketball championship?
Get ready to challenge these:
1. North Carolina coach Roy Williams will pass Bob Knight with his 29th 草莓网站在线看 tournament appearance.
2.West Virginia鈥檚 Bob Huggins will tie Eddie Sutton with his 25th 草莓网站在线看 tournament appearance.
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3. Tennessee鈥檚 Rick Barnes will pass Denny Crum with his 24th 草莓网站在线看 tournament appearance.
4. Michigan State鈥檚 Tom Izzo will tie Jim Calhoun with his 22nd 草莓网站在线看 tournament appearance.
5. Izzo (48 草莓网站在线看 tournament wins) and Kansas鈥 Bill Self (47) will pass Calhoun (49) on the all-time 草莓网站在线看 tournament win list.
6. Gonzaga鈥檚 Mark Few will go to his 20th-straight 草莓网站在线看 tournament (and another indicator about just how fantastic his run with the Zags has been in Spokane).
Who are the top head coaches based on their playing days? Here鈥檚 our starting 5!
鈥 草莓网站在线看 March Madness (@marchmadness)
馃憠
7. St. John鈥檚 Chris Mullin and Georgetown鈥檚 Patrick Ewing will join an exclusive club of coaches who played in the Final Four and then coached their team into the 草莓网站在线看 tournament. Yes. I鈥檓 saying right here and now the Red Storm and the Hoyas are going to the 草莓网站在线看 tournament.
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8. Gonzaga will go to its fifth consecutive Sweet 16, Kansas its fourth, Kentucky its third and Nevada its second in a row.
9. Kansas鈥 streak of three-straight Elite Eights will get snapped (cue the Jayhawk fans for me not picking them to get to the Final Four this season).
10. Wichita State, Arizona and Xavier will have their 草莓网站在线看 tournament consecutive streaks ended at seven, six and five seasons in a row, respectively (not afraid to say this could be considered a bridge season for these programs). Xavier will also have a streak ended of four seasons in a row of winning at least one 草莓网站在线看 tournament game.
11. Kansas (12 seasons), Gonzaga (10), North Carolina (8), Kentucky (5), Villanova (5), Butler (4) and Duke (4) will continue streaks of winning at least one game in the 草莓网站在线看 tournament.
12. Providence will go to its sixth 草莓网站在线看 tournaments in a row while South Dakota State will go to its fourth consecutive tournament (Mike Daum factor).
13. Mississippi State and Washington will end 草莓网站在线看 tournament droughts, going to the 草莓网站在线看 tournament for the first time since 2009 and 2011, respectively.
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14. Duke鈥檚 Mike Krzyzewski will become the all-time leader in consecutive 草莓网站在线看 tournament appearances with 24, passing the late great Dean Smith.
15. Loyola-Chicago won鈥檛 get back to the Final Four but will win at least one 草莓网站在线看 tournament game for the second straight season.
16. The A-10 will once again cause fits for the 草莓网站在线看 tournament selection committee and force a team out of the field that was originally in before the championship game. The Davidson factor will occur again, but this time the Wildcats will be in the field and another A-10 team will be the spoiler on Selection Sunday (maybe George Mason?).
