NCAA Tournament 2017: Full Bracket, Seedings and Play-in Games Revealed

Get ready to call in sick for work Thursday and Friday. The 2017 NCAA tournament is set.

The revered bracket was released Sunday, and Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga and North Carolina earned the coveted No. 1 seeds and theoretically the clearest paths to the Final Four in Phoenix. However, it wouldn't be called March Madness if everything went according to plan, and there promises to be plenty of thrilling upsets before the champion ultimately cuts down the nets.

With that in mind, here is a look at the full bracket, seeds, play-in games and a national title pick.

Bracket and Seeds

Play-In Games

The play-in games, or First Four, will take place in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here is a look at the slate:

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Tuesday, March 14	Mount St. Mary's vs. New Orleans	6:40 p.m.	truTV
Tuesday, March 14	Kansas State vs. Wake Forest	9:10 p.m.	truTV
Wednesday, March 15	NC Central vs. UC Davis	6:40 p.m.	truTV
Wednesday, March 15	Providence vs. USC	9:10 p.m.	truTV

The eight teams appearing in these games will have to win seven contests instead of six to take home the national championship. That will likely prove to be too daunting a task, especially for the No. 16 seeds. After all, a No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed in tournament history, let alone win the whole thing.

The other teams barely made the field, although Keith Lipscomb of ESPN.com noted last year a team from the First Four advanced to the round of 32 every season since the format started in 2011. VCU advanced all the way to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed in 2011, so Providence, USC, Kansas State and Wake Forest should not stop dreaming just because they have to play before Thursday.

National Championship Pick: Kansas Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks won their astounding 13th straight conference championship this season and will add a national title to go along with it.

Head coach Bill Self is battle-tested with two national title game appearances for Kansas—one of which he won—as well as six Elite Eights. He has the ideal roster for another deep March run, and it will come together perfectly in the next six games.

The Jayhawks boast veteran leadership with seniors Frank Mason III and Landen Lucas, and juniors Devonte' Graham and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk as major contributors.

Mason gives them a ball- and pace-controlling playmaker who can create open shots for himself and teammates in March's tensest moments. He is averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game during his final collegiate season as the team's unquestioned leader, and he has shooters around him in Mykhailiuk and Graham when the defense collapses on his penetration.

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today noted the Kansas guard earned the publication's Player of the Year honors and praised his overall consistency: "What's been particularly special to watch as Mason's senior season has progressed is the consistency. He started the season with a 30-point performance against Indiana in Hawaii and a buzzer-beater win against Duke at Madison Square Garden—and barely has let up since."

Mason is a primary reason Kansas is an offensive machine, but its defense is solid enough to earn plenty of victories as well. The Jayhawks check in at No. 9 in offensive efficiency and No. 30 in defensive efficiency in Ken Pomeroy's pace-adjusted figures.

This prediction hasn't even gotten to Josh Jackson, who could very well be a top-three pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

He is a lethal second scorer alongside Mason and is averaging 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per night behind 51.1 percent shooting from the field and 37.7 percent shooting from downtown. He possesses game-changing athleticism, and fans are sure to see highlight-reel lobs from Mason in the tournament as the pair continues to foster additional chemistry every time they step on the floor together.

Jackson can shoot from deep as yet another outside weapon and is also a force on the boards who notched nine double-doubles in his last 17 games, including his 20-point and 10-rebound performance against Kentucky.

The fact he was suspended for Kansas' Big 12 tournament loss to TCU, per Matt Galloway‏ of the Topeka Capital-Journal, is one reason not to worry about the recent slip against the Horned Frogs.

Self praised the youngster's overall maturity, per Galloway: "I think it's his mental makeup and maturity. He's beyond his years. He just turned 19 not too long ago, but he certainly doesn't play like a 19 year old or act like one. In crucial situations, he's got a calmness about him."

Playing a loaded schedule likely helped foster that calmness and prepared the Jayhawks to face the high-caliber teams they will need to beat to reach the Final Four and prevail in Phoenix.

They squared off with a number of power conference teams during their nonconference schedule in Indiana, Duke, Kentucky, Georgia, Stanford and Nebraska, as well as a difficult Big 12 slate that featured Baylor, West Virginia, Iowa State and Oklahoma State, among others.

Kansas has veteran leadership, a coach who has cut down the nets in the past, a battle-tested group that played a number of difficult opponents and a pair of superstars in Mason and Jackson who can take over a single-elimination game at any moment.

That formula will win it the national championship.