March Madness 2018: 68 NCAA Tournament Team Field Revealed on Selection Sunday

Teams have to make the NCAA tournament field before they can worry about cutting down the nets as champions, and title dreams are still alive for 68 squads.

The 2018 NCAA tournament field was released Sunday on TBS' broadcast, and the bracket matchups were confirmed. Here is a look at those 68 teams, as well as a few storylines to watch during this year's edition of March Madness.

Virginia was announced as the tournament's top overall seed, with Villanova, Xavier and Kansas rounding out the top four seedings:

B/R's printable bracket with all teams entered can be found here at NCAA.com.

Full Bracket     

Storylines to Watch

Can North Carolina Repeat?

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The 2017-18 campaign was an up-and-down one by North Carolina's elevated standards.

It lost the two final regular-season games to Miami and Duke, stemming the momentum from a six-game winning streak. It also had a three-game losing streak during ACC play, although it reached the final of the conference tournament before losing to Virginia.

The Tar Heels also dropped a game to Wofford in nonconference play and were blown out by Michigan State in a marquee meeting with a fellow powerhouse.

Still, last season's North Carolina team lost its ACC tournament semifinal matchup with Duke and the penultimate game of the regular season to Virginia and proceeded to win the national championship. It beat Kentucky in the Elite Eight, Oregon in the Final Four and Gonzaga in the championship game.

Repeating will be difficult without the presence of Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks and Justin Jackson, but head coach Roy Williams still has veteran leadership in the form of Joel Berry II, Theo Pinson and Luke Maye.

The pressure-packed tournament setting and its one-and-done format will be nothing new for this team, as Berry was named the 2017 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, Maye hit the winning shot in the Elite Eight against Kentucky and Pinson just missed a double-double against Gonzaga with nine points and nine boards.

The champion attempting to defend its crown is always a marquee storyline, and this year will be no different.

Which Big East Superpower Will Reign Supreme?

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The Big East may not have a long list of historical powerhouses like the ACC, but it did feature two dominant forces throughout the season who were ticketed by many bracketologists to end up on the No. 1 lines come Selection Sunday.

Xavier and Villanova give the conference two legitimate Final Four contenders who battled back and forth throughout the campaign. The Musketeers won the regular-season title, although the Wildcats won the two head-to-head matchups in the regular season by a head-turning 40 points combined and captured the conference tournament crown.

Xavier won't have to worry about playing the Wildcats in the tournament unless each side advances deep into the field, and the question is which one will do so—if not both. The Musketeers are looking for their first Final Four in school history, while the Wildcats have been to five and won the national title in 2016.

There is plenty of star power on each side, with Trevon Bluiett spearheading Xavier's effort and the combination of Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges forming a dominant duo for opposing defenses to worry about with the Wildcats.

A Final Four for either would give it bragging rights over the conference rival it battled in the polls and league standings all season.

How Will the Low Big Ten Representation Fare?

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There is no other way to look at it, having four teams in the NCAA tournament field is a disastrous season by Big Ten standards.

There are plenty of programs with a rich basketball history between Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin and Purdue, but fans can count the number of teams in the March Madness bracket on one hand with room to spare.

It is a testament to the league's poor standing this season that Nebraska went 13-5 in conference play and didn't even make the field of 68. In a normal season, 13-5 in the Big Ten would figure to be good enough for a favorable seed with an excellent opportunity at the Sweet 16 and beyond.

The four teams in the field do have the chance to turn things around for the league, though.

Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan all spent time in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll this season, and the Wolverines come in as one of the hottest teams in the nation after winning their last five regular-season games and all four Big Ten tournament games.

If those four teams live up to their potential, the Big Ten will have the chance to put the disappointing season in the rearview mirror with a memorable postseason.