College Basketball: Predicting the 4 No. 1 Seeds of the NCAA Tournament

Selection Sunday (March 11th) is a little over two weeks away.

The road to the Final Four will begin a basketball odyssey that will end with one team being crowned champion at the Superdome in New Orleans.

However, first things first.

Questions that everyone will want to know are: Which 68 teams will make the tournament? Which four teams were the last to make it and which four were the last to be voted out?

But, one of the most important questions is: Which four teams are seeded No. 1 and where are they headed?

Assuming this quartet of teams win their respective conference tournaments, they should go into the tournament as the top four seeds.

Here is this writer's take on the top four seeds of the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Enjoy.

4. Michigan State Spartans: Midwest Regional

No coach has gotten more out of a team than Tom Izzo of Michigan State (pictured).

Izzo, the dean of Big Ten coaches, will look to give the Spartans their fourth No. 1 seeding under his tenure. The other times Michigan State went into the tournament seeded No. 1 were 1999, 2000 and 2001.

The last time the Spartans were seeded No. 1 in the Midwest (2000), they won the national title.

Izzo has Michigan State playing great basketball. They have won nine out of their last 10 and have already won the Big Ten regular-season championship, the seventh time the Spartans have won the title under Izzo.

Michigan State (24-5) lost its first two games (North Carolina and Duke), before reeling off 15 straight wins.

This season by far is one of Izzo's best coaching jobs. The Spartans were unranked in the preseason, but now have a chance to get to their seventh Final Four under him. 

3. Kansas Jayhawks: Western Regional

The Kansas Jayhawks have the longest NCAA tournament streak with 22 consecutive appearances. Question is: Are the Jayhawks a No. 1 seed?

Kansas (25-5) should claim the top spot in the West Region.

The Jayhawks, regular-season champions of the Big 12, have an impressive resume. They are riding a seven-game winning streak and atoned for their loss to the Missouri Tigers on Saturday in dramatic fashion.

Kansas trailed the Tigers by 19 points in the second half before coming back to send the game into overtime, where they held on for a 87-86 home win.

The Duke Blue Devils (25-4) are also worthy of consideration, but the Jayhawks should get the nod over Duke to claim their 10th overall No. 1 seed. Four of them have come under current head coach Bill Self.

Self led the Jayhawks to the title in 2008; that season Kansas was the top seed in the Midwest Region.

2. Syracuse Orangemen: South Regional

Even with a loss this weekend to Louisville or next week in the brutal Big East Tournament, the Syracuse Orangemen should claim one of the top four seeds.

With only one blemish on their record, the Orangemen (29-1) have gotten the job done this season.

Senior point guard Scoop Jardine (pictured) is playing with better control than in previous seasons under coach Jim Boeheim.

It's amazing that in Boeheim's illustrious 34 years as coach, Syracuse has had only one No. 1 seed (2010).

Boeheim led the Orangemen to the 2003 title. He may get a second chance to cut down the nets in New Orleans.

1. Kentucky Wildcats: Eastern Regional

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari may finally get his chance to cut down the nets in New Orleans.

Calipari's Wildcats are the nation's top-ranked team (28-1) and everybody's consensus pick to win this year's national title.

Kentucky, college basketball's winningest team ever, will make the tournament for the 52nd time, which is also an all-time best.

Coach Cal hopes to lead the Wildcats to their first title since the 1998 season. Two seasons ago, Kentucky was No. 1 in the East Region, but lost to West Virginia in the Elite Eight. That team had the likes of John Wall and Demarcus Cousins (both now in the NBA).

Calipari has a similar team this season, but the Wildcats are loaded up front. Freshman center Anthony Davis—a possible No. 1 NBA draft pick this year—leads the nation in blocked shots. Forward Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist, another freshman, is a similar standout.

Another statistic that is noteworthy: Calipari is the only coach to lead three different schools to No. 1 seeds (UMass, Memphis and Kentucky). However, the first two were vacated because of NCAA infractions: UMass in 1996 and Memphis in 2008.

The time to win for Calipari is now. Kentucky will probably lose two or three underclassmen off this year's team to the NBA. 

Kentucky fans have been patient, but they want a championship. The Wildcat faithful will not be happy with anything less this season.