NCAA Bracket 2012: Biggest X-Factor for Each No. 1 Seed

Why are all the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament so good?

Mainly because they have the best players and the best coaches. When you have those two things, you tend to play the game of basketball very well. 

It takes more than these two things to make a deep run through the NCAA tournament, though. Each of the four No. 1 seeds are going to need a little something extra. Some sort of X-factor will decide how far each team advances in the Big Dance.

For what it's worth, here are my takes on the biggest X-factors for each of the No. 1 seeds.

Kentucky Wildcats: Terrence Jones' motivation

If Terrence Jones decides to go pro after this season, we could find ourselves asking what his college career could have been, and not what it was.

Skills-wise, Jones is better than roughly 98 percent of the players in the country. He's big, he's athletic, he can handle and he can shoot. By all rights, he should be one of the top players in the nation and a clear favorite to be a lottery pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

The trouble is that Jones has pulled a disappearing-reappearing act during his time with Kentucky. There are times when he asserts his presence in a given game and makes things happen, and there are times when he fades into the background and is content to watch his teammates go to work.

Since it's now so very obvious that the Wildcats have a target hanging over their heads, they're going to need Jones to be a difference-maker in the NCAA tournament. They're not going to go very far if Jones is content to be a role player the whole time. His team is going to need him to be a star.

For that to happen, Jones is going to have to want to be the team's star.

Michigan State Spartans: Turnover battle

The Spartans did a very good job of limiting turnovers this season, averaging just 12.8 turnovers per game, according to TeamRankings.com.

But not surprisingly, a noticeable trend can be seen in Michigan State's notable losses. In the Spartans' season-opening losses to North Carolina and Duke, they lost the turnover battle. In their season-ending losses to Indiana and Ohio State, they lost the turnover battle. And you guessed it—they lost the turnover battle against Michigan too.

When everything is going well for Michigan State, Tom Izzo's team is a well-oiled machine. They shoot well, they rebound well, they play defense well and they typically walk away with an easy win in their back pocket. But when the Spartans are forced into making mistakes and turning the ball over on offense, bad things happen.

This is Basketball 101, of course. Where the Spartans differ from other teams is that they're just not designed to withstand sloppy efforts. Things need to go according to their plans.

North Carolina Tar Heels: John Henson's wrist

Part of what makes North Carolina so dominant is its incredible frontcourt. Very few teams in the country can even hope to match up against Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller.

Take one of them out of the equation, and the playing field is leveled significantly.

Right now, the Tar Heels are forced to worry if they can rely on Henson staying out on the court. He hurt his wrist against Maryland in the ACC tournament, and was unable to play against NC State or Florida State. The Tar Heels got all they could handle from the Wolfpack, and they got beat by the Seminoles.

Things likely would have been different if the Tar Heels had had Henson. He's an elite rebounder and an outstanding shot-blocker, and his offensive game has come a long way. When he's playing next to Zeller, North Carolina owns the paint.

Per The Sporting News, Roy Williams said that Henson probably would have played against Florida State if it had been the Final Four. That's a pretty good indication that Henson's wrist isn't dinged up too badly, and that he'll be OK heading into the tournament.

But the Tar Heels won't know for sure until Henson steps out on the court. If he's limited in any way, they're limited too.

Syracuse Orange: Half-court offense execution

The Orange are at their best when they're creating offense out of their defense. They were one of the best teams in the country in creating turnovers and using those turnovers to convert on fast-break opportunities. Many of the buckets Syracuse earned this year were easy buckets.

Any team that can limit its turnovers and force Syracuse into playing a slower game will stand a good chance of winning. 

The trick is to force Syracuse into getting the bulk of its buckets using its half-court offense, which is at best decent. Ideally, Syracuse's opponents will force the Orange's shooters into settling for threes and long twos, which is not this team's forte.

It can be done. For all their athleticism and defensive savvy, the Orange are not an elite offensive team. Take them out of their game, and they're much easier to beat.

Because of this, you just get the sense that Syracuse is more at risk of an upset than any of the other three No. 1 seeds.

For your printable NCAA bracket, click here.