NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Prediction

Well its that time of year, get your office pools started because the NCAA Tournament is about to begin.

I believe these are the teams you will see in the Elite Eight this year.

North Carolina:

The overall No. 1 seed in the tournament will make an Elite Eight appearance and most likely a Final Four appearance as well. Hansbrough will lead this team along with Lawson as UNC shows why they are worthy of the No. 1 seed.

UCLA:

With players like Collison, Shipp and Pac 10 player of the year Kevin Love, UCLA is prepared to make a run at the Elite Eight, as well as the Final Four. If they are put in the Anaheim/Phoenix bracket, there shouldn't be anything stopping them from reaching the remaining eight of this year's tournament.

Kansas:

The Jayhawks are one of what I think is the more underrated teams with a high seed in this year's tournament. Kansas will prove any naysayers wrong by making it to the Elite Eight and quite possibly sneaking their way into the Final Four.

Georgetown:

Even though they lost in the Big East Championship game to Pitt, Georgetown is a force to be reckoned with this year, I think they will make it into the Final Four this year, too. 

Let me put it this way. They beat Villanova a possible tourney team by 19 points, and Roy Hibbert had zero points that game. That is scary to me when they can perform that well with their leader and big man going scoreless.

Stanford:

This is my bracket sleeper this year. I think Stanford, with the Lopez twins, has a great chance of even going as far as the Final Four this year, with experienced role players like Lawerence Hill, among other players Stanford looks destined to make a deep run in the tournament.

Memphis:

So they play in what could be called one of the weaker major conferences in NCAA, that's fine. A 31-1 record is impressive either way, and they have the players to go deep in this tournament. If they get placed in a good bracket, I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Final Four this season, as well.

Xavier:

So they didnt win the A-10 Tournament, that's not a big deal. This team has a great set of role players and can surprise teams if they think they are dealing with a normal Atlantic 10 team. Xavier can be one of the surprises that could sneak into the Elite Eight.

Wisconsin:

I feel they are one of the most underrated teams in the NCAA, and they are sixth in the country right now. I think Wisconsin will make a deep run with a solid core of players and an intelligent coach. Unless they run into teams like UCLA or UNC, I think this team could be scary as the tourney goes on.

Other Possible Elite Eight Teams:

Duke, Vanderbilt, Texas, Tennesse and Michigan St.

My Final Four:

I have a random set of four teams right now in the tournament, and this is before the bracket comes out tomorrow, so this could change once the bracket is set:

Georgetown, UCLA, UNC, and Stanford