8 Matchups We Would Love to See in the 2015 NCAA Tournament

This college basketball season really is flying by. Somehow, we're only about six weeks away from Selection Sunday and getting March Madness well and truly underway. 

That means it's time to start dreaming about the matchups we'd love to see take center stage in the Big Dance.

Look, we know that predicting the games is a futile exercise—it's almost impossible once the bracket has been set, let alone midway through conference play. However, that doesn't mean we can't make a wish list of rivalries, rematches and first-time meetings that would make the 2015 NCAA tournament one of the best ones ever.

This list consists of a plethora of scenarios—we want to see some teams get revenge, some all-star players to face off and some conference rivals of realignments past brought back together.

We'll keep our fingers and toes crossed as you check out the eight matchups we're hoping to see in March.

Duke vs. Maryland

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Duke vs. Maryland was always an underrated rivalry to everyone outside of the ACC, but fans of the teams know how heated this battle has been throughout the years, particularly from the Maryland side. (It does have its own Wikipedia entry, after all!)

Now, with Maryland out of the ACC and having a resurgent year in the Big Ten, we'd love to see these two meet up in the Big Dance. The teams do have a history in the NCAA tournament, meeting in the Final Four in 2001, with Duke winning and going on to win the national championship.

Right now, Duke is sitting at No. 5 in the rankings and staring at a daunting ACC schedule. Maryland is surprising everyone in the country with a 17-2 start to the season and a No. 13 ranking. The Terrapins always came to play against Duke, so there's no doubt that the team would show up for a game in the NCAA tournament.

College basketball is all about rivalries, and we'd like to see this one stay alive with a little help in March. 

Kentucky vs. Virginia

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We're less than a week away from February, and only two college basketball teams are currently undefeated: Kentucky and Virginia. Not coincidentally, the two teams are sitting at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the rankings.

Of course, most people expected the insanely talented Kentucky Wildcats to be in this position—they were widely considered to be the best team in the country before the season began and have been pegged as legitimate contenders for an undefeated season.

Virginia is a bit more of a surprise, though, and its tough ACC schedule is much more intimidating than Kentucky's SEC slate. However, a 17-0 start to the year is nothing to sneeze at, and the Cavaliers are going to be a team to be reckoned with over the next two months.

Upsets in the NCAA tournament are a blast, but there's nothing better than seeing the best regular-season teams square off with everything on the line. For that reason, we'd love to see Kentucky and Virginia meet up, (likely) in the Final Four.  

There would be a lot of question marks surrounding the game considering that these two programs have almost zero history—they've only met once, a 75-61 Virginia upset back in the 2002 regular season.  

UConn vs. Villanova

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For 35 years, Connecticut and Villanova battled it out in the Big East. That all changed in 2013, when UConn joined the American Athletic Conference. 

However, the two rivals did get to meet last season, when seventh-seeded UConn defeated second-seeded Villanova to advance to the Sweet 16 in the 2014 NCAA tournament. We'd love to keep this old-school Big East showdown going with another meeting between these two schools in March.

The teams have met 60 times since 1979, with Villanova having a marginal 31-29 advantage in the head-to-head. But it's the current storylines that would really make this a mouthwatering game.

First of all, Villanova is currently ranked No. 4 in the country and will be in contention for a top seed in the tournament. UConn, meanwhile, might be the defending champion, but that doesn't give the Huskies an automatic pass into the tournament. Actually, UConn is battling for its postseason life, so if the team does make it into the tournament, it will be thanks to a great February and early March.

If these two do meet in the NCAA tournament, UConn would be fighting to redeem a subpar season, while Villanova would be looking for 2014 revenge and trying to make it to the Final Four for the first time since 2009. With that much on the line for two programs with so much history, who could resist?

North Carolina vs. N.C. State

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It's time to bring at least one of the tobacco-road rivalries into the NCAA tournament, and while Duke vs. UNC would surely be a headliner, North Carolina vs. N.C. State would be a blockbuster as well.

UNC leads this ACC duel 151-76, but make no mistake about it: This is an intense matchup. You just need to look at the last two matches between these two teams for proof of that: On February 26, 2014, UNC won 85-84 in overtime, and on January 14 this year, UNC prevailed 81-79.

Carolina's coach Roy Williams takes this rivalry personally, as reported by Andrew Carter of NewsObserver.com:

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'I always have appreciated the rivalry,' Williams said. 'I’ve enjoyed it. But I think it is a big rivalry. It probably means more to me than the typical North Carolina fan. It’s just because of the closeness and some buddies that were North Carolina State students when I was in school here. It was a personal thing.'

Williams has told the story often before, but it goes something like this: When he went off to school at UNC in the late 1960s, some of his friends from back home in Asheville gave him grief about it. Those friends of Williams went to N.C. State. Williams took the ribbing personally, and his disdain for the Wolfpack was born.

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The two teams have never met in the NCAA tournament, and it's beyond time for that to happen. 

Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame

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Notre Dame is in the top 10 in points per game. Wisconsin is in the top 10 in points allowed. Notre Dame has Jerian Grant. Wisconsin has Frank Kaminsky. You're telling me you wouldn't want to watch these two teams face off in March?

They don't have much of a history—they have only faced off twice since 1979, with the most recent game being a win by Notre Dame in 2010—but these two opposites could attract electricity in the Big Dance.

The Fighting Irish are currently ranked No. 8 with an 18-2 record. The Badgers are having a similarly successful season, also at 18-2 and ranked No. 6. Both teams will be fighting to be a top-two seed in the NCAA tournament, so if they do meet, it would be with a lot on the line.

We'd just love to see what happens when two of the best players in college basketball right now take the court at the same time. Make it happen, draw gods. 

Gonzaga vs. Utah

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We really want to know who the best team in the West truly is. It's certainly between Arizona, Gonzaga and Utah, but since Gonzaga and Utah don't have a head-to-head game this season, we'd love to see them battle it out in the NCAA tournament.

Earlier this season, on December 6, Arizona defeated Gonzaga 66-63 in overtime. Utah proceeded to get crushed by Arizona in its first meeting but will have a chance for revenge next month. But we need to see Gonzaga and Utah face off. 

Gonzaga is currently 17-1 and ranked No. 3 in the nation, and according to Bobby Reagan of HoopsHabit, it is the best team on Pacific Standard Time:

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The Bulldogs are looking more and more like a true national championship caliber team thanks to the health of Kevin Pangos, transfer of Kyle Wiltjer and depth that hasn’t been seen before in Spokane.

Gonzaga is currently rolling through the West Coast Conference, something that’s done almost every year, while starting to garner attention out East with its No. 3 AP ranking. Gonzaga is the most polished offensive team out west, with four players averaging double digit points and shooting 40 percent from deep as a team. The Bulldogs can also attack you inside with big men Przemek Karnowski and Domantas Sabonis.

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While everything that Reagan says is true, the Zags don't have any player quite as dominant as Utah's Delon Wright. The Utes are ranked No. 12 right now, but under Wright's leadership, they have a lot of time to improve before March. Hopefully, they'll be peaking just in time for a showdown for West Coast supremacy with Gonzaga.

Ohio State vs. Dayton

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Dayton's upset over Ohio State was one of the most entertaining early-round tournament games last year, and we'd love to see a sequel in a couple of months.

Last March, Ohio State was the No. 6 seed, while Dayton was seeded 11th, and when the Flyers upset the Buckeyes thanks to Vee Sanford's layup with 3.8 seconds left on the clock, it was seen as a shift of power between the rivals.

"I guess they called us the little brother, or whatever," Flyers guard Jordan Sibert said after that game, as reported by CBSSports.com wire reports. "We can't be called that anymore."

Of course, this year, the basketball layout in Ohio looks a little bit different than it did 10 months ago. This year, Ohio State is floundering a bit—the Buckeyes are currently unranked and sitting at 15-5, while Dayton is 16-3 and at No. 22 in the AP Top 25. With the role of underdog flipped, we'd love to see Ohio State get a shot at revenge this March.

Wichita State vs. Kansas

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These are two of the best basketball programs around right now, and they happen to share a state, and yet Wichita State and Kansas haven't faced off since 1993.

With Bill Self reportedly refusing to put Wichita State on his schedule (a move that has led WSU coach Gregg Marshall to call Kansas "the Chickenhawks," per Yahoo's Jeff Eisenberg), a match in the NCAA tournament is our only hope to see these two powerhouses square off anytime soon.

Jordan Ritter Conn of Grantland tried to explain the strange non-rivalry last year: 

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Rivalries require games to be played. The Shockers and Jayhawks haven’t shared a court since 1993. Rivalries require competitive balance, and back when the two programs did play, Wichita State lost 86 percent of those games. Rivalries require mutual enmity. The Shockers-Jayhawks relationship is a mix of envy and ambivalence, with occasional rage on one side, occasional respect on the other.

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This year, Kansas is off to a 14-3 start and ranked No. 11, while the Shockers are 16-2 and sitting at No.14. The two squads are evenly matched and have recent tournament success, with Wichita State making the Final Four in 2013 and Kansas getting there in 2012.

The college basketball world deserves to see these two great teams battle it out on the biggest stage in the sport.