March Madness 2015: Tournament Dates, Schedule and Early Favorites

From the biggest college basketball fans to the people who have only heard some team names in passing, everyone gets excited for March Madness.

The NCAA tournament is one of the most popular events in sports every year thanks to the complete drama from start to finish. If a small school shocks the world with an upset, it remains fun to root for the little guys. If the favorite wins every game, that's also fun to see complete dominance.

No matter what you are looking for in the 68-team tournament, there is a storyline for everyone.

In order to keep you in the loop for the entire event, here is a look at the important dates to know as well as a breakdown of the top teams to watch. 

Date	Event
Selection Sunday	March 15
First Round	March 17-18
Second Round (Round of 64)	March 19-20
Third Round (Round of 32)	March 21-22
Sweet 16	March 26-27
Elite Eight	March 28-29
Final Four	April 4
National Championship Game	April 6

Kentucky

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

From start to finish, Kentucky has been the best team in the nation this season. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a perfect 31-0 record, becoming the first power-conference team to accomplish the feat since Indiana in 1975-76.

While it's clear there is tons of talent on this roster, the real skill was getting the various high school All-Americans to play well together. Head coach John Calipari recently discussed how selflessness has been the key to success, via Nicole Auerbach of USA Today:

"

In this society, instead of me, me, me — it's us, us, us. …

It's a unique group. The strength is in the pack more than any team I've ever coached, and everyone's stepped up at different points — and I'll be honest with you, everybody's also stepped back at different points. And when they stepped back, someone else stepped up.

"

As impressive as the year has been to this point, the Wildcats still have much higher goals, as their postgame shirts indicated:

The mission wasn't to go undefeated but to win a championship, and the team is still far from accomplishing this feat. The Wildcats have the talent, but the young team still has to prove it can avoid any mistakes in the NCAA tournament.

Duke

USA TODAY Sports

Although Duke wasn't quite undefeated this season, it did pick up arguably the biggest selection of wins compared to anyone else in the nation. The Blue Devils have impressive road victories at Wisconsin, Virginia, Louisville and North Carolina, each team unfamiliar with losing at home.

The team is led by National Player of the Year candidate Jahlil Okafor, who is averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as one of the more dominant interior players the sport has seen in a long time. If he gets the ball in the post and isn't double-teamed, it's almost a guaranteed basket.

Meanwhile, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports notes the Blue Devils have more reason to expect a run to the Final Four:

Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook have proven to be one of the best backcourt tandems in the nation, as they always seem to come through when it is needed most.

There are certainly questions about depth with only eight scholarship players remaining on the roster, but Duke should have what it takes to remain a top contender this March.

Virginia

USA TODAY Sports

This team isn't exactly a fan-favorite, but there is no denying Virginia has the ability to win a national championship.

Sure, the squad lacks star power and doesn't run up the score with fast-paced play. However, the squad plays outstanding defense to lead the nation with just 50.3 points allowed per game.

Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports justified reasoning to root for the Cavaliers:

"

Virginia isn't "ruining college basketball", they are playing hard,together,tough- would they be better off chucking bad shots?

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) March 8, 2015"

Virginia has just two losses this season. One was on a come-from-behind effort from Duke, and the other came Saturday when Louisville's Mangok Mathiang made his only shot attempt of the game with 2.7 seconds left. Neither is really something to be concerned about.

With London Perrantes efficiently running the offense, Malcolm Brogdon making big plays and everyone on the court ensuring the opponent can't score, this team will go far this postseason.

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