March Madness 2015: Key Dates, Tournament Coverage Info and Top-Seed Predictions

March Madness has finally arrived. With one final weekend of conference tournaments before the 2015 NCAA tournament tips off, a handful of elite squads are playing musical chairs with four coveted top seeds available.

There may be one or two guarantees in the mix, but plenty of questions regarding those third and fourth spots are left to be answered by the selection committee. The unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats can't possibly play their way out of the top overall seed, and two ACC powerhouses may be perceived by some as locks, but any number of events during conference tournament weekend could sway the momentum either toward or away from certain teams.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some key dates and viewing info for March Madness and break down the likeliest No. 1 seeds.

2015 NCAA Tournament Viewing Info

TV: Games will be aired on CBS as well as Turner networks (TNT, TBS and TruTV)

Live Stream: NCAA March Madness Live

Event	Date
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

Note: Updated tournament schedule and bracket courtesy of NCAA.com.

Predicted No. 1 Seeds

Kentucky

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The Kentucky Wildcats lived up to every expectation and rattled off the first major conference unbeaten regular season in almost 40 years, helping cement their status as the nation's best team. Despite that, they have their sights set on much more as the NCAA tournament nears.

After improving to 32-0 with an SEC tournament quarterfinal win over Florida, Kentucky has slipped past yet another tough test and kept its unblemished record alive. But moving from this point to cutting down the nets is a whole different story, and few have been able to do it, as ESPN Stats and Info showed:

The Wildcats disposed of many national powerhouses in nonconference play and battled through a tougher SEC slate than anticipated, but the close calls and tight wins have piled up. When games get tight and they hit slumps, though, head coach John Calipari simply shakes things up with a nine-deep rotation of star-studded players.

Offensive potency depends on Kentucky's ball movement and opportunities in transition, but a constant focus on the defensive end sets the Wildcats apart. With two trees in the post, with Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns gobbling up boards and stifling drives, it will take a historic performance to top the NCAA's only unbeaten.

Duke

USA TODAY Sports

It felt like years since Duke had lost a game before the Blue Devils suffered a surprising ACC semifinal defeat at the hands of Notre Dame.

There were some areas of concern about the Blue Devils early in conference play when they followed up a 14-0 start to the season with three defeats in a six-game span. After their Jan. 28 loss at Notre Dame they faced a gut-check game at then-No. 2 Virginia and pulled out a huge 69-63 victory.

Duke has since got revenge over Notre Dame with a 30-point drubbing and beaten North Carolina twice. Despite a close loss to Notre Dame on Friday, the Blue Devils appear to have the right mindset entering tournament play, per Adam Rowe of 247Sports:

Big man Jahlil Okafor, who became the first freshman to win ACC Player of the Year, is the real deal, but unlike last season, when the team relied upon Jabari Parker, this year's Duke team is more balanced. Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones represent game-changers who can single-handedly take over contests, and Justise Winslow is putting in work on the perimeter to the tune of 12.3 points per game.

A tournament defeat doesn't bode well for Duke with so many strong No. 1 seed candidates, but the selection committee won't be able to overlook its body of work.

Mike Krzyzewski's crew had plenty of holes this time last year, when it fell to Mercer in one of the upsets of the tournament. This time around, the Blue Devils appear set for a deep run.

Virginia

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

The loss of perhaps their best player and a pair of late-season losses haven't done enough to bounce the Virginia Cavaliers from the top line of the bracket.

Second-leading scorer Justin Anderson missed eight games but returned in Virginia's ACC tournament victory over Florida State on Thursday. The Cavaliers may have fallen in their regular-season finale on the road at Louisville and to North Carolina in Friday's ACC tournament semifinal, but their dominance for virtually the entire season won't be lost on the selection committee.

Virginia is far from an offensive dynamo; the Cavaliers rank 230th nationally with just 65.3 points per game, but much of that is due to a slow style of play, which emphasizes an elite defensive ability that has held 15 of their opponents to fewer than 50 points.

As best put by CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, it's simply a beautiful sight:

Having elite guard play is essential to any team hoping to make a deep tournament run, but having an elite defense can be an even bigger boost. Baskets will be hard to come by for any foe facing Virginia, with the best way to attack them coming from the post, as demonstrated by Duke and Louisville.

Any team that can't dominate Virginia down low, however, will have its hands full trying to stay in the game.

Villanova

John Minchillo/Associated Press

While the first three No. 1 seeds in the tournament are all but locked up entering the first weekend of the postseason, there's no easy answer for the fourth and final spot. Arizona and Wisconsin can both generate some momentum with a conference tournament championship, but they're both looking up at Villanova.

The Wildcats hail from the Big East, which hasn't exactly been a hot bed for NCAA tournament teams, but they have only dropped two games in conference play and none out of conference. Villanova is unbeaten since a Jan. 19 road loss at Georgetown, with Friday's win over Providence making it 14 straight victories.

Prior to their loss, Providence head coach Ed Cooley gave Villanova a strong endorsement, per CBS Sports' Jeff Borzello:

Villanova's featured scorers are spread out as well as any team in the nation, with six players averaging 9.2 points per game or more. Darrun Hilliard II and Ryan Arcidiacono lead the way with a combined 25 points per contest, leading to many more blowouts than close games throughout a dominant regular season.

Despite a 31-2 record, Villanova could lose pace if it falls in the Big East tournament and sees a team such as Wisconsin or Arizona hoist its crown. But for now, the Wildcats are well within position to land the fourth and final No. 1 seed.