NCAA Bracket 2016: March Madness Schedule, Bracket Predictions for Marquee Teams

You've heard it a million times: The 2015-16 college basketball season will go down in history as one of parity. There's no dominant team that the rest of the NCAA is afraid of, and no squad's position near the top of the polls is safe.

The current Associated Press No. 1, Kansas, already has four losses to its name. In the past 10 years, there hasn't been an AP No. 1 team at this point in the season with more than three defeats. In fact, the average number of losses for the top-ranked team on the date of the Week 17 poll release in that span has been just 1.8.

What does this mean for fans? Hopefully, it means that March Madness promises to be even madder than usual. Upsets should be more commonplace, and blowouts will likely be few and far between.

With conference tournaments approaching, let's review the schedule for the Big Dance. After that, we'll look at the current situations of the AP's top three teams from its most recent poll.

Date	Round	Locations
March 15, 16	First Four	UD Arena (Dayton, OH)
March 17, 19	First/Second Rounds	Dunkin Donuts Center (Providence, RI); Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, IA); PNC Arena (Raleigh, NC); Pepsi Center (Denver)
March 18, 20	First/Second Rounds	Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY); Scottrade Center (St. Louis); Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, OK); Spokane Arena (Spokane, WA)
March 24, 26	West Regional (Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight)	Honda Center (Anaheim, CA)
March 24, 26	South Regional (Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight)	KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, KY)
March 25, 27	Midwest Regional (Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight)	United Center (Chicago)
March 25, 27	East Regional (Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight)	Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)
April 2	Final Four (Semifinals)	NRG Stadium (Houston)
April 4	Championship Game	NRG Stadium (Houston)

No. 1 Kansas (26-4)

We've touched on the Jayhawks' relative weakness compared to No. 1-ranked teams of the past, but it's unfair to merely remember them for that. This is a very solid team that's finding its form at the right time to clinch its 12th consecutive Big 12 regular-season conference championship.

Kansas is currently riding a 10-game winning streak, five of which have come against ranked competition. The two most impressive victories in the streak were a 76-72 road triumph against No. 6 Oklahoma and an 86-56 beatdown of No. 23 Texas.

In the latter contest on Monday, forward Jamari Traylor threw down what might be the dunk of the season on an alley-oop lob from Devonte' Graham, as seen below, courtesy of WIBW-TV's Chris Lilly:

Looking to the NCAA tournament, Kansas is almost a shoo-in to get one of the No. 1 seeds, assuming they fare somewhat well in the Big 12 tournament next week.

The Jayhawks should be looked at as one of the more dependable high seeds. Their top eight minute-getters are all sophomores or older, which means experience will be a major strength. However, Kansas' perimeter-based offensive attack means the squad must avoid a dreaded cold-shooting night for it to win the six consecutive games required for a national championship.

No. 2 Michigan State (25-5)

The second-ranked Spartans are a pretty good reflection of their superstar, Denzel Valentine. They pass (their 623 assists rank No. 1 in the nation), they shoot (ditto for their 43.7 three-point percentage) and they defend (their 63.4 points allowed per game rank 16th).

Valentine does all those things very well, and he's the biggest reason Michigan State looks so good with the tournament two weeks away. The squad has rattled off five double-digit wins in a row against conference foes.

Mel Evans/Associated Press

It's not just Valentine, though. Bryn Forbes is lethal from behind the arc, shooting 103-for-200 (51.5 percent) from that range throughout the season, benefiting from the pristine ball movement head coach Tom Izzo has his team executing. Forbes even drained a Big Ten-record 11 trifectas Wednesday against Rutgers. Plus, Matt Costello and Deyonta Davis make for a solid if unspectacular frontcourt duo.

Winning the Big Ten tournament in somewhat of a weaker year for the conference would pretty much seal Michigan State's case for a No. 1 seed. However, a misstep there to a team such as No. 12 Indiana could possibly take that away from the Spartans.

Either way, they have a good combination of superstar power, great complementary players and experience to make a deep national tournament run.

No. 3 Villanova (26-4)

Villanova may not be quite as hot as Kansas or Michigan State right now but still has some good momentum to work with heading into the Big East tournament.

In Week 7 of the AP poll, Villanova had fallen to No. 17 in the nation on the heels of separate double-digit losses to No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 4 Virginia, but the Wildcats have steadily recovered their stock with an 18-2 ledger since then.

While Kansas and Michigan State also like the three-ball, Villanova takes its reliance on it to a whole new level. The Wildcats take a remarkable 44.5 percent of their field-goal attempts from behind the arc, and their top six minute-getters from the season each hoist more than three long bombs a game.

The problem with this approach? The team is just 33.5 percent from three-point land this season, which ranks 234th in the nation.

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Poor outside shooting has been a thread in Villanova's four losses this season, as the squad has shot 35-for-120 (29.2 percent) from downtown in those games. In addition to the danger of cold shooting, a lack of size in the frontcourt (6'11" Daniel Ochefu is the only rotation player taller than 6'8") could prove to be dangerous against the beefier teams in the nation come tournament time.

The Wildcats will only get a No. 1 seed if they can topple Xavier in the Big East tournament. If they do pass that test, though, they'll be one of the wobblier top seeds in recent memory.

All ranking references courtesy of the Associated Press' Week 17 poll (h/t ESPN).