NCAA Bracket 2017: Tournament Schedule, Bracket Predictions for March Madness

Get ready for college basketball to seize control of the sports world.

The NBA and the NHL are in the late stages of their regular seasons, but they pale in comparison to their respective playoffs and they won't start until April. Major League Baseball is in the lazy, hazy days of spring training, while the NFL won't flex its muscles again until the draft in late April.

The NCAA tournament is just around the corner, and the first magical date is March 12. That's when the committee fills out its bracket and makes the announcement on which teams are in the field and which teams have been left on the outside.

There's still plenty of time for speculation because tournaments for the major conferences and most of the mid-majors will be held next week.

With just a few days left in the regular season, it looks Kansas, Villanova, UCLA and Gonzaga have an excellent chance of landing the top four seeds and putting themselves in a commanding position. We predict that the Jayhawks, Wildcats, Bruins and Bulldogs will land the top seeds in their respective brackets.

But the early part of the tournament is often about the Cinderella and surprise teams, and this could be the year the Northwestern Wildcats finally break through and earn their first NCAA tournament berth.

They took a huge step Wednesday night with their buzzer-beating 67-65 victory at home over Michigan. The game was touch-and-go throughout the second half, but the Wildcats created a near miracle in the final 1.7 seconds to win the game. 

Michigan's Zak Irvin had just a missed a three-point shot, and when the rebound went out of bounds, that gave the Wildcats the ball.

After a timeout, Northwestern's Nathan Taphorn threw a length-of-the-court pass that Dererk Pardon caught in stride and then put home the game-winning layup prior to the final buzzer.

The victory gave the Wildcats a 21-9 overall record and a 10-7 mark in the Big Ten. That win over the Wolverines is likely to earn head coach Chris Collins and his players an historic first trip to the Big Dance.

Pardon spoke on BTN after hitting his game-winning shot. "Words can't explain how we feel right now," Pardon told analyst Stephen Bardo (h/t Sporting News). "It's a great win for the program. We knew we needed to win this game and we told ourselves that we were going to die before we lose this game."

While nothing is official yet, it is looking better for Northwestern to make the NCAA tournament now than it has in any other season.

Event	Location	Date
Selection Sunday	N/A	March 12
First Four	Dayton, Ohio	March 14 & 15
First/Second	Buffalo, N.Y.	March 16 & 18
First/Second	Milwaukee	March 16 & 18
First/Second	Orlando, Fla.	March 16 & 18
First/Second	Salt Lake City	March 16 & 18
First/Second	Greenville, N.C.	March 16 & 18
First/Second	Indianapolis	March 17 & 19
First/Second	Tulsa, Okla.	March 17 & 19
First/Second	Sacramento, Calif.	March 17 & 19
Midwest Regional	Kansas City, Mo.	March 23 & 25
West Regional	San Jose, Calif.	March 23 & 25
South Regional	Memphis, Tenn.	March 24 & 26
East Regional	New York	March 24 & 26
Final Four	Phoenix	April 1 & 3

Kansas is rolling with a 27-3 record, and the Jayhawks have won seven games in a row. It seems as though Bill Self's team is peaking with the tournament just around the corner. 

Frank Mason III is averaging a team-high 20.3 points per game and he has hit an eye-opening 50 percent of his three-point shots (67 of 134). He is getting plenty of help from Josh Jackson (16.3 points per game) and Devonte' Graham (13.3 ppg), and that balanced attack makes Kansas an excellent chance to cut down the nets at the tournament's conclusion April 3 in Phoenix.

The defending champion Villanova Wildcats (27-3) should have an excellent chance of putting together another long run in the tournament and possibly repeating.

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Josh Hart is once again the go-to guy for Villanova and averaging 18.3 points and shooting 50.6 percent from the field. Jalen Brunson, Kris Jenkins and Mikal Bridges are all averaging in double figures for the Wildcats.

Is this the year that UCLA (27-3) returns to glory in the tournament? The Bruins have been powerful throughout the season, and head coach Steve Alford's team has a real chance to win.

TJ Leaf and Bryce Alford are the team's leading scorers with 16.6 and 16.3 points, respectively, but spectacular Lonzo Ball (15.0) could be their difference-maker. Leaf sprained his ankle in the Bruins' victory over Washington Wednesday night.

Gonzaga (29-1) was undefeated through much of the season. However, the Zags may be much better off with a loss on their ledger because it will likely relieve the pressure of going into the tournament with a perfect record. 

Nigel Williams-Goss is the leading scorer for the Zags with a 16.3-point average. He is connecting on 50.9 percent of his shots and hitting a remarkable 90.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Williams-Goss has four other teammates scoring in double figures, and that depth and versatility could take Gonzaga a long way.