NCAA Tournament Bracket 2017: Early Championship Odds, Predictions for Top Seeds

The NCAA tournament is always one of the most unpredictable sporting events of the year.

The 68 teams that battle for the right to cut down the nets and earn the national championship always produce a number of upsets, buzzer-beating finishes and wild pandemonium for winners and nightmarish sadness for the losers.

But there is one aspect to this year's tournament that has been totally predictable: The four No. 1 seeds named by the tournament committee.

Defending national champion Villanova, North Carolina, Kansas and Gonzaga all earned No. 1 seeds, and that's what bracketologist Joe Lunardi of ESPN had been predicting since last month.

Some of the other talking heads said that Duke should have gotten the nod over the Tar Heels because the Blue Devils beat them twice and won the ACC tournament, but that turned out to be irrelevant to the committee.

While Duke is a No. 2 seed and not in one of the top four slots, the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels are the co-favorites to win the tournament from a handicapping perspective. Both ACC teams are 6-1 to bring home the championship, according to OddsShark.

Villanova is the third choice at 15-2, while the Jayhawks follow at 8-1 and perennial power Kentucky is at 17-2. The Zags may be a No. 1 seed, but they are the sixth betting choice at 10-1.

Click here for B/R's printable bracket.

Gonzaga has had a brilliant season that has seen the Zags compile a 32-1 record. Gonzaga was undefeated throughout the majority of the season before it lost a late-season game to Brigham Young. That loss may actually help head coach Mark Few's team because his players won't have the pressure of a perfect record as they compete in the tournament.

Gonzaga should have an excellent chance of making the Final Four, something that it has never done. The Zags are a much stronger defensive team than they have been in the past, and Nigel Williams-Goss and Prezemek Karnowski provide an excellent 1-2 punch as they average 16.9 and 12.6 points per game, respectively.

However, it's one thing to make the Final Four, and it's quite another to win the title. Gonzaga will get close, but it won't win the whole thing.

Duke is always a threat to win the championship, and Mike Krzyzewski has this year's team playing its best basketball at the most important time of the year.

Jayson Tatum is coming off a brilliant performance in the ACC tournament, and he is averaging 16.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He is surrounded by game-changing talent in Luke Kennard and Grayson Allen.

The Blue Devils know how to play at a championship level, but can they stay as hot as they were in the ACC tournament? That seems unlikely, and they will not get to the Final Four.

Many observers thought Kansas would be the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday, but the Jayhawks flamed out of the Big 12 conference tournament. 

The Jayhawks should be fresh when they start the tournament, but they may not be playing in peak form. Look for Kansas to be the first of the No. 1 seeds knocked out of the tournament.

North Carolina and Villanova put on a tremendous show in last year's title game, and those two teams could meet in the championship game again this year.

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Jalen Brunson form a tremendous core for Jay Wright's Wildcats, and they play with a hunger that indicates they are capable of winning back-to-back-titles.

But don't sell Roy Williams' Tar Heels short. Players like Justin Jackson, Joel Berry II and Kennedy Meeks are fully capable of winning the championship in a rematch with the Wildcats.

Look for those two brilliant teams to put on another memorable show this year. They will get to the championship game. North Carolina will come out firing and dictate the pace of the game, but Villanova is too resilient, and the Wildcats will fight back.

They will take charge in the final 10 minutes, and the Wildcats will win their second championship in a row.