Printable NCAA Bracket 2018: Downloadable Sheet and Final Picks Advice

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Danny and the Miracles, the 1988 University of Kansas team led by future No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Danny Manning and head coach Larry Brown.

The Jayhawks were a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament due to an up-and-down regular season that saw them lose five straight games at one point. However, they caught fire at the right time and upset Duke and Oklahoma in the Final Four to win the national title.

This year, a Kansas national championship would not be considered a miracle, as the Jayhawks are a No. 1 seed. Therefore, we can't call this team Devonte' and the Miracles, as that wouldn't be accurate.

However, Kansas could still go deep in this year's tournament, and it might have the right draw in order to get there.

We'll find out soon enough how the Jayhawks do, but until then, here's a look at some reasoning as to why you should consider them in the Final Four. You can also find a printable bracket here.

Final Pick Advice: Take Kansas to the Final Four

This isn't exactly a hot take considering that Kansas is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest regional, but a look at its path to the Final Four shows that selecting the Jayhawks is the safest play.

On paper, there looks to be three blue-blood powerhouses that stand out above the rest: Kansas, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Michigan State. It's a similar situation to last year when No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 UCLA were all in the South regional.

In the end, UNC won the regional (and eventually the national championship), but the Tar Heels benefitted from the fact they didn't have to face two upper-echelon teams just to get to the Final Four. Kentucky wasn't as fortunate: Although it beat UCLA, the Wildcats then fell to UNC in the Elite Eight.

Long story short: Duke is likely going to have to beat Michigan State in the Sweet 16 and then Kansas in the Elite Eight just to make the Final Four (switch MSU and Duke around for the Spartan scenario, obviously). Meanwhile, Kansas would likely face No. 4 Auburn or No. 5 Clemson in the Sweet 16. Both are solid teams, but neither is in the class of Duke or Michigan State.

Put another way, FiveThirtyEight has a bracket in which it places percentages on each team advancing to a certain round. Kansas is given a 62 percent chance to make the Elite Eight and a 32 percent shot to make the Final Four. Meanwhile, Duke's percentages for those rounds are 47 and 29, respectively, while MSU's are at 40 and 24.

If you placed those teams on a neutral court and asked them to play a round-robin tournament to determine a winner, Duke might have the slightest of edges (they are ranked higher in the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings and Sagarin Ratings than Kansas or MSU).

However, the best teams don't always win the tournament, and a lot of luck is involved. For example, No. 10 Syracuse made the 2016 Final Four in part because the Orange avoided No. 2 Michigan State thanks to a massive upset by No. 15 Middle Tennessee. And sometimes, the matchups simply don't work out in a team's favor.

Ultimately, if you follow the path of least resistance, Kansas should be the play here.