Wildest dreams and nightmare scenarios for 64 teams

Best Case: Ty Lawson has two good wheels, Wayne Ellington has his shooting eye and Tyler Hansbrough has a Psycho six-game run, averaging 25 and 15 as the Tar Heels cruise to another title. Kansas loses before the Final Four to spare Roy Williams the "This Is Your Life" story line. Duke gets bounced in the first weekend.

Worst Case: Ol' Roy relapses to Kansas-level tension on the sidelines, and Carolina is shocked in the second round by Arkansas. Lawson re-tweaks the ankle, Ellington shoots 1-for-10 and Hansbrough cannot sucker the officials into calling 14 fouls on the Hogs' big men. Kansas wins title, praises Bill Self for doing what Roy could not do in Lawrence. Duke advances to Final Four despite early-round injuries that Mike Krzyzewski bravely does not mention publicly.

Best Case: Dan Dakich has a group hug with sulking Kelvin Sampson recruits, D.J. White brings it for a full 40, Eric Gordon is on fire and the Hoosiers flash back to midseason form for a run to the Final Four. Suitably exuberant, Indiana offers Dakich the full-time coaching job, but he chooses to share the role with Bob Knight. Old-school Hoosiers weep uncontrollably. NCAA decides not to assess additional penalties for Sampson mess.

Worst Case: The team that is coming off losses to Penn State and Minnesota brings the same weak stuff into Raleigh and is routed in Round 1 by Arkansas. Three players quit at halftime. Two more write, "Kelvin, call me!" on their shoes. Fans grumble that this never would have happened under Knight, forgetting that his final Indiana game was a 20-point, first-round loss to Pepperdine.

Best Case: Fighting Irish win four for the Gipper, returning to the Final Four for the first time in 30 years. Kelly Tripucka nostalgia rules. Luke Harangody outplays Tyler Hansbrough in Sweet 16 upset. In the regional final, Kyle McAlarney finally shakes free of Louisville (he was 3-for-14 versus Cards on Feb. 28) to hit the game-winner. Mike Brey enjoys newfound appreciation nationwide. Charlie Weis takes notes on how to win the big ones.

Worst Case: Laissez-faire defense that allowed opponents to score 80 or more points nine times in ND's last 17 games shows up in Denver, and George Mason obliges by perpetrating a first-round upset. Danny Ainge flashbacks are everywhere as Folarin Campbell drives through the Irish for winning layup. Nation notes that Brey doesn't look good in turtlenecks. Weis wads up notes, throws them away postgame.

Best Case: Cougars confound and frustrate a series of up-tempo opponents, grinding them into sausage and grinding their way to San Antonio. They slow down Notre Dame, then Carolina, then Tennessee, and suddenly everyone wants to know why Derrick Low went from Hawaii to Pullman and who does Tony Bennett's hair. In the biggest upset of all, Bennett turns down whopper offer from Indiana to stay on the Palouse.

Worst Case: Unathletic Cougs can't keep up with Winthrop's perimeter quickness. Forward Daven Harmeling still can't go 100 percent on an injured ankle. Nobody's shots fall. Wazzu gets punked in opening-round shocker, and Bennett hops the first thing smokin' for Indiana.

Best Case: Blake Griffin flexes and everyone else backs off, as the Sooners muscle their way to a regional final for the first time since 2002. David Godbold, whose 3-point percentage has declined every season, shoots it like he's a freshman again in a second-round upset of Louisville. Not even an Elite Eight loss to North Carolina can dampen the enthusiasm for next season with Griffin back.

Worst Case: The medical miracle falls apart. Griffin's surgically repaired knees go out on him and Longar Longar's fractured leg bone brings him to a halt. Sooners miss shots, struggle for offense and are run out in the first round by Saint Joseph's. Then Texas wins it all, Jeff Capel takes the South Carolina job and Bob Stoops loses out on three top recruits.

Best Case: Louisville's rotation of big men limits Tyler Hansbrough and the Cardinals' zone stops the Tar Heels to win in Charlotte and make the Final Four. Once there, Earl Clark becomes the best player left in the field and Rick Pitino outcoaches Final Four rookie Bill Self in the semifinals. Then the Cards beat Cinderella team Xavier for their first national title in 22 yeras. Kentucky loses by 20 in the first round.

Worst Case: Guards Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa (a combined 7-for-40 from the floor this month) still can't find the basket. Centers David Padgett and Derrick Caracter get in foul trouble. Cards do what they did in 2003: lose a second-round upset game in Birmingham to a double-digit seed -- then it was Butler, this time Saint Joseph's. Meanwhile, Kentucky somehow sneaks into the Sweet 16.

Best Case: Pete Campbell and A.J. Graves are drilling 3s, Matt Howard is producing inside, Drew Streicher is locking up defensively and Mike Green is in total control in the backcourt. Bulldogs beat Tennessse and Louisville and bust into a regional final matchup with North Carolina. Ride stops there, but nobody cares. Brad Stevens is voted Greatest Teenage Coach Ever.

Worst Case: Bad draw becomes evident right away, as dangerous 10-seed South Alabama, playing close to home in Birmingham, beats Butler in the first round. Graves is harassed into another tough shooting night (he's 3-for-18 from 3-point range in the Bulldogs' three losses). Stevens looks even younger and less experienced next to USA's Ronnie Arrow and gets outcoached.

Best Case: Bruce Pearl takes his orange suit coat up the ladder steps in the Alamodome to snip the last strands of net after leading the Volunteers to the national title. Chris Lofton's 25-footer at the buzzer beats UCLA for the title. Vols become the second program to win national titles in football, men's basketball and women's basketball (Maryland is the other), while Memphis loses in the Sweet 16. Pearl is later seen shirtless, wearing body paint and a headband on the Riverwalk.

Worst Case: A.J. Graves outshoots Lofton in the second round and Tennessee does what Tennessee has been known to do in men's hoops: go home early. Volunteers' streak of never reaching a regional final continues. Crowd in Alabama, where they don't much care for orange, loves every minute of it. Ronnie Cottrell's lawyer shows up to subpoena Smoky, since he can't get at Phil Fulmer. Meanwhile, Memphis wins it all.

Best Case: There is no Bucknell this year, no Bradley, no regional final meltdown. There's only Bill Self flashing that squinty-eyed grin all the way to the national title, whipping Roy Williams and North Carolina along the way. On the 20th anniversary of Danny Manning's carrying the Jayhawks to the title, they do it by committee this time.

Worst Case: The nightmare continues. UNLV makes shots, Kansas gets uptight and Kansas State alum Lon Kruger is the latest to slip the dagger into the Jayhawks. This time, it's the second round instead of the first or fourth. Meanwhile, Ol' Roy wins a second title at Carolina and Michael Beasley takes K-State to the Sweet 16.

Best Case: Kruger works more March magic, surviving Kent State, stunning Kansas, outlasting Clemson and finally falling in a regional final against Georgetown when UNLV cannot contain Roy Hibbert. Wink Adams makes 14 3s in the first three games, proving himself to be one of the more underrated players nationally. Larry Johnson phones in his congratulations to the Runnin' Rebels. Richard "The Fixer" Perry does not.

Worst Case: Rebels reveal themselves to be average at best away from home (their six road/neutral wins are the fewest of any RPI top 45 team), lose opener to Kent State team with twice as many road/neutral wins. Kruger scratches itch and takes another job.

Best Case: For the first time since 1997, the Tigers win an NCAA game -- and don't stop there. For the first time since December, the Tigers win four in a row and advance to their inaugural Final Four, beating Wisconsin in the regional final on a last-second 3 by Terrence Oglesby from 26 feet. Coach Oliver Purnell gets so excited he almost changes facial expressions. Clemson fans get so excited they pry their eyes off spring football for up to 15 minutes at a time.

Worst Case: Notorious bricklayers clang six straight free throws in the final minute, blow a lead and are upset in the first round by Villanova. Clemson fans mourn for 60 seconds, then turn their attention back to spring football.

Best Case: Coach Kevin Stallings successfully appeals to have the benches put at the ends of the court in Tampa and convinces his team it's playing at home in Memorial Gym. It works. Shan Foster makes everything, A.J. Ogilvy mixes it up inside and the Commodores make the Sweet 16, where they nearly beat Kansas. Meanwhile, Butler stuns Tennessee in the second round.

Worst Case: Benches stay put on the sidelines. Vandy realizes it's not at home and rolls over once more, losing for the fourth time in its last five games away from Memorial. Siena exploits lax Dores defense for 80 points. Tennessee wins it all, Ogilvy decides to return to Australia and Stallings takes another job.

Best Case: Tim Floyd slaps some junk D on Michael Beasley in Round 1 and O.J. Mayo takes it from there -- all the way to the Final Four. Mayo averages 23, 7 and 7 as the Trojans knock off Wisconsin, Cinderella team Davidson and finally Kansas in the regional final. UCLA flames out and the Trojans are the only L.A. team in San Antonio. And it turns out Mayo actually means his ludicrous statement that he wants to stay in school.

Worst Case: In Round 2, USC runs into Wisconsin, which is the Washington State of the Midwest -- and if you saw what the Cougars did to the Trojans twice, you know how bad that is. (If you didn't see it, Wazzu won by 15 in Los Angeles and 24 in Pullman.) Mayo gets frustrated by Michael Flowers' defense, takes bad jumpers and shoots USC out of the tournament. Then goes pro. Floyd returns to his Southern roots by leaving for LSU.

Best Case: Six players score 12 points each in four straight games as the Badgers crash the Final Four, beating Georgetown and Kansas along the way. Every offensive possession of every game includes a minimum of four passes, four screens and a high-percentage shot. National media (ESPN included) sing Badgers' praises, forcing chip-on-the-shoulder Wisconsin fans to get some new material.

Worst Case: The Bo Ryan Way loses to the JT III Way in an all-dogma duel in the Sweet 16. Late flurry gets the Badgers to 49 points in defeat. Fans have to listen to more media members saying how dull Wisconsin is. Marquette reaches regional final. Brett Favre stays retired.

Best Case: Bulldogs gladly embrace their role as two-point underdogs, play without the tightness they displayed as favorites in the West Coast Conference tournament and make a run to the Sweet 16, shocking Georgetown in the process. Josh Heytvelt rediscovers his assertiveness, Austin Daye continues to blossom and opponents can't keep a defender in front of Jeremy Pargo. The trout fishing remains too good for Mark Few to leave.

Worst Case: Zags get the same treatment Stanford got last season: Fly across country for a 9:25 a.m. PDT tipoff against a team playing in its home state. Zags handle it every bit as poorly as the Cardinal did, fall far behind out of the gate and never recover. Few finally listens to offers from BCS league teams and flies the coop.

Best Case: Hoyas finish proving there is life after Jeff Green by grinding their way to San Antonio, where they again upset North Carolina and then slow down Memphis to win the title. The team, which is 5-0 in games decided by five points or fewer, wins two more that way in the Alamodome. Guards Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp make all the big shots, Hibbert shuts down the lane and JT III makes every opponent play at Georgetown's preferred pace. Thompson and Thompson become the first father-son title winners.

Worst Case: Team that occasionally struggles to score and really struggles to create shots off the dribble goes cold against unafraid Gonzaga in the second round. Rigid offensive structure means Hibbert doesn't get enough touches in the post, which means the offense bogs down, which means the Hoyas can be beaten. Early.

Best Case: Tigers break through the regional-final barrier and don't stop until they win the title. Derrick Rose auditions to be the top pick in the NBA draft. Chris Douglas-Roberts makes every clutch shot. Joey Dorsey shuts up and plays. John Calipari shuts up and coaches. And everyone makes their free throws. Establishment conferences flush with football money forced to watch outsider cut down the nets.

Worst Case: Tigers find the Houston version of the Plush Club the night before they play Pittsburgh in the regional semifinals. Dorsey makes it rain, curfew is broken, Calipari dismisses it as a vast Big East conspiracy. Memphis goes 6-for-17 at the line and loses by a deuce. Rose and CDR go pro. Cal inquires about open jobs in the establishment conferences.

Best Case: Jarvis Varnado blocks eight shots against Oregon, Jamont Gordon has a triple-double and Charles Rhodes outplays Malik Hairston in an opening-round victory. Two days later the Bulldogs push Memphis to the limit before falling in Round 2.

Worst Case: Rick Stansbury has been eliminated by a lower seed in three of his four NCAA tournament appearances -- make it four out of five after Oregon takes down the Bulldogs in Round 1. Jamont Gordon goes pro.

Best Case: Drew Neitzel retains his Big Ten shooting stroke, averages 29 points in two victories and leads the Spartans into the Sweet 16. The world remembers how good Tom Izzo is, simply for the fact that he gets something out of his sketchy array of big men. Everyone quits bagging on the brutal Big Ten, at least for a weekend.

Worst Case: Neitzel goes back to being the MIA offensive force he was most of the season, and the Spartans again flop outside of East Lansing. Road/neutral record in February and March: 2-6. Make it 2-7 after a first-round flameout against Temple. State scores 53 points in defeat, intensifying criticism of the Big Ten's horrific offenses.

Best Case: Absurd Big East tourney roll carries over, picks up steam with Bob Knight endorsement, shatters Sweet 16 ceiling and does not end until the Panthers are in San Antonio losing a pitched championship battle to North Carolina. Sam Young keeps blocking shots, Levance Fields and Ronald Ramon keep making jumpers, and nobody can get close enough to take advantage of Pitt's scattershot free-throw shooting.

Worst Case: Take the Panthers out of the Garden and you take the starch out of the Panthers. Absurd Big East roll ends in thin mountain air against experienced Oral Roberts, intensifying the belief that Pitt will not get beyond the Sweet 16 anytime this century, no matter how it comes into the Big Dance. Panthers return home to watch West Virginia going farther.

Best Case: Golden Eagles win their first NCAA tournament game since the Dwyane Wade days by beating the same team they beat last in the 2003 regional final, Kentucky. Then they win another, beating a Stanford team overmatched athletically by Marquette's studly backcourt. Sweet 16 run equals Wisconsin's. Junior guards all come back to be seniors.

Worst Case: Kentucky team that matches up well with the Eagles (all backcourt, no frontcourt) extends the post-Wade streak without a tournament win to five years. Wisconsin makes Final Four. Jerel McNeal and/or Dominic James goes pro.

Best Case: Team Lopez is so overpowering it makes up for all the perimeter deficiencies and the Cardinal roll to the Final Four. There they get another shot at UCLA, there are no phantom fouls in the final seconds and Stanford gets into the title game before losing to North Carolina. Lopez brothers decide they like cartoons and Disney more than the NBA and come back for their junior seasons.

Worst Case: Stanford loses the press conference IQ matchup (but not the game) to Cornell. Then it loses (badly) on the court to a Marquette team that forces more than 20 turnovers from the Cardinal guards. Team Lopez leaves The Farm for The Lottery.

Best Case: Hurricanes win their first NCAA tournament game since Bill Clinton was in office, outclassing Saint Mary's. All 27 fans who make the trip to Little Rock chant "A-C-C!" finally figuring out that membership in that league has its privileges. That number swells to 64 when the Canes shock Texas in the second round and advance to Houston. Guard Jack McClinton regains his shooting form after going 6-for-23 in ACC tourney. America comes to appreciate the coaching of Frank Haith.

Worst Case: Only 24 fans make it to Little Rock because of travel issues. McClinton's shooting form stays MIA, and nobody rides to the rescue. Saint Mary's shows it isn't afraid of the ACC and takes the Hurricanes out in Round 1.

Best Case: D.J. Augustin wheels and deals, A.J. Abrams makes shots, Damion James produces inside and Connor Atchley continues his underrated contributions as Texas becomes the first school to win the title in its home state since UCLA in 1975. (Kansas was barely across the border in Kansas City in 1988.) The Longhorns beat Tennessee in the race to become the second school (Maryland) to win championships in football, men's basketball and women's basketball. Rick Barnes gets lifetime contract. Fans leave Colt McCoy alone for a few days. Sooners and Aggies lose early. Augustin comes back for junior year.

Worst Case: Ball-monopolizing Augustin dribbles holes in the Little Rock hardwood and shoots the Horns out of the tournament in the second round against Miami, going 6-for-21 from the field. (Texas is 8-5 when he takes 16 or more shots, 20-1 when he doesn't.) People wonder anew when/if Rick Barnes is going to win the big one. Oklahoma and A&M make the Sweet 16. Augustin goes pro. Bevo gets sick. A downtrodden state looks to McCoy for inspiration.

Best Case: The most crowded rafters in America must make room for a 12th banner. The only thing missing is a revenge game with Florida as the Bruins blast through six straight opponents to win it all. Kevin Love is Final Four MOP, outplaying Tyler Hansbrough in the title game. Darren Collison is the best guard in the tournament. Bruins D strangles every offense in its path. No last-second officiating bailouts are needed anywhere along the line. Dance team looks stellar in knee socks. And John Wooden is feeling much better.

Worst Case: Love's back acts up again. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's ankle never heals. Wings and power forwards make no shots. Offense grinds to a halt in shocking second-round loss to BYU, as Bruins get a bad call against them in the final seconds. (Noise in the distance is Stanford and Cal fans laughing.) Dance team manager misplaces knee socks. O.J. Mayo takes USC to the Final Four. Love and Collison go pro.

Best Case: Underrated Lee Cummard and Trent Plaisted play like vets and lead a stunning Cougars run to the regional finals for the first time since 1981. Danny Ainge is on "First Take." Robbie Bosco is found. Mitt Romney sends his support. Players bring their wives and kids to Phoenix.

Worst Case: Texas A&M puts BYU at an athletic disadvantage and the Cougars can't hit enough shots to compensate. They're out after Round 1, and Ainge's phone stops ringing. Romney sends his condolences, reminding BYU that this wasn't destined to be the Year of the Mormon.

Best Case: Love The Drake. Bulldogs win their way into the Sweet 16 before dying with their boots on against UCLA. Nation falls in love with walk-on-turned-Missouri Valley POY Adam Emmenecker, his 3.97 GPA and quadruple major. Coach Keno Davis fields 2,000 questions on why he's named Keno (for a former player of his father's, Keno Hawker). Klayton Korver fields 1,000 questions on how he and his brothers all learned to shoot so well. Nobody can figure out how this team got so good overnight, and nobody cares.

Worst Case: Hate The Drake. Soft year in the Valley exposed when Western Kentucky runs the Bulldogs into the offseason in Round 1. Emmenecker can't contain Courtney Lee and must return to classwork earlier than expected. Korver can't get any shots off. Davis is outmaneuvered by Darrin Horn. And next year it's someone else's turn in the Valley.

Best Case: Hasheem Thabeet blocks so many shots that they have to ice his palm daily by the time the Huskies reach the Final Four. Pleasant memories flourish for UConn fans, since they won the last Final Four played in the Alamodome, but the Huskies are taken down in the title game by North Carolina. Everyone returns on senior-less team and UConn is preseason No. 1 for 2008-09.

Worst Case: Jim Calhoun calls timeout four seconds into the opener against San Diego, furious at his team for failing to line up correctly for the jump ball. Grabs A.J. Price by the jersey, barks profanity at fans behind the bench, dumps on officials and generally acts like the unhappiest man in the Dance. Team follows his lead, plays miserably and loses to the Toreros. Thabeet and Price go pro.

Best Case: Freshmen play grown-up ball. E'Twaun Moore gets to the hole. Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin make shots. Everybody D's up. Boilermakers make surprising regional-final run, whetting everyone's appetite for 2009 and a chance to do what Gene Keady never did -- play in a Final Four. Matt Painter makes gold suit coats trendy.

Worst Case: Freshmen play like nervous freshmen. Moore takes bad shots. Hummel gets pushed around. Martin goes 1-for-6 at the foul line. Team that wobbled down the stretch (3-3 last six) has hit the wall and loses to Baylor first round. Matt Painter's gold coat looks bad on TV.

Best Case: The Musketeers wear T-shirts that read "Mid-Major This!" and storm all the way to the Final Four. Drew Lavender goes mano a mano with UCLA's Darren Collison in regional final. Josh Duncan drags UCLA bigs outside and shoots 3s over them. Stanley Burrell guards Josh Shipp like his scholarship money depends on it. Four Xavier players make the all-region team, preventing Burrell from going ballistic on the voters. Sean Miller turns down Indiana and others, saying he's got the high-major job he wants.

Worst Case: Xavier runs headlong into Georgia karma train. Wobbly wheel leaves Lavender less than 100 percent and unable to guard Sundiata Gaines. Bulldogs choke off the Musketeers' break. Team that stumbled a bit down the stretch, losing twice to St. Joseph's in eight days, cannot regain its edge. Critics say mid-major A-10 did not prepare X for an SEC opponent, and Muskies have to take it.

Best Case: Joe Alexander lives up to Bob Knight's lavish praise, plays like the Stud of March, averages 30 points and seven rebounds, and leads the Mountaineers to the regional final. Big East seasoning helps WVU past Duke and Xavier along the way. Bob Huggins remembers what the second weekend of the tournament feels like -- he hasn't seen it since 2001, and has a string of memorable second-round flameouts.

Worst Case: Pac-10 seasoning trumps Big East seasoning as Arizona streaks past West Virginia in the first round. Mountaineers lack an athletic answer for Wildcats point guard Jerryd Bayless. Huggins wears god-awful Colonel Mustard suit, compounding bad loss with bad fashion, then dog cusses the team every minute of the trip back to Morgantown from Washington, D.C. Pitt makes Final Four.

Best Case: Mike Krzyzewski doesn't have to say, "I love my kids" and "This is about relationships, not winning or losing," until San Antonio. Blue Devils get good matchups the first three rounds, outfox opponents from the perimeter, hold on inside and ride their coach's unparalleled experience to the Final Four. Before regional final against UCLA, CBS microphones pick up Krzyzewski telling his team, "Fellas, don't be afraid to make a mistake. Just work together with me." They sink 12 3s to upset UCLA. Meanwhile, North Carolina loses in the regional final when Tyler Hansbrough is called for traveling while maneuvering for the go-ahead shot in the closing seconds.

Worst Case: Interior vulnerability catches up with the Blue Devils in the second round, leaving the tournament on a two-year streak of Dukelessness in the Sweet 16. CBS executives are on suicide watch. American Express is downtrodden. State Farm is crestfallen. Chapel Hill is euphoric. Heels win national title when Hansbrough is sent to the foul line 18 times in the final game. Joyful Roy Williams congratulates his team afterward on playing through so many injuries.