Dreams and nightmares for 64 teams

Best Case: Sam Young is making jumpers and slamming alley-oops. DeJuan Blair is scattering bodies in the paint. Levance Fields is caring for the ball like a newborn. Pitt shatters the Sweet 16 ceiling and doesn't stop there, rolling into Detroit and into the national championship game. Once there, the Panthers win the title, cutting down the nets in the same building where the Steelers won the Super Bowl a few years back. Pittsburgh becomes the only city in America that absolutely adores Detroit.

Worst Case: Taken out of the full-contact Big East and subjected to different officiating, Blair gets one foul in the layup line and a second on the jump ball. Pitt falls behind by 12 points at halftime, and its offense goes into a familiar NCAA shell. Jamie Dixon's brow furrows deeper. Panthers are out in the second round. Sweet 16 ceiling now made of reinforced titanium. Dixon leaves for Arizona.

Best Case: James Anderson is making 3s and getting to the line. Byron Eaton is barging into the lane. The Committee, as Travis Ford calls his interior players, is holding its own. The pace is wreaking havoc. And the Cowboys are stunning Pittsburgh in the second round and Xavier in the third to force a regional showdown with Duke -- which they lose, but everyone loves the run. Meanwhile, Oklahoma is upset in the second round and T. Boone Pickens' stock portfolio takes a turn for the better.

Worst Case: Team that surrendered 94 to Michigan State, 98 to Baylor, 97 to Missouri and 99 to Texas waves at the Volunteers as they rush unimpeded to the basket as well. Tennessee scores in triple digits in a first-round whomping of the Cowboys, who lose five seniors and have Anderson turn pro as well. Oklahoma wins it all. Ford leaves after a year to replace Billy Gillispie at Kentucky. T. Boone's stocks continue to swoon.

Best Case: Totally stoked for their first NCAA appearance since 1998, Seminoles continue their ACC tournament roll by smashing Wisconsin and Xavier, then upset Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16 and beat Duke for the first time since February 2007 in the regional final. They then crash the Final Four for the first time since 1972. Once there, the Noles beat North Carolina again and lose in the national title game to Louisville, but even Bobby Bowden shows up for the dadgum game after someone explains to him that this is a big deal. Toney Douglas earns himself some NBA cash along the way. Leonard Hamilton goes from iffy to coaching oracle.

Worst Case: Wisconsin has Florida State so well scouted, it's as if the Badgers were given the answers to a final exam. They shut down Douglas' creativity off the dribble and don't give him room to shoot from the perimeter, and the Seminoles are helpless without a heroic performance from their only double-digit-scoring performer. Hamilton goes back to being an iffy coach. Athletic department attempts to get some of his victories switched to Bowden's career records.

Best Case: Wearing warm-up shirts that say, "We Ain't No Stinkin' Mid-Major," Musketeers rediscover their pre-February mojo and blast through the bracket to the Final Four. They handle Portland State and Florida State, shoot the lights out to shock Pitt and then avenge a 2004 regional final loss to Duke. Somewhere, Romain Sato is smiling. Loss in Final Four to North Carolina is no shame. Big East, which clearly isn't tough enough, is so impressed it pulls a Catholic school switcheroo, dropping DePaul and adding Xavier. Sean Miller signs another contract extension.

Worst Case: Xavier team that refuses to be called a mid-major loses to a mid-major, upset in Round 1 by Portland State after traveling west into a geographically disadvantageous draw. Musketeers team that wobbled to a 5-5 finish once again cannot close out a close game, losing its last four decided by five points or less. Miller hops the first thing smokin' out of Boise to take the Virginia job.

Best Case: Experienced Bruins find their tournament swagger at just the right time. Not even being shipped three time zones away to play a succession of teams closer to home can deter UCLA's defense from handcuffing VCU guard Eric Maynor, Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds and Duke wing Gerald Henderson. Bruins lose in the regional final to Ben Howland's old team, Pittsburgh, but that's a positive: It keeps them from being blown out in a fourth straight Final Four. Meanwhile, USC goes down in the first round.

Worst Case: UCLA team that is nowhere near as good as the previous three editions is inconvenienced by trip to Philadelphia, and even more inconvenienced by the athletic presence of VCU guard Maynor and center Larry Sanders. Bruins struggle to score inside and are dismissed in a single game, then watch USC unexpectedly vault into the second round. Despite a moderately underwhelming freshman season, guard Jrue Holiday goes pro.

Best Case: Under-the-radar Big East power flexes its muscles, pounding American and VCU while taking advantage of absurdly friendly Philadelphia draw. The Wildcats wear down Duke and then beat Pitt for the second time this season to reach their first Final Four since winning the whole thing with the Perfect Game in 1985. Dante Cunningham finishes off NBA audition by averaging 20 and 10 on the way to Detroit, where Jay Wright looks flawless as the Wildcats beat North Carolina and then lose to Louisville for the third time this season in the final.

Worst Case: Nova is slowed down and taken out in the second round by UCLA, but that's only the beginning. Turns out Wright was doing his own NBA audition and takes a job in The Association. Guard Reynolds bugs out after his junior season for the pros as well. Rollie Massimino agitates to get his old job back. Even worse, so does Steve Lappas.

Best Case: Longhorns find some long-missing consistency. Forward Connor Atchley relocates his game. Dogus Balbay pushes the tempo. A.J. Abrams bombs away. The big men flex. Horns hook their way to the regional final before losing to Pittsburgh.

Worst Case: Team that hasn't won more than three in a row since the first half of December isn't going on any run now. Longhorns were just 7-7 down the stretch. They can't exploit Tubby Smith's tight defense and are taken down by the Gophers in the first round, their earliest exit from the NCAAs in four years. Texas A&M goes on unexpected run to the Sweet 16.

Best Case: Mike Krzyzewski signs 12 new endorsement deals after capping off a pretty solid nine months with a gold medal and national title. Jon Scheyer, the third starting point guard of the season, sure-handedly pilots the Blue Devils past three teams to reach a regional final against Pittsburgh. Gerald Henderson outleaps Sam Young to send Duke to the Final Four, where it finds Syracuse instead of archrival North Carolina -- the Tar Heels lost when Tyler Hansbrough was called for traveling on the potential winning shot. Devils beat Orange, then take down Louisville in payback for 1986 title loss. Duke wins final over Rick Pitino with three-quarter-court pass and game-winning turnaround jumper by Kyle Singler.

Worst Case: Corporate sponsors gets a new pitchman after Devils lose to Texas in the second round, their fifth straight NCAA tournament of failing to live up to their seed. Greg Paulus gets dunked on by Damion James and Duke gets pushed around inside. Krzyzewski says he loves his kids, but later attempts to get loss charged to assistant coach Chris Collins' record. Carolina wins it all when Hansbrough makes hook shot after changing pivot foot three times. Henderson and Singler go pro.

Best Case: National champions. Terrence Williams throws triple-doubles at opponents, Earl Clark gets his 6-foot-10 self inside and dominates, the Cardinals' guard quartet hits shots and their defense suffocates all comers. Louisville wins tournament games fast, scoring in the 90s, and Louisville wins tournament games slow, scoring in the 60s. Cardinals shoot 80 percent from the line and ice the championship win over North Carolina with two free throws by Williams. Rick Pitino, already the first coach to take three schools to the Final Four, becomes the first coach to win national titles at two different locales -- and also the first to do it wearing a white suit. Then he ignores overtures from Arizona and coaches Louisville in its new arena in 2010-11. Meanwhile, Kentucky fans watch Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson turn pro.

Worst Case: Two and out. In a semi-road game against Ohio State in Dayton, mercurial guard Edgar Sosa and Clark combine to make 2 of 17 shots and commit 10 turnovers. Louisville hoists too many errant 3s and not enough 2s, but still leads until contracting Memphis disease and bricking a barrage of free throws late. Cardinals are expunged in the second round. Pitino leaves for Arizona. Billy Donovan has a 2-year-old change of heart and comes to Kentucky, convincing Meeks and Patterson to stay.

Best Case: Final Four. With a wink-wink, nudge-nudge site assignment in Dayton for athletic director/selection committee member Gene Smith, the eighth-seeded Buckeyes slow down Siena and shock Louisville in the second round as Evan Turner out-everythings Terrence Williams. In the Sweet 16, B.J. Mullens comes to play against fellow hyped freshman Al-Farouq Aminu, and Ohio State is into the regional final, where it upsets Michigan State in Indianapolis for the second time in two weeks. Detroit, here they come -- and Michigan fans have to suck it up and take it.

Worst Case: First-round loss. Shocked by the push-the-ball tempo of Siena, the Buckeyes of the s-l-o-w Big Ten are beaten in transition all game. Shaky point-guard play is exposed. Fatigued from the up-and-down pace, Mullens does not rebound or defend. Ohio State is eliminated from the tournament Friday night. Mullens and Turner go pro. And the SEC's best still can beat the daylights out of Ohio State in football.

Best Case: Sweet 16. After a motivational speech by Sugar Bowl-winning football coach Kyle Whittingham, Utah roars out of Rocky Mountain obscurity and into the Sweet 16. Luke Nevill, the 7-foot Aussie from Perth, outplays Arizona center Jordan Hill in the opening round and Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu in the second. Nation's No. 9 RPI team, owning victories over Gonzaga and LSU (by 30), showcases its depth. Jim Boylen's coaching stock skyrockets, but he only wants to stay in Salt Lake City. BYU and Utah State lose early.

Worst Case: First-round defeat. Sugar shocker does not translate from football to basketball. Utah team that won zero significant true road games finds itself at an athletic disadvantage against Arizona and is shot out of Miami by Hill, Chase Budinger and Nic Wise. BYU and Utah State both advance farther.

Best Case: Final Four. Team that beat Duke and North Carolina runs, jumps and flexes its way past Cleveland State and Utah. Then comes the upset of Louisville in Indy: Al-Farouq Aminu plays like a lottery pick, Jeff Teague hits shots, James Johnson continues his scoring spree, Ish Smith stirs it up. Dino Gaudio demands great defense and gets it. After that Demon Deacons handle Kansas to win region and go where Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Rodney Rogers and others never went: to the last weekend of the season. Skip Prosser's family arrives as invited guests.

Worst Case: Gone in 40 minutes. Young, inconsistent team that lost to Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Georgia Tech plays down to the level of its opponent and is stunned by Cleveland State. Rookie tournament head coach Gaudio is outflanked by Gary Waters. Sketchy 3-point shooting dooms Deacons -- though perhaps also spares the school from a third NCAA blowout at the hands of a Rick Pitino-coached team (see: 34-point loss to Kentucky in 1993; 20-point loss to Kentucky in '96). Three underclassmen turn pro.

Best Case: Final Four. Mountaineers overcome hideous Bob Huggins wardrobe to become the surprise team of March, charging to Detroit behind blossoming freshman forward Devin Ebanks. Team toughened by 11 games against the RPI top 50 dispatches Dayton with ease, upsets Kansas in the second round, does the same to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 and then finally gets over on Louisville after two competitive losses during the regular season. Meanwhile, Pitt loses early and Rich Rodriguez comes down with the flu in Ann Arbor.

Worst Case: Traumatized by the sight of Huggins in a yellow jumpsuit and dark blue beret, Mountaineers revert to flighty offensive days past and struggle to score against the Flyers. They lose in the first round, Huggins gets run for two technical fouls and the Mountaineer is arrested for discharging his firearm in the arena in Minneapolis. Ebanks turns pro after the loss. Meanwhile, Pitt makes the Final Four, and Rodriguez has a great spring practice in Ann Arbor.

Best Case: Winning begets winning, and the Jayhawks don't need no Mario to repeat as champions. Cole Aldrich dominates inside to defeat Michigan State and Louisville and reach the Final Four. Once there, Sherron Collins hits buzzer-beating 3 to tie Memphis after the Tigers miss free throws, fail to call a timeout and fail to foul Collins before the shot. After dispatching Memphis, Kansas draws North Carolina in the title game. Ol' Roy is still puckered from last year, and the Jayhawks win it all again. School bumps Phog Allen's name off the Fieldhouse and calls it the Self Center. Missouri loses early, and Mike Anderson leaves for Alabama.

Worst Case: Bison Bummer II. Jayhawks sleepwalk into early tip-off and are stunned in the first round by North Dakota State on a hook shot by whichever player most closely resembles Chris McNaughton, the kid from the other Bison (Bucknell) who eliminated Kansas in 2005. Understanding Kansas fans shove Bill Self back onto the hot seat a year removed from winning it all. Missouri makes the Final Four and signs Anderson to 10-year contract. Aldrich and Collins turn pro.

Best Case: Tyrese Rice goes Chris Paul on USC, scoring 30 points and dishing out 11 assists, while Joe Trapani does the inside damage. Then the ACC-toughened Eagles take down Michigan State in the second round before losing to Kansas in the Sweet 16. Hoops world wonders once again why it never gives Al Skinner enough respect as a coach. AD Gene DeFilippo decides to hire Skinner as football offensive coordinator as well.

Worst Case: Eagles, whose only two wins away from home in the past 50 days were against lowly Virginia, don't acclimate well to Minneapolis. Tyrese Rice goes RuPaul on USC, enduring his seventh straight sub-50 percent shooting game. Trapani is outplayed by Taj Gibson. Skinner remains just another coach with a losing career NCAA tournament record (7-8).

Best Case: Augmenting the Tom Izzo staples of rebounding and defense with a faster pace, the Spartans handle all comers in the Midwest Regional. Then, in front of a euphoric home crowd at Ford Field, Sparty parties after beating Memphis and North Carolina to win the championship. Inspired auto industry commences robust turnaround. Detroit economy perks up. Blight takes the rest of April off. Lions even catch the spirit, pledge not to blow the draft. Izzo bypasses interest from Arizona, signs lifetime contract.

Worst Case: Spartans team that has never reached its potential in a season plagued by injury and illness is upset in Round 2 by athletic USC. Raymar Morgan continues to struggle back from health issues, Kalin Lucas misses shots, and the bench cannot make the usual contribution. Auto industry stays in the tank. Detroit sags, and boards up a few more windows. Lions select another receiver. Izzo trades in his snow boots for flip-flops, takes Arizona job.

Best Case: Ty Lawson's troublesome toe stops throbbing. Opponents start sobbing. Tar Heels bend their knees and play defense for 40 minutes. Then they do it again. And again. And again. That's four times against a weak region, resulting in a Final Four berth. Then they do it again. And again. That's six times, and that equals a national championship. Tyler Hansbrough ties title game against Memphis by scoring while being knocked down an NCAA-record 2,360th time, then wins it on a free throw with no time left. Ol' Roy is classy in victory again, chasing down John Calipari to console him as he did Bruce Weber in 2005. Duke loses to Texas.

Worst Case: Lawson's troublesome toe never fully recovers, and neither do the Heels. They're beaten in the Sweet 16 by Gonzaga, the only team in the region with the talent to trade open shots with Carolina and win. Hansbrough gets no calls after jumping into Gonzaga players an NCAA-record 26 times in a single game. Ol' Roy overuses his bench, gets uptight, loses and gets misty-eyed postgame. Says he's gonna frickin' miss these guys, but does not ramble incoherently the way he did after Kansas loss last year. Because he really won't miss their frickin' lax defense. Duke wins it all.

Best Case: Team that blitzed to the SEC regular-season title shows up in Greensboro, flush with poise and experience. Marcus Thornton hits shots, Tasmin Mitchell is a matchup problem and Collis Temple III plays junkyard-dog defense as the Tigers wallop Butler and lose a close one to North Carolina. LSU brass congratulates itself on hiring Trent Johnson away from Stanford, signs him to extension. Mitchell comes back for senior year. Other two SEC schools both win first-round games as well, staving off spring football talk another day.

Worst Case: Famously angry Johnson reprises his NCAA meltdown of last year and gets tossed from close game against Butler. Bulldogs respond by making technical free throws and win at the end. LSU completes late-season tailspin, losing for the third time in its last five games. Mitchell goes pro, and the SEC goes 0-3 in first-round games. Johnson reconsiders career move after seeing NCAA results dwarfed by LSU baseball and spring football.

Best Case: Refusing to be kept out of his final NCAA tournament, guard Chester Frazier ignores his broken right hand and plays anyway, teaching himself to shoot left-handed. Frazier declares Chuck Norris a wuss, then leads the Illini past Western Kentucky and Gonzaga into the 16. Bruce Weber is once again hailed as a great coach instead of the lunkhead who whiffed on Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose. Meanwhile, Bruce Pearl and Tennessee lose by 36 to Oklahoma State.

Worst Case: In a stunning development that Illinois just might have known all along, Frazier's season is done. He cannot play against Western Kentucky, which takes advantage of the defensive stopper's absence to shoot the Illini out of the tournament. Weber is hammered anew for not bringing in enough good players.

Best Case: Mark Few's lavish assemblage of talent continues to play like the team that has gone 18-1 in 2009, blitzing Akron and Illinois behind newly urgent Micah Downs. In the Sweet 16, the Zags put it all together offensively and get just enough stops and rebounds to stun North Carolina. From there they beat Syracuse in the regional final and advance to the first Final Four in school history, where even a loss to Pittsburgh cannot lessen the euphoria. Few turns down Arizona, and underclassmen Austin Daye, Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray all stick around.

Worst Case: Talent continues to not quite equal the sum of its parts, as a group that lost five of its last six against NCAA tournament teams backs down in the face of a second-round challenge from Illinois. Fast December start is never rediscovered. Zags face backlash after steadily transforming over the past decade from gritty overachiever darling to annual NCAA sucker pick. Few bolts for Arizona. At least one player turns pro early.

Best Case: Sun Devils team whose past six victories all are over NCAA tournament teams shows up on the other side of the country focused for its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003, and just its fourth since 1981. James Harden puts on a multifaceted pro audition. Jeff Pendergraph scores inside and out. Herb Sendek shows North Carolina State fans one more time what they're missing as ASU crashes the Elite Eight before losing to North Carolina. Arizona, also in Miami, loses its first game.

Worst Case: Eleven fans travel from Tempe to Miami to support the Sun Devils, who continue the late struggles that led to a 3-4 record over their last seven games. Harden misses shots in volume and nobody else steps up, as ASU is bum-rushed by 11th-seeded Temple in the first round. Arizona wins two in Miami and becomes the darling of the tournament.

Best Case: Given six days and a trip to Miami to recuperate from the absurdity of the Big East tournament, the Orange sustain the mojo without the fatigue. Jonny Flynn resumes slicing defenses. Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins resume cashing 3s -- and, in Devendorf's case, the occasional 60-footer. Paul Harris looks like Tarzan and actually plays like Tarzan for longer than one game at a time. Cuse slips into the Final Four. Jim Boeheim smiles. It stops snowing back home.

Worst Case: Spring blizzard hits, Boeheim frowns, mentally fried Syracuse is beaten in the first round by underappreciated Stephen F. Austin. Orange players are left trying to explain how you beat UConn and West Virginia in seven overtimes over the course of two days, but cannot beat the Lumberjacks of the Southland Conference. Flynn and Devendorf turn pro. Harris gives up basketball to become a strong safety.

Best Case: Inscrutable Tigers finally level out and play with some late-season consistency -- pressuring Michigan into defeat, swarming Blake Griffin in an upset of Oklahoma and taking care of Syracuse to reach the regional final before losing to nemesis North Carolina. Trevor Booker inside and the combo of K.C Rivers and Terrence Oglesby outside give Oliver Purnell the offensive balance needed to make one of the best runs in school history.

Worst Case: Team that lost six of its last 10 -- three of them to teams not in the NCAA field -- continues that Clemson trademark: the weak finish. Tigers are frustrated by Michigan's unorthodox style and lose handily, returning conversation to Dabo Swinney and overhyping the football team once again.

Best Case: Blake Griffin becomes the larger and more muscled version of Stephen Curry, throwing the Sooners on his sculpted back and carrying them to the Final Four. He averages 25 points and 15 rebounds, and with Willie Warren back to taking good shots and Austin Johnson back to creating with his passing, Oklahoma gets its groove back. Despite losing to Pittsburgh in the national semifinals, it's one of the best seasons in school history. After it's over, AD Joe Castiglione convinces Jeff Capel to stay. (Convincing Griffin to stay is another matter.)

Worst Case: Last-season slide that resulted in losing four of their last six continues for the Sooners. They're stunned in the first round by Morgan State, which frustrates Griffin with double-teams the way Missouri did earlier this month and Louisville did last year. Not only does Griffin go pro, but Warren unwisely follows. Capel has his choice of other jobs and takes one of them. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State and Texas both go further than the Sooners.

Best Case: A.J. Price hits game-winning shot to beat Memphis in regional final. Jeff Adrien putback beats Louisville in Final Four, then he throws his mouthpiece into the crowd for a slobbery souvenir. Finally, Hasheem Thabeet rejects a DeJuan Blair dunk attempt at the buzzer to preserve a one-point national championship victory for the Huskies. Thabeet is named MOP after posting Noah numbers: 35 points, 25 rebounds, 12 blocks in two games. In the end, even Ken Krayeske agrees: Jim Calhoun has earned his salary this year.

Worst Case: Huskies don't recover from consecutive losses to Pitt and Syracuse and register a no-show performance. They never miss injured Jerome Dyson more than in the second round, when BYU's Lee Cummard lights up UConn for 25 points in a staggering defeat. Price shoots 3-for-15 and the Huskies fail to get the ball inside enough. Third time in four years Connecticut is upset by a much lower seed, and much of the Nutmeg State joins Krayeske in suggesting that Calhoun is overpaid.

Best Case: Regional final. Hot-shooting, disruptive Cougars handle Texas A&M, then wall UConn off the offensive glass, then slice through Washington's indifferent defense to reach the Elite Eight. Team that won 11 of its last 14 -- with the losses by a total of nine points -- will be in every contest. Just keep BYU off the court on Sundays and everything will be fine.

Worst Case: Cougars don't react well to what is a 10:30 tip-off Mountain time, sleepwalk through the first half, fall 15 points behind the Aggies and then cannot come back. Compassionate Philly fans boo and call the Cougars chokers. Meanwhile, Utah and Utah State both go on runs through the bracket.

Best Case: Robbie Hummel makes shots inside and out, continuing his late-season resurgence after a back injury. JaJuan Johnson controls the paint, continuing his season-long coming-out party. E'Twaun Moore makes plays the way he's capable of. Purdue defends like a Matt Painter team and shoots the way it did in the Big Ten tourney (42 percent in three victories). Boilermakers go where they never went under Gene Keady: the Final Four. Indiana fans slink further into hiding.

Worst Case: Locked in a possession-by-possession trench warfare game with Northern Iowa, the Boilermakers are eliminated in the first round. Purdue Pete is ejected for swinging his sledgehammer with excessive force. One member of Purdue's talented sophomore triumvirate (Hummel, Johnson, Moore) turns pro. Indiana fans continue to point out the superiority of their trophy case.

Best Case: Huskies sprint through Mississippi State and punk Purdue by forcing the tempo out of the Boilermakers' comfort zone. In Glendale, Washington gets double Sweet 16 revenge upon UConn. The Huskies East eliminated the Huskies West in 1998 on a last-second shot in the regional semifinals, and the Huskies East eliminated the Huskies West in overtime in 2006 in the same round. This time it's Jon Brockman hitting the game-winning putback at the buzzer. Somewhere, Todd MacCulloch looks up from a pinball machine and smiles. In an NBA locker room, so does Brandon Roy. Huskies go on to reach their first Final Four since 1951, when they were under the direction of the immortal William "Tippy" Dye.

Worst Case: Huskies run into a hot Bulldogs team -- most notably the long arms of Jarvis Varnado inside -- and are ejected from the Dance in the first round. Defensively indifferent Huskies fail to close out on Mississippi State shooters and are strafed from the outside. Washington fans unsuccessfully attempt to blame the outcome on East Coast bias. Meanwhile, Jake Locker gets hurt in spring football practice.

Best Case: Maurice Acker, tired of hearing that the Golden Eagles have no chance without Dominic James at point guard, hits game-winning 3-pointer to upset Memphis in the Sweet 16. From there, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward come up just short in a valiant regional final effort against UConn. Hayward comes back to school for his senior season. Buzz Williams gets a raise. Wisconsin once again fails to beat a team seeded in the top half of the tournament.

Worst Case: The Golden Eagles are hosed by the NCAA, placing them in Boise against an 11th-seeded Utah State team that is only four hours from home. Marquette has no chance without James and is done in Round 1, ending its season by losing six of seven. Hayward looks at all the guards leaving the program and decides he's out of there, too. Buzz Williams is criticized for failing to make adjustments in the absence of James. Wisconsin goes on fairy-tale run to regional final.

Best Case: Relentless pressure defense and constant trapping totally overwhelm Cornell and wear down Marquette, and when coach Mike Anderson faces familiar opponent John Calipari in the regional semifinals, he's ready. Anderson's Tigers force nine turnovers from freshman Tyreke Evans and bounce into the regional final, where they run the legs off Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien on their way to the first Final Four in school history. Anderson signs 10-year contract extension. Kansas loses to North Dakota State. All-night party breaks out on the quad.

Worst Case: After wobbling past Cornell, Tigers are gifted with the presence of 11th-seeded Utah State in the second round -- and blow the opportunity. Mizzou falls behind by 15 early, shoots 29 percent from the field, fails to force turnovers and slinks out of Boise badly beaten. Anderson answers call to return to his home state and coach Alabama. Kansas repeats as national champion. On campus, one of the columns in the quad tips over and squashes three coeds.

Best Case: Golden Bears get the Mike Montgomery coaching effort that took Stanford to the 1998 Final Four as Cal picks apart Maryland with deadly 3-point shooting and tidy ballhandling. Bears then scare Memphis in Round 2, pushing it to the brink before relenting. Team without seniors returns intact to challenge for the Pac-10 crown in 2010.

Worst Case: Golden Bears get the Monty who coached Stanford to staggering NCAA upset losses in 1999, 2000 and 2004. Cal cannot contain Greivis Vasquez or get decent perimeter looks against annoying Maryland defense. Bears are blown out, ending their season with four losses in their last seven games, and remain without an NCAA win since 2003. After the season, two underclassmen leave the team to live in a tree on campus.

Best Case: After hugging William Wesley, populist millionaire John Calipari waves a Ford Field net over his head and declares that this is for Conference USA, and for the disenfranchised middle class of Division I basketball nationwide. Final Four Most Outstanding Player Tyreke Evans says he's had so much fun in college, he's coming back to do it again next year with Xavier Henry, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall. C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky abandons pretense and moves the league office to the Finch Center, Memphis' practice facility.

Worst Case: Up three against Maryland in the second round with 10 seconds to play, Calipari actually uses his final timeout and instructs his players to foul rather than surrender a 3-point shot. Doneal Mack tardily fouls Vasquez as he's shooting, the ball goes in, and Vasquez makes the free throw to win the game. Evans declares for the draft before he takes off his uniform. Wesley finds a new favorite team. Telling friends he's sick of being part of the disenfranchised middle class, Calipari lobbies behind the scenes for every open job in a BCS league.