Dream and nightmare scenarios

Best Case: Coach Thad Matta becomes the savior of Buckeye Nation, not only winning the school's first basketball title since 1960 but also changing the subject from The Vest's mess. Perfectly constructed offensive team rides the interior strength of Jared Sullinger, the perimeter shooting of Jon Diebler and William Buford, the slashing ability of David Lighty and the setup skills of Aaron Craft to six victories. Buckeyes endure a tougher bracket than a No. 1 overall seed should have to, which makes the going seem relatively easy by the time they get to Houston. Matta beats five straight coaches with Final Four experience to cut down the nets: Jim Larranaga and George Mason in the Buckeyes' second game; John Calipari and Kentucky; Jim Boeheim and Syracuse; Mike Krzyzewski and Duke; and finally Bill Self and Kansas. By the time it's over, Ohio State has refuted the no-great-team angle of the 2010-11 season, going 38-2 and winning the Big Ten regular season, Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament titles. Sullinger shocks everyone by saying he's coming back for his sophomore season, and Michigan loses in the first round.

Worst Case: Matta's stubbornly short rotation comes back to haunt him when the Buckeyes encounter foul trouble in their second game against George Mason. Specifically, Sullinger doesn't get the All-American whistle he's become accustomed to and has to sit major minutes with foul trouble. With other guys forced into expanded roles, Ohio State's well-honed offense stutters against the Patriots -- whose coach knows a thing or two about taking down the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. With the Buckeyes down two in the final seconds, Sullinger goes to the line to shoot two and makes only one with chants of "free tattoos" ringing in his ears. Ohio State is shocked in the Round of 32, and a crushed fan base no longer has an enjoyable distraction from its cheating football coach and suspended star players. Meanwhile, Michigan makes it to the Sweet 16.

Best Case: The Patriots party like it's 2006, improbably returning to the Final Four. Jim Larranaga gets it done again, this time as a No. 8 seed -- better seeding than the No. 11 of five years ago, but necessitating an earlier matchup with the tourney's overall top seed. A confident Mason team that at one point won 16 in a row this season frustrates Ohio State strongman Jared Sullinger. The Buckeyes miss a lot of shots and get in foul trouble, the Patriots make key 3s and the underdog moves on. In the Sweet 16 they beat West Virginia, then take down Washington in a long-shot regional final. Media scurries to find Jai Lewis and Tony Skinn. After run ends with a loss to Duke in Houston, Larranaga again turns down job offers and stays at Mason.

Worst Case: A miracle like '06 comes along only once a lifetime. Non-miraculous Patriots are ousted in game won by a Villanova team everyone has given up on. Wildcats use their pressure and quickness to get Mason running and knock them out early. We won't hear from the Patriots again for years -- especially after Larranaga opts to retire. Meanwhile, rivals Old Dominion and VCU make runs.

Best Case: Mountaineers fans, ignite your couches. Bob Huggins does it again -- to John Calipari, and to an entire region. He and his team (particularly Cat killer Joe Mazzulla) upset Calipari and Kentucky for the second straight year, raising Huggins' personal record to 9-1 against Cal. Then they shock Ohio State in the Sweet 16, push around North Carolina in the regional final and show up in a completely improbable Final Four. Other coaches decide it must be the sweat suit and begin dressing like Huggs on the sideline. West Virginia again loses in the national semifinals, but at least this year nobody blows out a knee in the process. Pitt, meanwhile, loses before its seeding suggests it should yet again.

Worst Case: These aren't the Mountaineers of last year. Lacking scorers and depth, West Virginia can't even capitalize on its rest-and-preparation advantage over Clemson and loses to the Tigers on Thursday. Huggins gets T'd up, leading scorer Casey Mitchell takes (and misses) a lot of bad shots, Mazzulla makes no impact and the Mountaineers don't play transition defense. They're gone in 40 minutes. Pitt goes on to win the national title. Fans burn furniture anyway, in hopes it will make them feel better and because there's nothing else to do in Morgantown on an April Monday night.

Best Case: With their young stars growing up on national TV, the Wildcats return to the summit and win their eighth national title. Freshman Brandon Knight plays like the best NBA-prospect guard with two healthy big toes. Terrence Jones continues to be an all-court matchup problem and rebounding fool, but now takes better shots. Doron Lamb makes every open 3. Junior Darius Miller continues the late-season blossoming that made him SEC tournament MVP. Kentucky mows down Princeton, West Virginia, Ohio State, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas to win the title, cutting a wide swath through its blue-blood competition for the greatest program of all-time. John Calipari snips the nets at last, and 2,000 Kentucky families name their newborn sons Cal. To complete the rapture, Louisville loses its first game to Morehead State and Rick Pitino gets ejected. In response to rumors of interest from the New York Knicks, Kentucky gives Calipari an $8 million-a-year contract and a half-share in the Rachel Alexandra-Curlin foal and starts construction on a new 30,000-seat arena.

Worst Case: In a crushing case of déjà vu, Joe Mazzulla keys another West Virginia upset of the Wildcats -- this time in the round of 32 -- and extends Kentucky's longest-ever Final Four drought to 13 years. Bob Huggins runs his record to 9-1 against Calipari, who verbally bombs Terrence Jones again in a late-game situation. Big Blue fans who spent all week dissecting the presumptive Kentucky-Ohio State matchup have their daydreams pre-empted by the reality of Mazzulla evicting the Wildcats once more. Every key underclassman goes pro and so does Calipari, who is hired in New York to replace Mike D'Antoni after the Knicks bomb in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Louisville reaches the Final Four with no first-round draft picks.

Best Case: Tu Holloway becomes a March cult hero. The little guy wearing No. 52, the name change from Terrell to Tu, the swaggering city game all contribute -- that and the fact that he averages 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists for three games. The Musketeers beat Marquette and upset Syracuse -- a nice double-dip to shut up the obnoxious Big East fans in their backyard. Then they dispatch Washington to reach the regional final -- their fourth straight trip to at least the Sweet 16. There they get a rematch of a controversial 2007 NCAA tourney loss to Ohio State. They don't win this one either, but at least this time they don't get the shaft from the officials. Coach Chris Mack reaffirms his commitment to Xavier and refuses to follow those who used the job as a steppingstone. Meanwhile, Cincinnati is upset by Missouri, which means the Musketeers can tell Bearcats fans they've now won 11 NCAA games since the last time Cincy won one.

Worst Case: Marquette's guards have the quickness to compete with Holloway. They limit him and nobody else steps up, as the Golden Eagles spring the upset. Xavier fans have to hear even more about how the Big East is light years ahead of the inferior Atlantic-10. Mack decides that even though he's deeply rooted at Xavier, his career doesn't have to be and takes another job. Cincinnati, meanwhile, breaks out on a run to the Elite Eight.

Best Case: Did this team really lose six out of eight games in one stretch? You can't tell that now, not with all the trademark Orange elements in place. The zone is active and annoying, the perimeter shooters are dialed in, Rick Jackson is a load inside and Fab Melo continues to show signs of life. They waltz past Indiana State (the weakest Missouri Valley champion in years), outlast Xavier, unsettle young North Carolina and unseat Ohio State when the Buckeyes go cold against the zone. Cuse beats Duke but, in a script flip from 2003, loses to Kansas in the title game. Run lasts long enough that most of the snow is actually melted on campus by the time the Orange return in early April.

Worst Case: Yes, this team really did lose six out of eight games in one stretch, and that's the team that shows up in Cleveland. Lax zone leaves shooters open. Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche launch too many bad shots. And nobody feeds Jackson on the inside. After wheezing past Indiana State in the opener, Cuse gets excused in the Round of 32 by Xavier. Jim Boeheim blames it on the local media for being too negative. Kris Joseph decides this is a splendid time to go pro. Another foot of snow falls in upstate New York.

Best Case: One of the most athletically gifted teams in the field showcases its quickness, speed and leaping ability in a strong tourney performance. Isaiah Thomas plays like a "cold-blooded!" star, hitting big shots and fracturing defenses. Matthew Bryan-Amaning plays big in the paint. Justin Holiday plays better than his brother, Jrue, ever did in a UCLA uniform. Venoy Overton makes a convenient return from suspension. And Lorenzo Romar, who has coached some sneaky Sweet 16 runs, leads Washington's first Final Four run since 1953. Crowning moment is a regional final game against Kentucky, which took Enes Kanter, Terrence Jones and the last speck of Who Hash away from the Huskies. Romar gets the last laugh in that one, drawing up the game-winning play for Terrence Ross to score over former high school teammate Jones.

Worst Case: Long on athletes but short on basketball IQ, the Huskies take bad shots, commit a dozen silly fouls, miss a dozen free throws, play in a hurry all game and generally stink it up in an upset loss to Georgia. Mentally sketchy team that lost late home games to Washington State and USC shows up to face the Bulldogs, who actually hold onto a late lead for a change and eliminate the Huskies. Three seniors graduate, and Thomas and Ross make puzzling decisions to go pro. Meanwhile, Jones leads Kentucky to the national title.

Best Case: With Larry Drew II, the Wear twins and thousands of Duke fans watching in morose amazement, the Tar Heels win it all for the second time in three seasons and third time in seven. A year removed from the indignity of the NIT, young Carolina continues its late-season roll and charges through a difficult region, while Duke is being shocked in the second round by Tennessee. After beating No. 1 Ohio State to get to Houston, the Heels blow out San Diego State in the semifinal and nip Kansas in the final. Ol' Roy only has two days to dither over facing the Jayhawks in the Final Four this time, instead of a full week, and he handles it better. Harrison Barnes continues his inevitable metamorphosis into a superstar. Kendall Marshall plays with a charismatic cleverness and somehow continues to evade being called for carrying the basketball. Tyler Zeller is the rock of consistency at both ends. John Henson grabs rebounds like Kevin Love. Ol' Roy tells the fans that it's OK to call his dadgum radio show now and tell him how good his team is.

Worst Case: Locked in a second-round tussle with athletic Washington, Barnes goes back to his high-volume, low-percentage shooting days. Marshall turns it over more than he finds his teammates, including three calls for carrying the basketball by non-ACC refs who apparently didn't know that it was forbidden to call it on the kid. Zeller and Henson are pulled away from the basket defensively to deal with pick-and-roll situations, negating their length. The Tar Heels miss almost all their 3-pointers and play indifferent defense. Ol' Roy tries the shove-five-subs-in-the-game trick one too many times and it results in a 10-0 Washington run. Ol' Roy cries, cusses and tells everyone not to call his dadgum radio show unless it's to compliment his golf game. Duke wins it all again.

Best Case: Every single ticket gets distributed legally as the Jayhawks march all the way to their fourth national title and second in the past four seasons. The Morris twins have defenses seeing double, hurting opponents inside and outside. Experienced guards hit key shots and play airtight defense. Deepest team in the country gets contributions from 10 players -- even Josh Selby! -- as Kansas rolls past Boston U, UNLV, Louisville and Notre Dame to Houston. Once there, the Jayhawks bounce Florida and then do what they did in 2008 -- rip Roy Williams and North Carolina. Bill Self signs a lifetime contract, Selby humbly acknowledges he's not ready for the NBA, the Morrises return as well, and Kansas is the prohibitive favorite to win it all again in 2012. Meanwhile, Missouri and Kansas State both get knocked out in the first round.

Worst Case: Emotionally immature team overlooks its round-of-32 game against UNLV and comes out flat. Marcus Morris is tossed for a flagrant elbow, Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar miss every perimeter jumper, and Tyshawn Taylor turns the ball over five times. Bill Self gets that familiar, Northern Iowa/Bucknell/Bradley sinking feeling again, watching his team unravel. Jayhawks are dismissed while Missouri makes an unlikely Sweet 16 run and Kansas State goes to the Final Four.

Best Case: Rebels re-establish contact with their November/December vibe, when they beat Wisconsin, Murray State, Virginia Tech and Kansas State. Tre'Von Willis plays back to his 2010 form, driving fearlessly and getting to the foul line, and his teammates follow his lead. Rebels make just enough 3-pointers to beat Illinois, then turn up the defensive pressure to rattle Kansas and pull a huge upset. In the Sweet 16 UNLV gets revenge for a December loss to Louisville before being beaten by Notre Dame in the regional final. His NCAA tournament record further strengthened, coach Lon Kruger signs a lifetime deal.

Worst Case: UNLV team that is 22-1 against non-tournament teams and 2-7 against the field of 68 knows it is in over its head against good competition, and plays like it. Rebels cannot make any shots and are tossed out of Tulsa by Illinois on Friday night. They're forced to watch Mountain West rivals San Diego State and BYU both make deep runs. Kruger takes another job, and the 20th anniversary of UNLV's last Final Four appearance passes quietly.

Best Case: The hot John Jenkins makes the trip to Denver. The guard who made 24 of 50 3-point shots in five victories over the past month lights up Richmond and Louisville, carrying the Commodores to the Sweet 16. He is joined in San Antonio by the assertive Jeffery Taylor, an athletic marvel who, when tuned in, averaged 20.6 points in the SEC tournament. Together they key a dramatic upset of Kansas. Commodores lose in regional final to Notre Dame, but it's their deepest NCAA push since 1965. Tennessee, Memphis and Belmont all lose earlier, leaving the state spotlight to the Dores.

Worst Case: The cold John Jenkins makes the trip to Denver. The guard who made 8 of 31 3-point shots in four defeats over the past month cannot hit anything against Richmond. He's joined by unassertive Jeffery Taylor, who scores a quiet seven points in a second consecutive first-round upset loss. Vandy remains a good team that never threatens to do anything great, while Tennessee, Memphis and Belmont all win at least one game. Forget being the best team in the state; Vandy isn't even the best team in Nashville.

Best Case: Overachieving season reaches new high when the Cardinals ride sizzling shooting and pressure defense to five victories and the program's ninth Final Four. Highlight moment comes when Louisville hits 15 3-point shots and Rick Pitino runs his Sweet 16 record to 10-0 with an upset of No. 1 seed Kansas. After beating Pittsburgh for the second time this year in the Final Four, "them bums" wave goodbye to Ashton Gibbs and say hello to Ohio State in the final. Cardinals lose there but walk away from the season feeling giddy. Preston Knowles, Peyton Siva and Kyle Kuric play like the best backcourt triumvirate in the Dance. Kentucky loses in the second round to West Virginia and freshmen Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb all go pro.

Worst Case: Injury-addled season reaches a new low when big men Terrence Jennings and Gorgui Dieng collide in pregame layup line against Morehead State, knocking each other unconscious. With only end-of-the-bench post men left to contest Kenneth Faried, he goes off for 30 points and 20 rebounds, leading the Eagles to a shocking upset. Peyton Siva makes ill-advised decision to turn pro. Kentucky goes on to win the national title, announces plans to build a new arena that's nicer than the KFC Yum! Center and gets verbal commitments from every single five-star recruit in the Class of 2013.

Best Case: Chris Wright's hand is OK, and he rides in like the cavalry to save the Hoyas' season. The guard returns to his stabilizing, playmaking self to help Georgetown end a four-game losing streak and start a three-game winning streak. Hoyas handle weary USC and backsliding Purdue to set up a rematch with Notre Dame, a team they lost to in South Bend, Ind., in December. This time Georgetown turns the tables on a Nate Lubick layup at the buzzer and reaches the regional final before losing to Kansas. Coach John Thompson III almost smiles after beating the Irish.

Worst Case: Chris Wright's hand isn't OK, and he doesn't ride in like the cavalry, and the school gets ripped for its phony injury update to protect team seeding. Without Wright, the offense still doesn't run and a team averaging 51.5 points the past four games still can't score. The Hoyas are an easy mark for USC, despite the short turnaround from the First Four for the Trojans. JTIII doesn't come close to cracking a smile after his second straight first-round ouster and third consecutive NCAA loss to a lower-seeded team.

Best Case: This was supposed to be a special season, and despite the roadblocks it ends that way. Losing Robbie Hummel didn't derail the Boilermakers, and neither do consecutive bad losses to Iowa and Michigan State to end the season. This is a veteran team that had its eyes on the Big Dance all along, and it's ready to show it. Purdue grabs Saint Peter's by the throat from the opening tip, beats fatigued USC in its second game, then takes down Notre Dame in a northwest Indiana battle relocated to San Antonio. From there, Purdue beats Louisville in the regional final, reaching its first Final Four since 1980. Stellar seniors JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore get enough help from their supporting cast. Boilers lose to Pittsburgh in Houston, but know they maximized their ability. And maximized the misery of Indiana fans everywhere.

Worst Case: Season that began badly ends that way, too. Those stumbles against the Hawkeyes and Spartans weren't a blip, they were flashing warning lights. Johnson and Moore can't get good help, and the Saint Peter's defense tilts heavily to stopping them. Peacocks pull off the biggest of all 2011 early-round shockers on a banked-in 3 at the buzzer. Four years of big dreams end in an opening-game nightmare. Former coach Gene Keady gets to the Final Four as an assistant coach at St. John's, saying he had to get away from West Lafayette, Ind., to finally reach the last weekend of the season. In-state neighbor Notre Dame makes the Final Four as well. Indiana fans point at the Assembly Hall rafters and invite the Boilermakers to compare banners.

Best Case:Aggies continue their season-long overachieving by advancing to an improbable regional final. With just one significantly talented player in Khris Middleton, A&M is a team of hardworking role players who shut down offensively challenged Florida State, stun cold-shooting Notre Dame and topple Purdue. They finally tap out in the regional final against Kansas, but it's the deepest move in school history. Coach Mark Turgeon is given a new contract and his own personal Yell Leader to fetch coffee and lunch and wash his comp car. When Texas flames out against Oakland, Aggies fans still riding a high from beating the Longhorns in football nearly expire from happiness.

Worst Case: Lack of major talent catches up with the Aggies, who are broomed out by Florida State. Seminoles forward Chris Singleton is recovered from his broken foot and shuts down Middleton, and nobody else can score enough to pick up the slack. Turgeon decides he wants to coach at a school that likes basketball and relocates. Texas wins national title, and six more blue-chip recruits commit to Rick Barnes.

Best Case: Mike Brey does what Digger Phelps and every other men's basketball coach in school history failed to do -- capture a national title. Riding the rarest commodity in the game -- lavish experience -- the heady Fighting Irish reverse the trend that says you must have surefire pros to win it all. The Irish shoot the lights out of three successive venues and win a succession of close games -- they beat Louisville in their third overtime meeting of the season, then take out Kansas State in Houston and slay Ohio State in the title game. Ben Hansbrough joins big brother Tyler in the fellowship of the (championship) ring. Phelps gives Brey a gold-plated highlighter. Notre Dame faces reality and officially becomes a basketball school, and to prove it, the Irish commit to building a new arena.

Worst Case: Experience is great, but athleticism can beat it. Notre Dame runs into that in a second-round upset loss to Florida State. The Seminoles blanket the Irish shooters and savage them on the offensive glass. Crestfallen Notre Dame fans remember that Mike Brey has never been to a regional final, much less a Final Four, as a head coach. Then they go back to scrutinizing the spring football depth chart. Meanwhile, Mike Krzyzewski unexpectedly retires after winning a fifth national title and Duke names Brey to succeed him.

Best Case: Gifted with a region that is only slightly tougher than the average Atlantic 10 tournament, the Panthers overcome their penchant for March Madness meltdowns and surge to their first Final Four since World War II. Ashton Gibbs outplays Jacob Pullen in the Sweet 16, and Jamie Dixon outcoaches two-time national champion Billy Donovan in the regional final. In Houston, Pitt beats Kansas on a length-of-the-floor drive by Brad Wanamaker at the buzzer to reach the title game before losing to Ohio State. Having broken the Final Four barrier, Dixon becomes almost as big a celebrity in Pittsburgh as the long snapper for the Steelers. Meanwhile, West Virginia loses in the first round, and Bob Huggins breaks more ribs in another hotel-room fall.

Worst Case: Even with the room-service regional, Pitt apples up in the second round and loses to Butler on a length-of-the-floor drive by Shelvin Mack at the buzzer. The Panthers do what they do most every March: fail to make shots and struggle to score against the Final Four-seasoned Bulldogs. The few Pitt fans not obsessing over the NFL lockout start to turn on Dixon for failing to deliver on the big stage. Gibbs tweets that the Butler players are bums, then issues an apology so eloquent that some suspect it came straight from Barack Obama's speechwriter. Huggins takes West Virginia to a second straight Final Four.

Best Case: A Bulldogs team that has rediscovered its tournament mojo wins its 10th straight game against Old Dominion, its 11th straight in a stunning takedown of Pitt, its 12th straight in a Sweet 16 triumph over Kansas State and its 13th straight over Florida on a Matt Howard half-court shot that banks in -- and reaches a second consecutive Final Four. Along the way, Butler shoots 83 percent from the line and turns the ball over five times a game. The Bulldogs lose in Houston to Kansas but make their point: They're here to stay as the most unlikely of national powers. To reinforce that point, coach Brad Stevens signs yet another reworked long-term contract after turning down half a dozen major job offers. Blue the Bulldog signs an endorsement deal with Alpo.

Worst Case: Butler realizes how much easier it was to have tournament mojo with Gordon Hayward and falls in the first round to Old Dominion. Howard picks up two fouls on the opening tip and plays a total of 11 minutes before fouling out. Stevens comes to appreciate the rewards of coaching future lottery picks and leaves for a job in a big-six conference. Blue the Bulldog follows the lead of UGA's VII and VIII and goes paws-up after the loss. Hinkle Fieldhouse is condemned.

Best Case: Team that hasn't lost to anybody but Colorado since January rejoices to see the Buffaloes left out of the bracket and begins plotting a Final Four run. Jacob Pullen makes it reality by averaging 30 points per game, making his beard the most famous this side of Fidel Castro's. Season-long underachievers Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels return to active, disruptive form inside. The Wildcats whip past Utah State, Belmont, Pittsburgh and Florida to reach Houston. At a key juncture against the Gators, Kansas State misses a box-out and allows a putback basket -- but coach Frank Martin endures it without committing homicide. Reassured that their coach only looks like an ax-murdering madman, as opposed to being one, K-State settles down and wins the game. Loss in national semifinals to Notre Dame doesn't hurt because Kansas was eliminated earlier.

Worst Case: After failed box-out in the first two minutes, Frank Martin's head explodes on the sideline, ruining his suit and hampering his team's ability to beat Utah State. Aggies coach Stew Morrill calls the Colorado staff to get the dope on beating the Wildcats and employs the same game plan to perfection. Under duress, K-State reverts to unintelligent offense and Pullen goes 4-for-23 from the field. Kelly and Samuels play in a fog. The Wildcats are forced to return to Manhattan, Kan., and watch Kansas win the national title.

Best Case: Rightfully shamed by performance in Big Ten tournament, Badgers push the gas pedal just enough to unleash the full talents of point guard Jordan Taylor. He leads Wisconsin to the Final Four, recording 80 points, 32 assists and 4 turnovers in four impressive victories. Fastidious Badgers commit just 32 team fouls and 22 turnovers in four games while also leaving their locker rooms spotless. Before matchup with Florida in regional final, injured forward Mike Bruesewitz shockingly shaves the red poodle off his head and implores his team to "win one for the Brueser." 'Sconsin gets it done. Aaron Rodgers flies to Houston to see the Badgers play. And Buzz Williams takes the Oklahoma job five minutes after Marquette is eliminated in the first round.

Worst Case: Team that scored a Cro-Magnon 33 points last time out shows up in Tucson and gets upset-romped in the first round. Badgers shoot 29 percent from the field and drive fans out of the McKale Center shielding their eyes from the horror. Wisconsin backers who feverishly defended Bo Ryan's plodding approach as "playing the right way" now wonder why the right way keeps turning out wrong in March. Marquette goes on a run, and Buzz Williams re-ups. Fans morosely return home to spring snow, labor strife and the Packers lockout.

Best Case: Steve Lavin unleashes his long list of analogies to describe the Red Storm's run to the Final Four. Boxing, movies, football, Buddhism, politics and reality TV are used to describe the Johnnies as they battle past Gonzaga, BYU, Florida and Pittsburgh to reach Houston. Dwight Hardy plays like a star, and everyone ups their game to offset the loss of D.J. Kennedy to a knee injury. By the time the Johnnies reach Reliant Stadium, even UCLA fans admit Lavin can coach. Black suit with white sneakers and no tie look starts to catch on in Manhattan. Louie Carnesecca, Chris Mullin and Walter Berry are interviewed into exhaustion. Gene Keady finally gets to see what the working side of a Final Four looks like. New York columnists leave the Yankees batting cage long enough to declare this the greatest story in college basketball history, then rip the Johnnies when they lose to Kansas by three in the national semifinals.

Worst Case: Red Storm never rediscover their February verve and are one-and-done against red-hot Gonzaga. St. John's misses Kennedy's presence on the defensive end and the glass. Lavin dishes out 23 analogies in a five-minute span to describe the Johnnies' 69-65 loss. UCLA fans smirk. Fans decide Lavin looks unprofessional without a tie and dress shoes. New York columnists never have to leave the Yankees batting cage, but do pause the A-Rod watch long enough to rip St. John's for the worst performance in college basketball history.

Best Case: The Jimmer goes from folk hero to superhero, averaging a Maravichian 44 points per game and carrying the Cougars to the Final Four. He scalds Wofford and Gonzaga in Denver, then it's off to New Orleans. He is led not into temptation by the omnipresent vices of the Big Easy, staying in his hotel room to read the Book of Mormon located in the end table. He leaves only to score by the bushel in the Superdome, willing BYU past Florida and Kansas State in a pair of 2010 tourney rematch games. Delirious BYU fans converge on the French Quarter looking for celebratory jello, only to find that the jello available on Bourbon Street is either ingested as a shot or wrestled in. Not their style. Cougars escape New Orleans without honor-code violations and lose honorably to Kansas in Houston. Despite losing Fredette and downgrading to the West Coast Conference, coach Dave Rose stays at the school. And Utah hires a stiff.

Worst Case: The loss of post player Brandon Davies comes home to roost with finality as BYU loses in the first round to Wofford. There is Noah-on-Noah crime in the paint, as Wofford's Dahlman dominates BYU's Hartsock. Worn out from carrying his team this far, The Jimmer shoots 9-for-30 and commits eight turnovers. Making matters worse, Fredette is seen ordering a triple latte at Starbucks later that night to drown his sorrows. That's a no-no in Provo, Utah, so BYU halts plans to put his jersey in the rafters. Rose realizes his ceiling at the school and skedaddles for the nearest good job -- which happens to be at archrival Utah.

Best Case: Back in the Dance after a one-year absence, coach Ben Howland regains his March mojo and returns the Bruins to their fourth Final Four in six years. Motivated by the ongoing disrespect of Pac-10 baskeball and the widespread support for Big Dance darling Michigan State, UCLA comes out inspired and takes command right away. Then the Bruins gain some revenge for 2006 and '07 Final Four beatdowns by upsetting Florida. After that they beat Gonzaga (another '06 tourney rematch) and Howland takes on his old team and former assistant Jamie Dixon in the regional final. UCLA wins that, too, before losing to Notre Dame in the Final Four. By then the world is in love with the round mound that is Josh Smith, fascinated by the well-inked Reeves Nelson and amused by the comically bearded Tyler Honeycutt. USC flames out in Dayton, and recruits once again commence flocking to Westwood.

Worst Case: Tom Izzo's March mojo is stronger than Ben Howland's, and it shows. The Spartans are ready to play and the Bruins are not, having been softened up by the weak Pac-10. A panicked Howland calls all five of his timeouts in the first half, three of them in the opening four minutes, and runs nothing but pick-and-roll for the entire 40 minutes. Seduced by legendary Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, Josh Smith eats his way into a meat coma and is useless. Reeves Nelson spends too much time in an Ybor City tattoo parlor and is late for warm-ups. Fans start to wonder whether Howland's window of opportunity has closed in Westwood, particularly since USC goes on a tear to the Sweet 16.

Best Case: Gifted with a seeding more inflated than post-Civil War Confederate currency, the Gators make a run. The natural No. 4 seed enjoys a soft regional draw, walloping UC Santa Barbara, favorite whipping boy UCLA, Gonzaga and Kansas State to reach a fourth Final Four in 11 years. After three years without an NCAA win, people remember Billy Donovan can coach. Chandler Parsons displays the versatility that made him SEC Player of the Year. Guards Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton shoot judiciously and remember to feed the post on occasion. Big man Vernon Macklin repays their generosity by scoring consistently in the paint. Gator Nation loses its collective mind when Joakim Noah and Tim Tebow show up in Houston for the Final Four. Donovan, who is 3-0 in national semifinals, makes it 4-0 by beating Kansas before the Gators lose to Ohio State in the title game.

Worst Case: Showing that they had no business with a No. 2 seed, the Gators are bounced in the second round by Michigan State. Walker and Boynton combine to shoot 35 times and make nine, feeding the post twice all game. Parsons misses four key free throws, showing the one part of his game that's a glaring weakness. Florida State makes the Sweet 16, and Will Muschamp decides in spring ball that none of his quarterbacks is very good. In a stunning move, Donovan leaves Florida for his alma mater, Providence.

Best Case:

Nineteen years after repeat titles, the Blue Devils go back-to-back again. After breaking Bob Knight's all-time victory record and moving into second place alone in national titles won, Mike Krzyzewski is given a second Sirius radio show titled, "I Love My Kids -- But Let's Talk About Me." Nolan Smith wins Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors, going for 40 against Michigan in the second round as Coach K reminds everyone he was 3-0 against the Fab Five. Kyle Singler rediscovers his three-point shooting stroke and hits the game-winner against Connecticut in the regional final, saying, "That was for Trajan Langdon and the '99 team." Miles Plumlee grows a Zoubeard and neutralizes Jared Sullinger in the national semifinal. Seth Curry hits key shots in championship game victory over Louisville and declares Jay Bilas off the hook for the '86 punking from Pervis Ellison. In keeping with an eternal theme, all key block/charge calls go Duke's way, no matter how sketchy. (See: Scheyer, Jon, vs. Hayward, Gordon, 2010.) Despite rampant speculation that he would play, the Devils don't even need a cameo from Kyrie Irving, who is so inspired that he vows to come back healthy next year and go for the three-peat. North Carolina is shocked by Long Island, Roy Williams cusses and cries for the media, and the freshmen Tar Heels go pro.

Worst Case: Tennessee and dissembling Bruce Pearl knock the halo off Krzyzewski's head and the Blue Devils out of the tournament in a second-round shocker. Singler's stroke remains AWOL, and Curry's joins it. Smith finally wears down from playing excessive minutes. The Plumlees combine to be tall, and that's all. Tennessee gets an even whistle in the game, which infuriates the Duke faithful. Irving is seen break dancing later that night, furthering suspicions he could have played weeks ago but his dad didn't want to hurt his draft status. He and his healthy big toe go pro five minutes after returning to Durham, where the Devils watch North Carolina win its third title in the past seven years.

Best Case: Wolverines capitalize on all the Fab Five nostalgia in the air, charging to their first Final Four since the (vacated) glory days of the early 1990s. After shocking Duke in the second round, Michigan is gifted with a Sweet 16 game against neighbor Oakland, which pulled two upsets to set up a rematch of their December game in Ann Arbor. This goes like that one, which was an 18-point Wolverines win. Nostalgia deepens when Michigan is confronted by Steve Fisher and San Diego State in the regional final. Wolverines win there, as John Beilein wins the coaching matchup and reminds everyone that Fisher was a better recruiter (with the help of Ed Martin) than tactician. Jalen Rose, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard hold court like elder statesmen in Houston. Meanwhile, Ohio State flames out in the second round against George Mason, and Jim Tressel is suspended by the NCAA for several games that actually matter.

Worst Case:: Tennessee plays up to its talent, and Michigan plays down to its unathletic weaknesses in a first-round rout. The Wolverines don't make enough 3-pointers to offset their chronic weaknesses in rebounding, blocking shots or making steals. The nomadic Beilein decides he's not a Michigan man and bolts back to the Big East at Providence. Darius Morris and Tim Hardaway Jr. go pro, just because they can. Ohio State wins the national title in a waltz. And Brady Hoke inexplicably moves Denard Robinson to safety during spring practice.

Best Case: Derrick Williams plays like the best player in college basketball for four games, averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds while leading the Wildcats to their first Final Four in a decade. After beating Arizona alum Josh Pastner and Memphis in the round of 64, the Cats benefit from a bracket collapse. Oakland upsets Texas, Michigan upsets Duke and Cincinnati takes down San Diego State. Arizona faces a 12, a 13, an 8 and a 6 seed on the way to Houston. Booster Paul Weitman calls First Four-loser Kevin O'Neill from there to tell him how the &#$%^*& weather is. Sean Miller signs a lifetime contract.

Worst Case:: Pastner has a little something for his alma mater, pulling a first-round upset. Scattershooting guards Kyle Fogg and Momo Jones are lured into a mano-a-mano duel with Memphis' athletic backcourt. They shoot too much, make too few and forget to feed Williams, who takes his frustration out by announcing he's going pro in the postgame locker room. Meanwhile, long-shot USC advances to Sweet 16. O'Neill calls Weitman from San Antonio to tell him how the &#$*%$ weather is. Miller takes a good look at aging McKale Center and hightails it to Georgia Tech, then Pastner turns down a chance to return to Tucson.

Best Case: Longhorns relocate the cohesion of mid-winter, ride homecourt advantage in Houston and roll impressively to the national title by beating Kansas in a rubber-match title game. As they did last week in Kansas City, Jordan Hamilton and J'Covan Brown shoot judiciously and accurately from all areas of the floor. Tristan Thompson leads the nation's best interior defense in shutting down the paint. Dogus Balbay runs the show with unerring precision. Nobody pouts. Rick Barnes gets King Kong off his back by cutting down the Reliant Stadium nets. Meanwhile, Texas A&M flames out in the first round, and Oklahoma inexplicably exumes Billy Tubbs to replace Jeff Capel.

Worst Case:: Everybody pouts, and the Longhorns are punked by Oakland in the first round. After a listless start in an early Friday tipoff, Texas reverts to its worst tendencies. Hamilton and Brown go into gunner mode, and only Balbay will share the basketball. Barnes fails to calm the waters and watches another team with NBA talent lose well before its time. Texas team that squandered a No. 1 seed with late losses to Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas State fails to contain Oakland big man Keith Benson or point guard Reggie Hamilton, and the Horns become "that team" -- the most notable Round of 64 upset victim. Everyone goes pro, A&M goes on a run and Oklahoma hires Dave Rose.

Best Case: Back in the tourney for the first time since 2005, the Bearcats make the most of it with a run to the regional final. Athletic, physical and balanced team gets on the offensive glass and defends with vigor to knock out Missouri, avenge a February loss to Connecticut and take down San Diego State. Players toss bantam weight coach, Mick Cronin, in the air after upset of the Aztecs. Regional final loss to Duke is taken well by Cincinnati fans, especially in combination with first-round flameout by Xavier and Sweet 16 loss by Ohio State.

Worst Case:: Caught up in a close game with Missouri, Bearcats big men Yancy Gates and Ibrahima Thomas take turns bricking free throws, and Cincinnati loses by a point. Cincy fans turn on Cronin for his career-long failure to win in the Big Dance, while Xavier makes a deep run and Ohio State wins the national title. As an added bonus after West Virginia upsets Kentucky again, Cincy fans send a little more hate mail to SUNY-Binghamton president Nancy Zimpher for firing Huggins during her stint at UC.

Best Case: The Kemba Show just keeps on going, all the way to Houston. Scoffing at fatigue and defenders, Kemba Walker continues to make ridiculous shots for four more games. He shoots down Bucknell, Cincinnati, San Diego State and Duke, then cuts down the nets in Anaheim with nothing more than a sharp glance. UConn finally taps out in the Final Four against Ohio State, but by then the sheen is restored to Jim Calhoun's résumé. Big East renames its tourney Most Valuable Player award the Kemba Trophy. Walker is so touched he decides to come back for his senior year in an attempt to win his namesake trinket.

Worst Case:: Returning to the site of the George Mason meltdown of '06, UConn runs out of gas Thursday night in D.C. Five games in five days catches up with Walker, and he goes 3-for-17 from the field against Bucknell in a first-round shocker. Nobody else can pick up the slack, because they're all exhausted, too. Calhoun gets ejected for dog-cussing the refs. Walker goes pro on the guidance of new advisor Josh Nochimson.

Best Case: If the year ends in a one, it must be time for a Temple run. On the 10th anniversary of their last Elite Eight appearance and the 20th anniversary of another regional final, the Owls do it again. Riding the balanced scoring and solid defense, Temple dispatches Penn State, shocks San Diego State and beats Cincinnati in the Sweet 16. Temple loses for the second time in a month to Duke, but Bill Cosby gets to do a lot of interviews and everyone walks away happy. Fran Dunphy becomes the first Temple coach not named Harry Litwack or John Chaney to win an NCAA tourney game.

Worst Case:: Dunphy falls to 1-13 in the Big Dance when the Owls are dispatched Thursday by the Nittany Lions in a battle of Pennsylvania programs that have forgotten what it feels like to win an NCAA game. Team that was walloped convincingly by No. 12 seed Cornell last year gets the same sinking feeling this time around when Talor Battle lights up the Owls from 3-point range. Cosby does no interviews, and leaves the game early.

Best Case: The Aztecs have finally slayed the Jimmer dragon, and nobody else in the field has beaten them, so the sky's the limit. Riding a wave of confidence after the Mountain West tournament title, San Diego State doesn't stop winning until there are no more games to play; they're national champions for the first time. Kawhi Leonard plays like a lottery pick, D.J. Gay plays great defense and makes clutch shots, Malcolm Thomas controls the paint and Steve Fisher coaches like it's 1989. Aztecs go from zero all-time tournament wins to six. Upward of 2,000 San Diego residents wander in from the beach to watch SDSU beat Kansas for the national title. Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson is so excited to see a championship run by a school that's not leaving his league that he gives SDSU priority in scheduling for the next five years.

Worst Case:: Feeling the weight of unprecedented expectations, Aztecs bomb in their opener and are stunned by 15th-seeded Northern Colorado. San Diego State remains winless in the NCAA tournament. Leonard goes pro and five seniors depart. Fisher decides he'd rather not rebuild at this stage of his career and retires. San Diego residents go back to the beach and resume total apathy regarding college basketball. BYU advances to the Final Four.