1) Kansas
If Sherron Collins returns, the Jayhawks will be strong. Add in the legitimate possibility of adding recruit Xavier Henry and Kansas will have a chance to win a second national title in three season.
2) Syracuse
A lot hinges on whether guard Jonny Flynn returns to the ‘Cuse. Eric Devendorf, who seems like he has played for the Orange for eight seasons, should be back.
3) Michigan State
Goran Suton and Travis Walton are gone, but expect Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan to raise their games.
4) Villanova
Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson will no longer be patrolling the front court, but Coach Jay Wright brings in two high school all-Americans to assist Scottie Reynolds.
5) Purdue
If Robbie Hummel is at full strength all of next season, the Boilermakers could make a deeper run in the NCAA tournament because Coach Matt Painter’s team is expected to return the majority of his top scorers.

Wild card:

Kentucky: If Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson return to school, and if Coach John Calipari can lure former Memphis commitment DeMarcus Cousins and recruit John Wall to Lexington, the Wildcats could make a case for a top three spot in preseason polls. But those are big ifs.

During his introductory news conference today in Lexington, Calipari insisted that he does not “walk on water, I do not have a magic wand.” But he also said the key to winning depends on “good players, good players, good players.”

Kentucky’s new $32 million man had built a national powerhouse in nine seasons at Memphis. The Tigers became a modern-day version of Jerry Tarkanian’s juggernauts at Nevada-Las Vegas almost two decades earlier. Much like those UNLV teams, Memphis could dominate a weaker conference each season, earn a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and recruit anyone it wanted to nationally.

Q: What can Virginia and its fans expect of their new coach?
He is as quality a person, as quality a coach as anyone could ask for. He is a relentless recruiter. If people saw the players at Washington State, they’d say he didn’t exactly set the world on fire. When you consider where that university is located, I think he did a remarkable job of bringing in great players. The fact that they did as well as they did. They being Coach [Dick Bennett, Tony's father and predecessor at Washington State] and Tony, it is an indicator of what a great recruiter Tony is. Now that he is in a more attractive community to recruit to, with a higher population of players in the adjacent areas, I think he is going to be a force to be reckon with in the ACC.

Q: Does he have the ability to get more out of players than most people think is there?
There are a lot of coaches who have that ability. What is really neat about Tony is that he gets it done in a non-abrasive way. I always prided myself on being able to get a lot out of players, but I think I was more abrasive than Tony. I know his dad is more abrasive than he is. That is a good characteristic to have. Being as young as he is, he still has great memories of being a player, what players need to perform at a high level, with today’s players as opposed to the old-school guys. Tony is really good at connecting with kids, making them feel at home, yet towing the line with them as well. I was so impressed the times I was up there at Washington State watching him run his team. He just has a great demeanor. I think the people in Charlottesville will love him. More important than that, they are going to win games. I am very confident of that as well.

The other two teams that advanced to the Final Four – Connecticut and North Carolina – were expected to win this weekend. Both teams are laden with talent and were strong preseason favorites – many figured Carolina had a chance to go unbeaten -- but their appearances are noteworthy because both have overcome significant injuries. Losing Marcus Ginyard, North Carolina’s lock-down defender, raised serious questions about whether the Tar Heels had the defensive chops to win the national title. The Tar Heels have answered those questions. Losing Jerome Dyson, one of Connecticut’s best all-around players, raised doubts about the Huskies' title aspirations and about whether U-Conn. had enough outside shooting. Outside shooting could still be an issue with the Huskies, but freshman Kemba Walker’s emergence gives U-Conn. another offensive threat in the back court. Without him, the Huskies probably don’t advance to Detroit.

Both sentiments are defensible, depending upon your vantage point.

On one hand, the committee nailed the top 12 overall seeds in the tournament because, for the first time, all are still standing as the event heads to its second weekend. This is a who’s who round of 16, with the field laden with the sport’s current powers. There are no impostors.

The most prominent D.C. Assault alum still playing in the NCAA tournament is Villanova’s Dante Cunningham, a 6-foot-8 senior from Silver Spring. On a team often noted for its strong guard play, Cunningham averages a team-high 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Cunningham scored 25 points in the Wildcats’ come-from-behind victory over American in the first round.

Another former D.C. Assault player for Villanova is Dwayne Anderson, a 6-6 guard-forward from Silver Spring. Like Cunningham, Anderson had an impressive showing against American, making 9 of 10 shots and scoring 25 points.

Villanova’s opponent Thursday is Duke, which has another prominent former D.C. Assault player in guard Nolan Smith. Smith, who missed three games after suffering a mild concussion in the Feb. 25 Maryland game, has scored in double figures in three of his last four games, including both NCAA tournament victories.

Two other former D.C. Assault players now compete for Syracuse, which has the difficult task of trying to contain Oklahoma big man Blake Griffin on Friday. Arinze Onuaku, a 6-9 forward, has scored 12 points in each of the Orange’s NCAA tournament victories and has made a combined 12 of 15 shots. Teammate Kris Joseph, a 6-7 freshman, did not play in the second-round victory against Arizona State, but he contributed six rebounds in the first-round victory over Stephen F. Austin.

Memphis has good size in Shawn Taggart and Robert Dozier. I will also be interested to see how Maryland guards Memphis reserve Pierre Henderson-Niles. Tyreke Evans had early foul trouble today and did not play his best game. The Tigers looked vulnerable, but they can and probably will play better. Will the Terps win this game?

The sophomore reserve guard, whose career high was 13 points entering today, scoreed 17 points in the first half to keep the No. 2 seeded Tigers ahead of Cal State-Northridge, which has shown an ounce of intimidation. Memphis leads 34-31 at the half.

Memphis players believe they can return to the national title game. The Tigers lead the nation in field goal percentage defense and believe they were worthy of a top seed in the NCAA tournament. For a half, though, they are not playing like a Final Four-caliber team.

Memphis point guard Tyreke Evans picked up his second foul seven minutes into the game and was a non-factor for the rest of the half. Memphis’s Robert Dozier and Shawn Taggart also drew two fouls apiece in the first half.

Northridge jumped out to a 9-2 advantage and managed to remain close even when Sallie got hot. His fourth three-pointer gave Memphis a 26-20 advantage with 8:20 left in the first half.

Worldwide Wes, one of the most influential power brokers in college basketball, took his seat behind the Memphis bench right before tip-off.

1) UCLA-VCU
Maynor takes aim at another storied program
2) Illinois-Western Kentucky
One Big Ten team bites the dust
3) Villanova-American
Jones’s veteran team has confidence from last season
4) LSU-Butler
Butler got raw deal with seed

While we're linking, have you seen the "Seeding Arrangement" graphic yet? It takes a look at how every seed has done in each round of the tournament since 1985 (the year it expanded to 64 teams). There are little gems like this in there: no 10 seed has won a game beyond the round of 16, but two 11 seeds have: LSU in 1986 and George Mason in 2006.

The data from the chart is completely accessible to you, washingtonpost.com user, via our NCAA Tournament history database. Go check it out -- you'll thank us later.