20 teams with a shot at the Final Four

Regardless of brackets and seeding and everything else, time to take a look at 20 teams that have a realistic shot at the Final Four. Here they are below in reverse order:

20. St John's - Peaked a little too early, a bit too strong at home, and now DJ Kennedy is out for the year with that torn ACL. Talented team but would need to catch a lot of breaks.

19. Washington - Super talented team that has not really put everything together yet but seems to be getting there at just the right time. Will have to overcome a pretty tough path though.

18. San Diego St - They'll have a nice path. But they have a whopping total of 0 tourney wins in history.

17. UConn - Kemba is a beast but he just can't do it all on his own. UConn is going to get an overrated seed and overmatched expectations. They had their fun already.

16. BYU - Go Jimmer, but like UConn, he can only do so much. Still, he COULD send them to a Final Four in a perfect run like Steph Curry had a few years ago. But otherwise sex cost this team a spot in my top five. Hope it was worth it.

15. Notre Dame - That's right, one of my #1 seeds. Still below average on defense, over relient on 3 point shooting. Can't be perfect on offense every game.

14. Louisville - Just looks like another Lville squad, a very tough out and a tough team to match up with but too inconsistent to make a really long run.

13. Kentucky - Uber talented, sky is the limit with these youngsters, but this is another one of those Coach Cal teams and I have learned my lesson with them. Heartbreak to come.

12. Arizona - If I'm going to rely on one guy to do it all, I'd rather it be Derrick Williams. And I don't mind putting some eggs into Sean Miller's basket either.

11. Kansas St - I know the seed won't be great, and the path will be tough. But Pullen is playing like a POY contender and the early season woes are long past. Might be hard to overcome their path but not a team folks want in their quadrant.

10. Wisconsin - It's an ugly team like usual but man is this team efficient, and they are pretty tough to match up with too. They play so slow and deliberate, they don't turn the ball over, and they are going to be really tough for anyone to beat, especially some of the highly ranked very young teams without big time experience.

9. Texas - As talented as any team in the country, but they seem to have peaked about a month ago and have this knack for playing down to the competition. I have a name for that "knack." I call it Rick Barnes. He might be too much for Jordan Hamilton to overcome.

8. Purdue - Etwaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson are a pretty awesome 1-2 punch, and they bring great senior leadership to the squad as well. I'm a big believer in Matt Painter, and I believe this team can absolutely make a run to the Final Four.

7. Florida - This team started slow but is absolutely rolling since, and Billy Donovan knows what strings to pull. Parsons is the real deal, and Florida will be a very dangerous 3 or 4 seed in the right bracket draw.

6. UNC - Talentwise, this team can absolutely hang with anyone in the country. Since Marshall took over the PG duties, Harrison Barnes seems to have come into his own as well, and no other team in the country has a 1-2 punch like that. I'd have them at #2 if this team wasn't so young and played like it at times.

5. Syracuse - My favorite non-1-seed team right now. Boeheim's boys always play well at tourney time. They have been there before, they're a deep team, they play terrific defense, and now star freshman recruit Fab Melo seems to have turned the corner just in time. Easily my second best Big East squad heading into the bracket.

4. Duke - Not a complete believer here. Over relient on Nolan Smith with Singler taking a step back, and over relient on 3 point shooting as well. But I can't escape that it seems likely they'll be in a bracket with ND or SD St as the top other seed and that gives them a path where possibly only one team can really give them a game.

3. Pitt - Very talented all around team. Probably better on offense than defense, surprising for Pitt, but solid at both. Nothing feels special about this team, they're just really really hard to beat. Someone will have to play perfect to get em.

2. Kansas - This is the only team that has a shot of beating the Buckeyes if they're playing at 100%. KU is the most talented team and I rank them with a great shot at the Final Four, even with Bill Self weighing them down like usual.

1. Ohio St - This is the best team in the nation, and it doesn't look entirely close right now. They are great on both ends, and they have a whole bunch of guys who can step up and score. They're the favorite going in, and they should be.