March Madness–no offense to Christmas–really is the best time of the year.

There is no clear cut favorite on who will cut down the nets in April. This makes for an even better NCAA tournament, which is already an exciting, emotion driven sports tournament. If you have any interest in sports whatsoever, I would recommend watching it this year. With all the parity, almost everybody’s bracket is destined to get devastated by the upsets that are inevitable.

One of the dark horses to really watch out for this year is the Mountain West Conference’s finest, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. This team has star power; Anthony Bennett is a complete beast. He will give any interior defense fits–the UNLV offense is in the top ten in both assists and rebounds. Their offensive rebounding is especially stellar. With shooters on the wing waiting to get the ball kicked out to them, offensive rebounds are key to their success. If this team can reach its peak right before the tournament, and come in playing the best basketball they possibly can, they will be dangerous.

The potential one-seed that I think will exit the tournament first is Gonzaga. Gonzaga has no big wins, and horrible losses. They play in one of the bottom five major conferences in college basketball. Yet, they are a lock for the top number one-seed and will finish the season ranked as the best team in the country.

Mark my words: Gonzaga will not get past the Sweet Sixteen; they are just simply not good enough. I’m not saying they don’t have good players; because they do, they have a huge intimidating center in Kelly Olynyk who can play with anyone. Gonzaga just doesn’t have the big-game experience and the schedule difficulty of say, Indiana or Kansas.

My champion in the end as of now is KU. Obviously I’m a little biased, but last year I was right about them getting to championship, and I have the same feeling this year. They have everything a team needs: a future NBA star and top-pick in this year’s NBA draft in Ben Mclemore who is a game changing force in the lane every time he touches the ball; and a defensive presence that intimidates any front court in the country in Jeff Withey.

Releford is the defensive glue on the perimeter; he can lock down any backcourt player you set in front of him. Not to mention his ability to make shots and be a dangerous offensive whenever he wants. Kevin Young is the player other teams hate the most; he’s annoying, always there to get the loose ball and steals regularly. He is also a surprisingly physical player, and teams have players like him. He’s all emotion and gets under the opposing team’s skin. Our point guard play has been inconsistent, but it looks as if we are finally catching fire there with Naadir Tharpe capable of running the show and Elijah Johnson being able to drop as many points as he wants when he plays smart. In the end, I think this team catches fire, and ends up cutting down the nets in April.

I’m making my predictions very early. There’s still regular season games and conference championships to be played. These are my preliminary picks of what is going to be a thriller of a tournament.