Welcome back to the Danger Rankings, where you are free to put your bracket down and let us do the worrying for you. It’s March, and we know there are going to be upsets. It always happens. The question is not if but which higher-seeded teams will be packing their bags during the first weekend of the men’s tournament.
There’s no single reason these upsets happen time and again, but the conditions of the tournament—which, this year, are notably different, with less travel but strict limitations on teams’ activities—always create these types of circumstances. We’re here to examine the top seeds standing on slightly shakier ground when it comes to winning their four-team pod and making the Sweet 16, because it’s simply not enough to be the favorite this time of year.