Chris Dortch, the editor of the Blue Ribbon Yearbook series of college sports preview publications, has covered college basketball for more than 20 years and became editor of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook in 1996.
Team that departs quickly: Vanderbilt. Richmond is an undervalued No. 12 seed and the Commodores have a recent history of first-round flameouts.
My dark horse: Richmond. The Spiders have a Bob Cousy Award candidate at point guard (Kevin Anderson), a probable first-round NBA draft pick in 6-foot-10 Justin Harper and they run the Princeton offense, which can be tough to prepare for on short turnaround.
Sweet 16 choices: Kansas, Richmond, Purdue, Notre Dame. Kansas is probably the best team in the country, even though Ohio State earned the overall No. 1 seed. See above for Richmond. Purdue and Georgetown struggled down the stretch, but Purdue plays a style perfectly suited for this tournament. Notre Dame was ever so close to earning a No. 1 seed.
Final Four selection: Kansas. The Morris brothers are a tough one-two punch few teams can match, there's plenty of depth and this team can make 3s.
My favorite to cut the nets: Kansas. Except for two hiccups against Texas (after Thomas Robinson's mother died) and Kansas State, this team took on all comers, and though it didn't always dominate, it founds ways to win.
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