All Your NCAA Tournament Questions Answered: Full Guide

West region

Gonzaga, the top No. 1 seed, is the first team to enter the N.C.A.A. men’s tournament undefeated since Kentucky in 2014-15, and the Zags have a legitimate shot to become the first undefeated national champion since Indiana finished 32-0 in the 1975-76 season.

Gonzaga is 26-0 after beating Brigham Young to win the West Coast Conference championship on Tuesday. The Zags have a free-flowing, fast-paced offense, and they pass up the good shot for the great shot. But while Gonzaga has wins over Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa and Virginia, it has not faced an opponent outside the West Coast Conference since December.

Other teams to watch: No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Virginia, No. 7 Oregon, No. 12 U.C. Santa Barbara

South region

No. 1 Baylor had the best start in program history, with 18 consecutive victories, and won the Big 12 regular-season title for the first time. The last time the Bears clinched a conference title was in 1950 as a co-champion and in 1948 as the outright winner. Baylor’s proficiency — it led the league in 3-point shooting this season — could help reverse its struggles of late.

Other teams to watch: No. 5 Villanova, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 10 Virginia Tech

Midwest region

No. 1 Illinois will be playing in its first N.C.A.A. tournament since 2013. Its run in the Big Ten tournament, which it won with an overtime victory against Ohio State on Sunday evening, was the work of a team that felt spurned: The Fighting Illini have been irate over the winning-percentage model, approved months ago, that gave Michigan the Big Ten regular-season title. Unfortunately for other conferences, Illinois may now be looking to take out some frustrations on their teams.

Other teams to watch: No. 2 Houston, No. 3 West Virginia, No. 12 Oregon State

East region

No. 1 Michigan was 19-3 entering the Big Ten tournament despite going 23 days between games when the university athletic department shut down all sports for three weeks because of coronavirus concerns. In his second season, Coach Juwan Howard has guided the Wolverines to their first No. 1 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament since 1993, when he played on a team that reached back-to-back N.C.A.A. championship games.

Other teams to watch: No. 2 Alabama, No. 5 Colorado, No. 15 Iona

The women’s bracket will be announced on Monday in a selection show airing at 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The usual elite teams will be there — but others have a real shot to win a championship this year.

Blue-chip programs have again ruled the season. Six of the top 10 teams in The Associated Press poll have won at least one title; only two have never been to a Final Four.

But the high rankings of perennial contenders like Stanford, Baylor, Louisville and, yes, UConn obscure the fact that there’s a much more level playing field at the top of the game than there has been in years, as evidenced by the split votes for the No. 1 spot.

UConn is…