NCAA Tournament: South Region

The bracket is set. Now the question becomes, what method will you use to fill it in?

Will you go the Kenpom, RPI, BPI route? Will you spend hours compiling statistical data in endless rows of color coded columns in Excel spreadsheets? Will you look at teams with a hot hand? Convince yourself you've identified a dark horse? Will you just march your alma mater or favorite school into the Final Four, because you can't possibly contain your amped homerism? Or will you make your picks like that guy/girl in your office who hasn't watched a game all season and yet is always in the top three of your office pool every spring on blind, stinking luck alone?

When it comes to March Madness, in a single elimination tournament, Murphy's Law rules the land - anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Arguably, the Tournament is far more enjoyable if you resist the urge to fill in a bracket at all. Ride or die with your team. Cheer for every underdog, every buzzer beater, every heartbreak, every Charles Barkelyism between game action. Filling in a bracket, even if you don't really care, inevitably will make you feel like you've failed an I.Q. test drafted by a professor of chaos theory.

Whatever you choose, just have fun with it. More importantly, it's time to start coming up with a passable fake cough so you can miss work Thursday and Friday.

Now, meet the field! Starting with...

The South Region

#1 Kansas vs #16 Austin Peay - Thursday, 3/17 @ 3 p.m. (CT) on TNT

Kansas Jayhawks

Record: 30-4

Coach: Bill Self - NCAA Tourney Record 37-16 with 2 Final Fours ('08, '12 Kansas) & 1 Championship ('08 Kansas)

Leading Scorer: Sr. Forward - Perry Ellis 16.7 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #1

Tournament Appearances: 45 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: National Champions - 2008 (most recent shown)

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Austin Peay Governors

Record: 18-17

Coach: Dave Loos - NCAA Tourney Record 0-3

Leading Scorer: Sr. Center - Chris Horton 18.9 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #212

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 7 - Most Recent 2008

Deepest Tourney Run: Sweet Sixteen - 1973

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For Kansas, this marks the sixth time they've been a 1-seed in the last 10 tournaments. The last two U.S. Presidential election years, Self's 'Hawks have made Final Four runs.

#8 Colorado vs #9 Connecticut - Thursday, 3/17 @ 12:30 p.m. (CT) on TNT

Colorado Buffaloes

Record: 22-11

Coach: Tad Boyle - NCAA Tourney Record 1-3

Leading Scorer: Sr. Forward - Josh Scott 16.1 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #55

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 14 - Most Recent 2014

Deepest Tourney Run: Final Four - 1955

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UCONN Huskies

Record: 24-10

Coach: Kevin Ollie - NCAA Tourney Record 6-0 with 1 Final Four ('14 UCONN) & 1 Championship ('14 UCONN)

Leading Scorer: Sr. Forward - Shonn Miller 12.8 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #25

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 32 - Most Recent 2014

Deepest Tourney Run: National Champions - 2014

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Quick, name the only school to win four National Championships in the last 16 seasons. Not Kentucky. Not Duke. Not Kansas. If you said UCONN, you are correct! And the last two came from Huskies teams who had to play like mad men in their conference tournaments just to get into the big dance. Just like this year's team, who was an 80 foot shot attempt away from being left out of the field. As in 2011 and '14, could this UCONN team being catching fire at just the right time?

#5 Maryland vs #12 South Dakota State - Friday, 3/18 @ 3:30 p.m. (CT) on TBS

Maryland Terrapins

Record: 25-8

Coach: Mark Turgeon - NCAA Tourney Record 6-6

Leading Scorer: So. Guard - Melo Trimble 14.4 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #23

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 26 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: National Champions - 2002

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South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Record: 26-7

Coach: Scott Nagy - NCAA Tourney Record 0-2

Leading Scorer: Fr. Forward - Mike Daum 15.2 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #80

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 3 - Most Recent 2013

Deepest Tourney Run: Round of 64 - 2013

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Before the season Maryland was a trendy Final Four pick. They spent all but the last two polls of the season in the top 10, sitting as high as #2 as recently as February 8.

#4 California vs #13 Hawaii - Friday, 3/18 @ 1 p.m. (CT) on TBS

Cal Golden Bears

Record: 23-10

Coach: Cuonzo Martin - NCAA Tourney Record 3-1

Leading Scorer: Sr. Guard - Tyrone Wallace 15.3 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #21

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 19 - Most Recent 2013

Deepest Tourney Run: National Champions - 1959

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Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

Record: 27-5

Coach: Eran Ganot - NCAA Tourney Record 0-0

Leading Scorer: Jr. Forward - Stefan Jankovic 15.7 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #61

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 5 - Most Recent 2002

Deepest Tourney Run: Round of 32 - 1972

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With 27 wins this 2016 Rainbow Warriors team has already posted the best season in the history of Hawaii's program.

#6 Arizona vs #11 Vanderbilt/Wichita State - Thursday, 3/17 @ 8:20 p.m. (CT) on TNT

Arizona Wildcats

Record: 25-8

Coach: Sean Miller - NCAA Tourney Record 17-8

Leading Scorer: Sr. Forward - Ryan Anderson 15.5 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #16

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 33 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: National Champions - 1997

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Play-in Game - #11 Vanderbilt vs #11 Wichita State - Tuesday, 3/15 @ 8:10 p.m. (CT) on truTV

Vanderbilt Commodores

Record: 19-13

Coach: Kevin Stallings - NCAA Tourney Record 6-8

Leading Scorer: So. Guard - Wade Baldwin IV 14.3 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #27

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 14 - Most Recent 2012

Deepest Tourney Run: Elite Eight - 1965

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Wichita State Shockers

Record: 24-8

Coach: Gregg Marshall - NCAA Tourney Record 8-11 with 1 Final Four ('13 Wichita St.)

Leading Scorer: Sr. Guard - Ron Baker 14.2 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #12

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 13 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: Final Four - 2013

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This marks the final tournament appearance for senior Shocker stars Baker and Fred VanVleet, who, as freshman, helped Wichita State reach the Final Four for the first time since 1965.

As for the Arizona Wildcats, they are coming off of back to back 30+ win, Elite Eight run seasons ended by Wisconsin. With the Badgers finally out of their bracket, will Miller and his 'Cats finally make the Final Four?

#3 Miami vs #14 Buffalo - Thursday, 3/17 @ 5:50 p.m. (CT) on TNT

Miami Hurricanes

Record: 25-7

Coach: Jim Larranaga - NCAA Tourney Record 7-6 with 1 Final Four ('06 George Mason)

Leading Scorer: Sr. Guard - Sheldon McClellan 15.8 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #13

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 8 - Most Recent 2013

Deepest Tourney Run: Sweet Sixteen - 2013

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Buffalo Bulls

Record: 20-14

Coach: Nate Oats - NCAA Tourney Record 0-0

Leading Scorer: So. Guard - Lamonte Bearden 13.6 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #131

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 2 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: Round of 64 - 2015

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Jim Larranaga is just the second coach in Miami basketball's 53 year history to guide the Hurricanes to more than one tournament appearance. And a year after Bulls head coach Bobby Hurley led Buffalo to its first ever tournament appearance before bolting for Arizona State, Nate Oats duplicated the feat in his very first year of coaching anywhere.

#7 Iowa vs #10 Temple - Friday, 3/18 @ 2:10 p.m. (CT) on truTV

Iowa Hawkeyes

Record: 21-10

Coach: Fran McCaffery - NCAA Tourney Record 3-7

Leading Scorer: Sr. Forward - Jarrod Uthoff 18.9 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #20

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 25 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: National Runner-Up - 1956

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Temple Owls

Record: 21-11

Coach: Fran Dunphy - NCAA Tourney Record 3-15

Leading Scorer: Sr. Guard - Quenton DeCosey 15.6 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #86

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 32 - Most Recent 2013

Deepest Tourney Run: Final Four - 1958

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This game is the battle of Frans. Both Fran Dunphy of Temple and Fran McCaffery of Iowa spent a huge chunk of their coaching career in the mid-major ranks before landing jobs at bigger basketball schools - Dunphy 17 years at Penn, and McCaffery 13 at Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, and Siena. Both have yet to taste significant tournament success.

#2 Villanova vs #15 UNC Asheville - Friday, 3/18 @ 11:40 a.m. on truTV

Villanova Wildcats

Record: 29-5

Coach: Jay Wright - NCAA Tourney Record 14-12 with 1 Final Four ('09 Villanova)

Leading Scorer: Jr. Guard - Josh Hart 15.5 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #5

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 36 - Most Recent 2015

Deepest Tourney Run: National Champions - 1985

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UNC Asheville Bulldogs

Record: 22-11

Coach: Nicholas McDevitt - NCAA Tourney Record 0-0

Leading Scorer: Fr. Guard - Dylan Smith 13.5 ppg

Kenpom Rating: #116

NCAA Tourney Appearances: 4 - Most Recent 2012

Deepest Tourney Run: Round of 64 - 2012

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After reaching the Final Four in 2009 Villanova hasn't even made it out of the first weekend of the tournament. But it's not their fault. They've been grossly over seeded in recent years seeing as how Villanova has been riding the undeserved residual respect for the Big East which now exists as a nothing more than mid-major conference zombie of its once powerful self.