The 2017 NCAA tournament technically got underway Tuesday night with the first of four play-in games, but the real fun begins Thursday as the first round tips off with the Princeton Tigers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.College basketball fans are quickly running out of time to fill out their brackets before game time. A printable bracket is available to download at NCAA.com.For those looking for some last-minute advice, consider the three points below.Kansas is the Most Vulnerable No. 1 SeedDrawing too many conclusions from the Kansas Jayhawks' Big 12 tournament defeat to the TCU Horned Frogs would be foolish. The Washington Post's Chuck Culpepper noted eight of the last 17 national champions failed to win its conference tournament.Far more concerning for the Jayhawks' national title bid is the fact they aren't as good as their record (28-4) indicates. They also have a few potentially tricky matchups standing in the way on the road to the Final Four.Chris Boucher's ACL injury leaves the Oregon Ducks without one of their best players but shouldn't derail the team's national championship hopes. They still have four other players who average 10-plus points a game, with Dillon Brooks leading the way.To meet Oregon in the Elite Eight, Kansas would still have to possibly get through the Purdue Boilermakers or Iowa State Cyclones, and neither the Michigan State Spartans nor the Miami Hurricanes would be a gimme in the second round.College Football Talk's Bryan Fischer argued the second-seeded Louisville Cardinals have an easier draw than Kansas:Eliminating the Jayhawks in the second round would be bold, but don't be afraid to have them going out in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight.Go with Middle Tennessee in the Annual No. 5/No. 12 First-Round UpsetBeyond every No. 1 seed advancing in the first round, the NCAA tournament offers little in the way of sure things. A No. 12 seed upsetting a No. 5 seed is one of the few exceptions.In the 2017 field, no 12th-seeded team is more primed to spring a surprise than the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. They rank 20th in scoring defense (63.3 points per game) and 48th in adjusted defense, according to KenPom.com.The Blue Raiders also benefit from the selection committee's decision to make the Minnesota Golden Gophers the fifth-seeded team in the South region. Sporting News' Sam Vecenie thought Minnesota's luck evened out:The Golden Gophers' seeding is even more egregious when considering the Wisconsin Badgers, who beat Minnesota in two head-to-head meetings, received a No. 8 seed.Minnesota ranks 121st in scoring offense (75.3) and 232nd in field-goal percentage (43.5), which doesn't bode well against a team as defensively sound as Middle Tennessee.Select One Underdog to Reach Final FourFor four straight years and in five of the last six tournaments, a team seeded seventh or lower reached the national semifinals. Sometimes it's a case of a traditional power overachieving in what was otherwise a down yearthe Syracuse Orange in 2016while other times it's a mid-major breaking the glass ceilingthe Wichita State Shockers in 2013.Until the NBA either abolishes or amends the one-and-done rule, the gulf between the historically dominant schools and the rest of the field will continue to close. The constant roster turnover at the top programs can be a problem in the NCAA tournament, when experience and continuity are even more valuable.Even in a loaded South region, Wichita State will be a trendy Final Four pick.The selection committee criminally under-seeded the Shockers (No. 10), who sit eighth on KenPom.comand 31st in the RPI. SophomoreMarkis McDuffie and freshmanLandry Shamet are the team's top two leading scorers, but Wichita State also has a number of juniors and seniors who were on the roster for the Shockers' 2015 trip to the Sweet 16.
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