NCAA tournament abounds with great story lines

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March 16th, 2015 8:00 am by JOHN MARSHALL, AP Basketball Writer

The NCAA tournament field is set and everyone will be trying to end Kentucky's bid to become the first team to go undefeated in 39 years.

The Wildcats are clearly the big story, but with 68 teams playing over three weeks from Seattle to Jacksonville, there's plenty of other reasons to tune in as March Madness kicks into full gear.

So now that the bracket is complete, it's time to run down some of the best matchups, surprises and potential upsets to keep an eye out for in the lead-up to the national championship game in Indianapolis:

TOP MATCHUPS: You want to see muscle on muscle, Louisville vs. UC Irvine should be a good one. Cardinals powerful power forward Montrezl Harrell against the Anteaters' 7-foot-6, 300-pound center Mamadou Ndiaye will be a heavyweight bout.

Both teams need to win their opening games, but Kansas against Wichita State in the round of 32 would be one of those must-see games. The Jayhawks will not play the mid-major monster Shockers during the regular season and the entire state of Kansas may be in Omaha if those two teams get through.

Keep an eye on Virginia Commonwealth and Ohio State in Portland on Thursday. That's when the Buckeyes' dynamic scorer D'Angelo Russell faces the Rams' Havoc defense.

Not to get too far ahead, but a Wisconsin-Arizona final in the West Region could be epic. The Badgers survived a last-second shot to beat the Wildcats in overtime in last year's West final.

TOP PLAYERS: Duke's Jahlil Okafor has been one of the nation's best players all season and figures to be headed to the NBA after one season, so he's going to be motivated to play well.

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NCAA tournament abounds with great story lines