NCAA Tournament 2018: Ranking remaining teams in Final Four

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 25: Jalen Brunson #1 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrates defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders 71-59 in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional to advance to the 2018 Final Four at TD Garden on March 25, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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OMAHA, NE – MARCH 25: Malik Newman #14 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts following a basket during their game against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

Remember when the popular No. 16 over No. 1 upset in the first round was Penn over Kansas? Yeah, that looks a little crazy right about now, doesn’t it?

The Jayhawks have surpassed expectations and I’ll admit I was skeptical of Kansas heading into the tournament. The Jayhawks didn’t look like the team to beat, especially after an average regular season, under their standards, but it still ended with conference tourney and regular season titles.

Kansas now heads to the Final Four with extra confidence after beating one of the favorites to win it all, the Duke Blue Devils. It was one of the best games of the tournament and even went to overtime, but Malik Newman was the star, dropping 32 and leading Kansas to victory.

Who would have thought the year after Kansas lost Josh Jackson and Frank Mason III it’d be in the Final Four with a good chance to win it all?

Bill Self has a talented, though not incredibly deep, team on his hands, and if the Jayhawks can scoot by Villanova, they’ll be the favorites to win it all.

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