There aren't many months on the US sporting calendar that capture the imagination quite like March.
Fans around the country and around the world are furiously filling in brackets as they undertake the futile task of trying to correctly predict every game of the NCAA Tournament.
Spoiler alert. None will succeed. All brackets will eventually be 'busted' as March Madness delivers the chaotic upsets that have come to define it.
There will be top seeds who fail to justify that status and suffer defeats to supposed inferior teams, although the cream consistently rises to the top.
Twelve of the past 15 National Champions have been one seeds, including each of the last five.
Ahead of the first four tipping off in Dayton on Tuesday, Stats Perform looks at three storylines surrounding one seeds looking to keep that streak alive.
Houston eyeing home victory
The Houston Cougars have never tasted glory in the NCAA Tournament, finishing as runners-up in 1983 and 1984, but they are many people's favourites to end that drought in a year that will see the Final Four held in Houston.
Despite losing the AAC Tournament title game to Memphis, the Cougars still earned a one seed as they seek a maiden National Championship.
Top of Stats Perform's TRACR (Team Rating Adjusted for Conference and Roster) rankings, which give Houston the highest chance (13.4 per cent) of winning the title, the big question surrounding the Cougars is the health of power forward Marcus Sasser.
Sasser missed the defeat to Memphis with a groin injury, and Houston will likely need him at full health if the Cougars are to go all the way. He has averaged 17.1 points per game this season and shot 38.3 per cent from the three-point line.
He suggested he likely will be ready for the tournament, saying he "played it safe" by not featuring against Memphis.
Houston shouldn't need Sasser to get past Northern Kentucky in their first-round matchup, but the Cougars can't afford for him to be on the shelf much longer if they are to realise their potential and finally end their wait for a title.
Controversy clouds top-ranked Alabama
The top overall seed belongs to the Alabama Crimson Tide, who will face either Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or Southeast Missouri State in the first round.
But much of the talk around Alabama does not concern their play on the court.
Alabama removed Darius Miles from the team in January after he was charged with capital murder following the shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near the campus.
Police are said to believe that Brandon Miller, the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year, supplied the firearm to his former team-mate.
Miller has not been charged, nor is he considered a suspect, and according to the university, he has been cooperating with the police as a witness.
Alabama coach Nate Oats has been insistent Miller has done nothing wrong, and he remains on the court as the standout for a team looking to reach the Final Four for the first time.
He will carry much of the burden for Alabama having averaged 19.6 points and 8.3 rebounds and shot 40.1 per cent from beyond the arc.
After easing to an 82-63 win over Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament finale, Alabama look in excellent shape to justify their position as the number one seed in the entire tournament.
But the further they progress and the larger the spotlight gets, the more questions they will face around Miller's presence and the lack of discipline he has faced after a tragedy that may overshadow their campaign.
Self set to return for Jayhawks repeat bid
The Kansas Jayhawks go into the tournament looking to do what no team has done since Florida in 2007 and claim back-to-back National Championships.
Entering the tournament as the one seed in the West Regional, Kansas' performance in a season that has seen them go 27-7 would appear to indicate they have a strong chance of repeating.
Yet the TRACR rankings give them just a 3.2 per cent of doing so, and history is firmly against them.
Since Florida made it two in a row in 2007, no defending champion has advanced past the Sweet 16, with only two even reaching that stage.
This year, the Jayhawks face a potential Sweet 16 matchup with UConn, a fourth seed with the third-best odds (6.9 per cent) to win it all, according to TRACR.
So, not a great draw then, and Kansas' preparations for the tournament have not exactly been ideal.
They lost the Big 12 Championship Game 76-56 to Texas, having played that tournament without head coach Bill Self after he was admitted to hospital with chest tightness and balance concerns.
With Self expected to return for the tournament and Kansas possessing the Big 12's top scorer in Jalen Wilson (20.1 points per game), there is reason for optimism this powerhouse can replicate the achievements of Billy Donovan's Gators 16 years ago.
Regardless of whether they succeed, the Jayhawks have already fared better than the team they defeated last year, North Carolina, who failed to make the tournament. They became the first preseason number one to miss out on the tournament since 1985.
This season has already seen unwanted history for the Tar Heels. The Jayhawks will look to end it by writing another celebratory chapter in the record books.
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
Sesko opts for Leipzig stay over Arsenal, Man Utd move due to progress opportunities
Benjamin Sesko remains certain that staying at RB Leipzig is the "right decision" to develop his career after turning down reported Premier League interest.
Slovenia international Sesko joined Leipzig from RB Salzburg in 2023, scoring 14 league goals last campaign, a tally bettered by only seven players in the German top flight.
That form was said to have attracted Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea to the 21-year-old, who instead signed a new five-year contract with the Bundesliga club last month.
Having committed his future to life at the Red Bull Arena, the striker believes Leipzig will provide a platform for his progression.
"I thought it through very well," Sesko said to Nogomania, a Slovenian media outlet. "I believe I made the right decision. I wanted to gain more experience, learn more, and not rush things.
"Leipzig are an excellent club that can provide what I need for the next step. Leipzig's vision is clear; everything is geared towards growth, progress, and high goals. I felt it was right to decide this way."
Sesko's new deal could see him stay with Leipzig until 2029, with Marco Rose boasting one of the world's most exciting prospects up top.
The Leipzig attacker scored from 14 of his 47 shots last season in the league, a conversion rate of 29.8% – the third-best ratio in the 2023-24 Bundesliga among players to have managed at least five goals.
That deadly finishing in front of goal will have Rose excited once more, and Sesko says his boss was key to the decision to stay.
"We talked," Sesko explained. "He told me he wanted me to stay but also said I should decide based on my feelings.
"He said if I felt I needed to move on, I should go, but if not, I should stay. He's an excellent coach who has led many great players.
"I'm glad I decided this way. I did it before the Euro to keep a clear head and focus entirely on the championship."
Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament
Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".
The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.
After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.
However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.
Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.
"We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."
Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."
While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.
Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."
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