The NCAA basketball tournament is set to kick off on March 17, with the final selection to be made the Sunday prior. The selection committee has to seed and select the 68 teams that will compete. The tournament will feature several local teams, including Virginia, VCU and Maryland. All of these teams have enjoyed successful seasons, and that should be reflected come Selection Sunday.

This year, Virginia has had to face some stiff competition playing in the ACC with teams like Duke, North Carolina and Louisville. They’ve been able to get through the season with a 28-1 record as of March 3, which is good enough to likely earn them a No. 1 seed. There is an adage that says that defense wins championships, so if Virginia keeps playing the great defensive basketball that they have been playing, then they should be able to make a deep run.

VCU is currently 21-8 as of March 3 and has been ranked in the top 25 for much of the season. However, the Rams have not been able to get many high-quality wins. The only ranked team that VCU has beaten was Northern Iowa on Dec. 13, and that game required double overtime. VCU has also gone 4-5 in its last nine games. However, if the Rams can win the Atlantic 10 Conference’s postseason tournament, then VCU will have an automatic bid into the national tournament. However, even if they are upset in the Atlantic 10, they will likely still be able to make the tournament.

Maryland has also had a solid season, and as of March 3 is ranked in the top 10 after an upset win over Wisconsin last week. Playing well in the Big 10 is much easier said than done, but the Terrapins have been able to do just that. They are in second place in the conference only to No. 6 Wisconsin. However, Maryland will have to avoid being upset by unranked teams if it wants to stick around in the tournament.

If any team in the state has the chance to win the tournament, it will likely be Virginia. The Cavaliers’ defense was able to hold opponents under 50 points per game this season. An explosive Louisville offense was held to a mere 13 points in the first half against UVA on Feb. 7. However, the tournament seems to not care about logic, as evidenced by all the upsets every year, so it’s best to just sit back, relax and let the Madness unfold.