March Madness, an annual basketball tournament run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has taken place since 1939. The tournament has 65 teams for men’s basketball and 64 for women’s. The bottom two teams in the opening round’s “play-in” game determines which team advances to the rest of the tournament. Each team is eliminated after losing a game. For over three weeks, matches take place across America leading up to the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, the Final Four and then the Championship game.

This year’s tournament bracket was announced March 15, and the first game will kick-off on March 19. The men’s Final Four will play in Detroit, Michigan on April 4 and 6. The women’s championship bracket will be hosted in St. Louis, Missouri.

Senior Phil Giori’s picks for the Final Four are Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Louisville. His top pick is the Pittsburgh Panthers. According to Giori, the team dominates because of both their offensive and defensive capabilities. “I’d say Pitt is the most complete team in college basketball,” Giori said. Pittsburgh has even defeated the number one ranked team at the time, Connecticut.

Giori sees the Oklahoma Sooners in the Final Four because Player of the Year candidate Blake Griffin is their forward. With Griffin averaging 22 points and 13 rebounds per game, his performance is vital for Oklahoma.

Giori also selected the North Carolina Tar Heels to face off in the Finals. The Tar Heels have starters scoring double digits each game and have ended the regular season as the number one team. “They’ve got a lot of talent and were preseason number one,” he said.

Besides the three major powerhouses, Giori’s fourth pick may be a surprise. His final choice is the Louisville Cardinals. “I thought Louisville would be a sleeper, and I still think they get overlooked, but they just won the Big East so that will get them some attention,” he said. “I can see them making the Final Four.”

Despite being a Stanford fan, Giori is skeptical on whether it will make the cut this year. However, he is still looking forward to any exciting upsets in the tournament.

Freshman Brian Yu’s picks for this years tournament are North Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisville and Pittsburgh. According to Yu, the North Carolina Tar Heels are a shoe-in for the Final Four because of star players, Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson. “Ty Lawson’s sashing abilities allow him to kick it out to their three point shooters,” Yu said. “No one in the country has been able to efficiently stop Tyler Hansbrough.” Hansbrough and Lawson average 21 and 16 points per game, respectively.

Yu has also chosen the Oklahoma Sooners to cruise into the finals due to their constant offensive action. “Blake Griffin and his brother [Taylor Griffin] are a dominating inside presence,” he said. “Blake Griffin’s presence opens up shots for sharpshooting Austin Johnson.” Under the Griffins, Oklahoma has been 27-4 overall this season.

Yu believes the Louisville Cardinals are probably the most complete team in the nation. “They spread the rock around and balance out the scoring, and having amazing guard play and defense.”

Yu’s fourth and final pick is the Pittsburgh Panthers, a team with their own highlighting stars. “Dejuan Blair’s dominating inside presence, Sam Young’s great shooting and athleticism, coupled with Levance Fields leading the country in assists to turnover ratio [make Pittsburgh] a very complete team.”

This year’s March Madness features some of the closest competition in recent memory. My top picks for teams to go to the Final Four are North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Wake Forest. However, there are definitely other teams to look out for such as Louisville, Memphis and Oklahoma. Overall, this year college hoops fans can expect plenty of upsets and underdog stories.

North Carolina boasts the most complete starting line-up in the entire league. North Carolina has the second highest scoring and complements that by being the best rebounding team. On the whole, North Carolina has a good shot to win the championship simply by being the most balanced team out there.

Pittsburgh and Connecticut both have equally strong chances to win the championship. Pittsburgh has single-handedly beaten Connecticut both times, but at the same time Connecticut has held the number one spot much longer this season. Coming from the tough Big East conference, both teams will go deep into the tournament.

My final pick is a surprise team to watch: Wake Forest. They have beaten North Carolina and held the number one spot in the rankings this year. With a superstar in Jeff Teague, a solid supporting cast and great defense, they have a solid shot at reaching the Final Four if not the championship.