Mike Celizic

You wanted all the big teams in the tournament at the top of the brackets. That’s what we hear every year around about this time. Well, this year, you got ‘em.

Just look at the top eight seeds: North Carolina, Kansas, Memphis, UCLA, Duke, Texas, Georgetown, Tennessee.

Those are some big names that even the most casual of fans recognizes immediately and can see on a bracket sheet. They include four all-time heavyweights — Duke, UCLA, Kansas and North Carolina, which have 20 titles among them. Then there’s Georgetown, which has one. To go along with them, you have two upstart programs, Memphis and Tennessee, each of which was ranked No. 1 during the season, plus one top program trying to finally win a title — Texas.

There are two broad sorts of fans come championship season. One camp loves dynasties and legendary programs they grew up with. The other camp loves the upstarts and Cinderellas, and for them there are Memphis and Tennessee along with some names you may not have even heard of before — Winthrop, Maryland-Baltimore County, Austin Peay and Belmont.

Everybody loves a Cinderella, everybody, that is, except the television networks and the NCAA itself. Oh, they like a team nobody ever heard of just fine if it’s in the championship game and the whole country is buzzing about its magical run.

But that doesn’t happen very often in real life. More often, Cinderella is the team that knocks out a big name in an early round and then gets wiped out itself in the next game. And that’s bad for ratings, because big names get big viewership.

I wouldn’t look for that to happen this year. (I never look for it to happen any year; there’s a reason Cinderella is a fairy tale.) What’s important for casual fans is having programs you know, schools you’ve heard of, at the top of the charts and the usual suspects you’ve barely heard of peppered through the brackets.

And this edition of March Madness has something for everyone. It also has something everybody should love: a deep well of uncertainty.

For all the big names among the top seeds, there is no clear-cut favorite in this tournament, no super team whose exit with anything but the championship trophy would be an upset of even modest proportions. They’ve all lost games, they’ve all shown vulnerabilities, they’re all beatable.

NCAA tournament coverage Slideshows: UNC | Kansas | UCLA | Memphis Beyond the Arc: Flip a coin to pick winners Updated tourney brackets  |  Slide shows Results, schedules, TV times, more They've got spirit! Cheerleaders  |  Mascots Women's bracket  |  Schedule  |  Scores   Discuss: Sound off on tournaments | MORE

But, beatable as they are, the top four — North Carolina, UCLA, Kansas and Memphis — could all end up in the Final Four. But so could Georgetown or Pitt or Clemson of Stanford or Texas or Tennessee.

And that’s what’s going to make this a year in which filling out just one bracket isn’t going to be enough — not if you want bragging rights in the office pool. If you want to win this year, you’d better dig down and ante up for extra brackets, because you don’t want to blow it by seeing your Final Four blown up in the second round or the Sweet 16.

So go ahead and fill out several. Pick one by religious affiliation, if that’s what moves you: there’s Notre Dame, Oral Roberts, St. Mary’s, Brigham Young and a bunch of others to choose from.

Choose another by nicknames. There are some good ones — Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Hoyas, Jayhawks, Longhorns, Panthers, Tigers, Huskies, Bruins.

Pick a 14 seed to win a first-round game; it happens a lot. (I’m going with Georgia over Xavier.) Pick a four seed to get to the Final Four. (I like Pitt for that role.) Pick a one seed to lose early. (I’ve got Memphis leaving, courtesy of Pitt.)

Root against the Dukies, because that’s as popular a pastime in college hoops as rooting against Notre Dame in football. Root for your favorite conference or your favorite part of the country. It’s all there for you, from Georgetown on the East Coast to UCLA on the West to Kansas in the heartland to Texas in the Southwest to North Carolina and Duke in the Southeast.

Special feature Off to the Big Dance Check out which teams have earned automatic bids into the men's NCAA Tournament. NBCSports.com

Dive into that pool safe in the knowledge that you recognize the names of all the big teams. The NCAA Tournament is, even in the worst of times, the best three-week, single-elimination tournament in sports. And this year is not the worst of times, not with this line-up. This year promises to be one everybody, from the most fervent fan to the most casual, can enjoy.

MORE FROM COLLEGE BASKETBALL

College basketball Section Front

UCLA will make noise eventually   Vote: Who will be player of the year? Beyond the Arc: ’Nova facing issues with frosh Seton Hall basketball player charged with DWI Beyond the Arc: Carolina will be scary good by March Syracuse sends Boeheim to 800th victory Beyond the Arc: Boeheim’s 800th in perspective Men’s Top 25 preview, analysis, stats, more Davis: Kansas tops 2009-10 hoops storylines Elite scorers, sleeper teams, top conferences, more College basketball Section Front   Add College basketball headlines to your news reader: