And the Nominees Are...

Every year at this time, SI.com's Grant Wahl names his "Magic Eight" -- a list of eight teams that he guarantees will include the winner of this year's NCAA Tournament. Perhaps to stir up controversy, or perhaps because it would be too obvious to include the number one team in the country, North Carolina is conspicuously absent from this year's list. Here are Wahl's selections.

Most interesting picks, to me, are Louisville and Tennessee. Rick Pitino's charges aren't even in the top 25 currently, but that's likely to change soon. Key players David Padgett and Juan Palacios are back, and the Cardinals are suddenly playing like a team that deserved a presason top-10 ranking -- as the Golden Eagles of Marquette would attest. The Volunteers, meanwhile, seem to be making a case for inclusion in the "number one seed" discussion with Carolina, Memphis, Kansas and UCLA. Their 20-point undressing of Vanderbilt makes for a convincing argument.

Extra props for Grant Wahl... the Louisville and Tennessee games that reinforced his point were played after his column was published. Nice work.