Tonight is the opening night for college basketball. No one cares. I know that I don’t. I likely won’t start paying attention to college basketball until conference play, at the earliest. That said, I feel compelled as always to predict the Final Four. I have no reason to explain these picks, really. I’ve looked at rosters. I know who the coaches are. I know how teams played last year. That’s pretty much that. With that said, here’s my 2009-10 Final Four prediction:

Kansas
Michigan State
West Virginia
Villanova

Kansas is clearly the best team in the country. Michigan State returns more important players from last year than anyone else. West Virginia looks like they’re ready for the next step. And Villanova was almost there last year and have added the big man, freshman Mouphtaou Yarou, that they so desperately needed last year. I like Kansas to win their second title in the past three years, this time beating Villanova in the title game in Indianapolis.

Xavier
Dayton
Gonzaga
Wake Forest