5 biggest questions entering the tournament

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Another edition of the NCAA Tournament is about to get underway, and the madness will surely ensue.

Here are the five biggest questions heading into this year's tournament.

Can Duke keep it up?

Heading into the season, Duke was ranked No. 1, highlighted by a star studded freshmen class and a mix of talented veterans.

However, the freshmen class was plagued by injuries and All-American Grayson Allen was hounded by tripping issues that saw him suspended for a game and stripped of his captaincy.

On top of that, head coach Mike Krzyzewski was sidelined a month following back surgery, that saw the Blue Devils go 4-3 in his absence.

After Coach K's return, Duke yo-yoed, but then caught fire, winning four games in four days to claim their 20th ACC tournament and earn an No. 2 seed.

Still, for how impressive Duke has played, the eight losses the Blue Devils suffered still lingers and questions about inconsistency remain.

The talent is there, but Krzyzewski will have to make sure the team plays like it did last week and not like when it lost to Syracuse and Miami in back-to-back games.

Can Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf lead the Bruins back to glory?

It has been over 20 years since UCLA last won a title, which has seen their lead for most championships shrink (11), as Kentucky has won three in that time frame (8).

Head coach Steve Alford has his most talented team since he arrived in Westwood, led by star freshmen Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf, who have the high flying Bruins attack ranked first in scoring and first in assists.

Ball has somewhat been overshadowed lately by his father's comments, but that does not take away from his superb stat line of 14.6 points, 7.7 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Finishing the season ranked No. 8 and earning a No. 3 seed, this will be UCLA's best chance since 2007-08 to win a national championship, when the Bruins had Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, and Darren Collison on their roster.

Who will be this years Cinderella story?

Upsets and March Madness go hand in hand and 2017 will be no different than the 77 previous versions of the tournament.

Though it is certain there will be upsets, who provides the upsets are a lot harder to determine.

Middle Tennessee took down No. 2 Michigan State last year as a No. 15 seed, and after a 30-4 record this year, the committee noticed, bumping the Blue Raiders up to a No. 12 seed.

Many bracketologist's had no idea where to seed Wichita State, as their efficiency numbers were top 10 worthy, but their schedule left a lot to be desired. That led to the Shockers being a No. 10 seed this year

Wichita State are not unfamiliar with being a Cinderella team, reaching the 2013 Final Four as a No. 9 seed and making it to three Sweet 16s in the last decade.

Owning the nations' longest winning streak at 21 games, Vermont as a No. 13 seed could be dangerous, as is No. 11 seed Rhode Island, who has won eight straight games, including the Atlantic 10 tournament, downing VCU in the finals.

Is this the year Gonzaga finally reaches a Final Four?

Gonzaga has been on the tournament radar since 1999, when it made a Cinderella run to the Elite 8, which the Bulldogs did again in 2015, while making their seventh Sweet 16 last year.

The Bulldogs started the season 29-0, reaching No. 1 in the AP Poll for just the second time in school history, leading to many saying this is head coach Mark Few's best team he's ever had.

That hype took a hit with a loss to BYU at home in the regular-season finale, but the Bulldogs bounced back winning the West Coast Conference tournament.

Now, as a No. 1 seed and led by the nations 13th scoring offense and ninth scoring defense, the Bulldogs will try and make history and earn their first Final Four and possibly a national championship.

Will Villanova pull a Florida and go back-to-back?

If there was ever a worry of a championship hangover, Villanova put those thoughts to rest as they finished the regular season with a 27-3 record and ranked No. 2, claiming their fourth consecutive Big East regular-season title.

The Wildcats then followed that up with a Big East tournament win and earned the top No. 1 seed.

All-American Josh Hart will be part of a veteran group that returned five regulars from their title winning team a year ago.

After ending their 31-year championship drought, Villanova will now look to be the first team since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win back-to-back national championships.