To be honest, when the season began in November, I might not have expected all of the following 25 players to be fit subjects for appraisal in late March. Nevertheless, they're here, they've earned it, and I have decided to rank them.
In compiling these rankings, I have chosen to embrace the recency effect. Think of this particular hierarchy as "two parts tournament, one part regular season." (As always, "zero parts pro potential," of course. There are plenty of writers who cover that angle.)
These are the players who will decide which team wins the national championship:
25. Silas Melson, Jr., G, Gonzaga
Melson gives Mark Few an additional 3-point threat on the floor. The junior is also the Bulldogs' second-best shooter at the line behind Nigel Williams-Goss.
24. Maik Kotsar, Fr., F, South Carolina
Kotsar fouled out of both the Duke and Baylor games, but the 6-foot-10 freshman was whistled for just one violation against Florida. Although not a shot-blocker, he gives Frank Martin size in the paint. In fact, when Kotsar and Chris Silva are on the floor together, things get notably more difficult on the interior for opposing offenses. The freshman is a late-game gamble, however, due to his 41 percent shooting at the line.
23. Nate Britt, Sr., G, North Carolina
Known to viewers everywhere as the family connection that keeps luring Villanova's Kris Jenkins to all of UNC's tournament games, Britt is a pass-first combo guard who has carried his healthy steal rate into postseason play.
22. Tony Bradley, Fr., F, North Carolina
When Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks depart after the tournament, Bradley projects to sustain and extend UNC's venerable tradition of hegemony on the offensive glass. Nevertheless, the freshman virtually vanished from the Tar Heels' rotation at the regional in Memphis. In games against Butler and Kentucky, Bradley logged a total of just 14 minutes and scored eight points.
21. Josh Perkins, So., G, Gonzaga
Perkins achieved fame in the Xavier game when his steal for what was sure to be a breakaway score was interrupted -- at least visually -- by a young woman who seconds before had been mopping that end of the floor. She beat a hasty retreat, and Perkins was able to complete his lay-in, though the hesitation caused by his momentary confusion did cost the sophomore what would have been his first official dunk.
20. Payton Pritchard, Fr., G, Oregon
A pass-first point guard, Pritchard has rather curiously posted some of his best games in Duck losses. When Oregon lost at Colorado in January, the freshman uncharacteristically hung up 19 points. Similarly, way back in November, Pritchard notched 18 points in the Ducks' four-point loss on a neutral floor to subsequently hapless Georgetown. Looking ahead to North Carolina, Altman must hope his point guard repeats that two-point performance from the Kansas game.
19. Dylan Ennis, Sr., G, Oregon
Can we get some Perry Ellis-variety old-man jokes for Ennis, please? The 25-year-old, sixth-year senior and erstwhile Villanova Wildcat and Rice Owl first hit campus in fall 2011 along with fellow freshmen such as Anthony Davis, Cody Zeller and Otto Porter. He's older than a veritable who's-who of NBA veterans, up to and including Kyrie Irving, Enes Kanter and Tobias Harris. In the tournament, Old Man Ennis has led the Ducks in minutes.
18. Duane Notice, Sr., G, South Carolina
Martin has given Notice 99 starts across four seasons, and over that time, the 6-foot-2 senior has charted an extremely rare path. In 2014-15, he was a co-featured scorer alongside Sindarius Thornwell. Now Notice is effectively the Gamecocks' No. 4 option on offense. It's an unusual sequence but one that Martin clearly believes in. During this tournament run, the coach has even taken to telling reporters, "Good thing I didn't sit Duane Notice down, huh?" Sure enough, the senior scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting against Duke.
17. Jordan Mathews, Sr., G, Gonzaga
The hero of the Bulldogs' Sweet 16 game against West Virginia, Mathews hit a 3 with less than a minute remaining to provide what was ultimately the winning margin against the Mountaineers. Nor was that shot a blip, as the Cal transfer led the Zags in made 3-pointers this season. Also, I don't know if this is in the South Carolina scouting report, but Mathews was once on "Teletubbies."
16. Theo Pinson, Jr., F, North Carolina
Pinson missed the first 16 games of the season with a bone fracture in his foot, only to suffer an ankle injury soon after his return that sidelined him for an additional three contests. Since rejoining the rotation in February, however, the 6-foot-6 junior has used his size to good effect on defense (ask De'Aaron Fox) while posting a per-possession assist rate slightly higher than Berry's.
15. Zach Collins, Fr., F, Gonzaga
Understandably lost in the furor over Collins' inside-the-rim shot block against Northwestern was the fact that he had a great game: 14 points, including 6-of-8 shooting at the line. The freshman has been less consequential in his past two outings, and against Xavier he fouled out in just 13 minutes. That said, Collins will almost certainly be needed in the game or games that await the Bulldogs. He's an outstanding shot-blocker who this season has shot 68 percent on a relatively high volume of 2s.
14. Isaiah Hicks, Sr., F, North Carolina
It has been a quiet tournament for Hicks, and that has been partly the senior's doing. He fouled out in 17 minutes against Butler, and over the past four games, he has pulled in just four offensive boards. That said, Hicks is perfectly capable of turning a game around. He scored 19 points in just 25 minutes against Miami in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
13. Chris Silva, So., F, South Carolina
On the season as a whole, Silva has committed an average of 7.2 fouls per 40 minutes. In the tournament, that number has been shaved down to 5.9. That might not seem like an appreciable difference (and the latter, to be sure, is still a high foul rate), but every additional minute counts for Silva and the Gamecocks. The sophomore is Martin's finest offensive rebounder, as well as his most effective shot-blocker.
12. Joel Berry II, Jr., G, North Carolina
The most fervent wish of North Carolina fans everywhere is that this upcoming game against Oregon might be the one in which Berry does not turn his ankle. UNC's tournament run has heretofore been blighted with a series of super-slow-motion replays of the senior reinjuring said body part, but when Berry is healthy, he is elite. The point guard is an excellent perimeter scorer who is also his team's most reliable shooter at the line.
11. PJ Dozier, So., G, South Carolina
The story of the South Carolina offense's postseason turnaround is in large part the story of Dozier's postseason turnaround. At the risk of stating the "before" case too emphatically, the sophomore's performance on that side of the ball in SEC play was disastrous. Dozier shot percentages of 40 and 22 on his 2s and 3s, respectively, against conference opponents -- and he shot often. Now he's connecting 67 percent of the time inside the arc in tournament action. (Don't ask about his 3s, which Gonzaga and, potentially, a subsequent opponent might happily allow him to try.)
10. Przemek Karnowski, Sr., C, Gonzaga
As always, Karnowski is connecting about 60 percent of the time on his shots (all 2s) in the tournament. He and Mark Few might want to up the volume, however. The senior has scored 37 points across four games, and a Gonzaga offense that (uncharacteristically) has recorded just 1.03 points per possession in that span could use larger contributions from the big guy.
9. Kennedy Meeks, Sr., F, North Carolina
Meeks recorded 17 rebounds in 32 minutes against Kentucky. True, part of that impressive number came from the Wildcats' making less than 44 percent of their 2s, but rebounding excellence is hardly a new thing for the senior. North Carolina has a well-earned reputation as the nation's premiere offensive rebounding team, and Meeks is No. 1 among the Tar Heels in that category. He also provided 16 very timely points against Arkansas when both Jackson and Berry were struggling mightily.
8. Nigel Williams-Goss, Jr., G, Gonzaga
This has not been the best stretch of four games we've seen this season from Williams-Goss. The junior's missed 42 shots from the field in the tournament, and the West Virginia game in particular, were rough sledding for the WCC Player of the Year. Then again, Williams-Goss hit four 3s and scored 23 points in the Bulldogs' win over Xavier. On paper, this offense has a good deal of performance blue sky above it once its star point guard plays to the level he showed in the regular season.
7. Dillon Brooks, Jr., F, Oregon
With a wingspan so small that his teammates refer to him as "T-Rex," Brooks has found ways to do what needs to get done on a basketball court. The junior carries the heaviest workload on offense of any player at the Final Four, and Altman's featured scorer is equally adept at putting the ball in the basket from either side of the arc. For better or worse, Brooks has a reputation for being mercurial; at a minimum, he's fortunate his technical for taunting against Rhode Island didn't turn out to be more costly than it was.
6. Jordan Bell, Jr., F, Oregon
There was only one points-rebounds-blocks triple-double recorded in Division I play this season. Jordan Bell very nearly posted a second one -- against Kansas, in the Elite Eight and in Kansas City. Bell got to 11 points, 13 rebounds and, alas, eight blocks against the Jayhawks. The junior has been continually upping his game over the course of three seasons, not least by boosting his once woeful foul shooting all the way to 70 percent.
5. Luke Maye, So., F, North Carolina
Maye gets a boost in these rankings for the very good and sufficient reason that North Carolina might not be in the Final Four without him. If the sophomore misses the game winner against Kentucky, that game goes into overtime, and then who knows? Nevertheless, Maye is more than a one-play wonder. He is averaging 16.5 points the past two games, and he's scoring those points in just 23 minutes per contest. Now, can the career 52 percent shooter at the line knock down free throws amid the glare of the Final Four? After what we witnessed in the UK game, I would not put it past him.
4. Johnathan Williams, Jr., F, Gonzaga
In the Bulldogs' breakthrough win against Xavier in the Elite Eight, Williams scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. The junior could have easily hung up an even more impressive number if he had done better than 2-of-8 from the line. The 6-foot-9 Williams is shooting 63 percent on his 2s this season, he's a dependable presence for Mark Few on the defensive glass, and his work on the offensive boards has been even more impressive than "dependable" in the tournament. He was named the West region MOP.
3. Justin Jackson, Jr., F, North Carolina
Jackson didn't have his best outing against Arkansas, and truth be told, he has made just three of his past 13 shots from beyond the arc. Still, he has been efficient on his 2s while averaging 20 points a game in the tournament. Additionally, his size as a 6-foot-8 wing played a significant role in the Tar Heels' holding Kentucky to 73 points in a 73-possession game. Jackson now holds the North Carolina season record for made 3s, having connected 99 times from beyond the arc thus far.
2. Tyler Dorsey, So., G, Oregon
Would Oregon have made it this far if not for the 24 points per game Dorsey has been generating in the tournament? We'll never know, but Dana Altman hopes his wing's tear continues. Over the past four games, Dorsey has drained 65 percent of his 3s while pitching in on the defensive glass and recording six steals. Against Kansas, the Ducks' star repeatedly silenced the Sprint Center crowd in Kansas City with his 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. The sophomore is a one-man Villanova (2016 tournament version).
1. Sindarius Thornwell, Sr., G, South Carolina
Averaging nearly 26 points per tournament game, Thornwell is the Final Four's leading scorer since Selection Sunday. To reach a national semifinal, the South Carolina wing torched the Florida defense for 26 points thanks to 7-of-9 shooting inside the arc (and a 9-of-10 run at the line). When he isn't drawing fouls and knocking down the freebies, Thornwell is also a highly capable distributor. As any Gamecock playing for Frank Martin does, the senior does what he does on offense and then gives the level of effort required to sustain one of the nation's most suffocating defenses.