Look for Syracuse, Texas, Kansas, UK in Final Four

The only form that gets more use in March than an NCAA Tournament bracket sheet is a 1040a for taxes, and that one doesn’t have to be finished for another month.

So first, fill out the brackets, a task as tough as ever after a season in which the order of the Top 25 changed every week.

A No. 1 seed has never lost to a No. 16, so there are four easy games to pick. At least one No. 13 seed has won a game the last two years, so that sounds like a lucky road to follow.

There have never been four No. 1s in a Final Four, and that group has never been shut out of the national semifinals, either.

Two teams from the same conference have reached each of the last four Final Fours, so that sounds like a plan.

So here goes, the road to New Orleans:

East

Top-seeded Oklahoma has the shortest trip to first- and second-round games, traveling 20 minutes from Norman to Oklahoma City. That will help the Sooners in wins over South Carolina State and North Carolina State.

Wake Forest will be the only No. 2 seed not to reach the second weekend as Saint Joseph’s backcourt knocks out the Demon Deacons in the second round. The Hawks’ run ends in the Sweet Sixteen at the hands of Syracuse.

Mississippi State’s athletic backcourt will end Louisville’s run in the second round and then not be enough against Oklahoma’s guards.

Syracuse and super freshman Carmelo Anthony use playing in nearby Albany, N.Y., to their advantage and keep Oklahoma from returning to the Final Four.

South

A second-round matchup of Michigan State and Florida, a replay of the 2000 title game, is too much fun to pass up. The Spartans win the rematch and get Xavier in the third round after the Musketeers have ended Maryland’s dream of repeating as national champion.

Top-seeded Texas, LSU, Connecticut and Stanford win their first-round games, and the Longhorns beat Connecticut to get a shot at Xavier.

Texas uses its home-state advantage in San Antonio to move on to the Final Four for the first time.

Midwest

Kentucky enters the tournament with a 23-game winning streak, and the Wildcats will get to New Orleans with 27 wins in a row. Their second victory will be over Utah in a rematch of the 1998 national title game when Tubby Smith won it all in his first season.

Tulsa will be this year’s lucky No. 13 as the Golden Hurricanes knock off Dayton and then fall to Wisconsin.

Holy Cross will scare a big team for the third straight year, but Marquette will prevail before losing to Missouri in the second round.

Alabama will prevail over Indiana, then lose to Pittsburgh.

Kentucky beats Pitt to make it two No. 1s in the Final Four.

West

Gonzaga proves once again how good the mid-majors are with a win over Cincinnati before losing to Arizona.

Illinois beats Notre Dame in a second-round matchup in Indianapolis .

Central Michigan knocks off Creighton, but then can’t beat Duke despite the advantage inside.

Kansas finds a way to beat Memphis and Duke, which extends the longest current streak with its sixth straight Sweet Sixteen berth.

The Jayhawks then get Illinois, which stuns top-seeded Arizona in the regional semifinal. Kansas gets back to the Final Four.