Dribble Handoff: March has arrived and our college basketball experts have bold predictions for the next month

Here's what could happen as we flip the calendars from February to March, often the wildest month on the sports calendar

If this past weekend was any indication, we're in for a crazy March. Each of the top six teams in the AP Top 25 poll lost on Saturday, and then-No. 22 Ohio State followed up Sunday with a surprising 15-point loss at Maryland just three days after taking down then- No. 15 Illinois on the road. There is little doubt that silly season has arrived.

In college football, that term -- "silly season" -- is often used in reference to the coaching carousel. In college basketball, it's the best way to describe the entire month of March and what happens in the actual games. While the height of the madness comes during the NCAA Tournament after the March 13 Selection Show on CBS, there will be plenty of wildness before then as well.

Conference tournaments are getting underway this week, and the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC regular-season title races are packed with drama amid the final week of the regular season for the most prestigious leagues. In college basketball, March unofficially lasts until the Final Four concludes. That will be on April 4 this season in New Orleans, where a national champion will be crowned in front of an arena full of fans for the first time in three years. The 2021 NCAA Tournament was held in a sterilized environment in Indiana, and of course the 2020 Big Dance was canceled altogether amid the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So with a relatively normal postseason finally dawning in college hoops, our writers are each offering "one bold prediction for March" in this week's edition of the Dribble Handoff.

Rick Pitino will make the Sweet 16

When Iona hired Rick Pitino in March 2020, I predicted on the Eye On College Basketball Podcast that the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coach would have the Gaels in the Sweet 16 within four years. This is Year Two for Pitino -- and he has the best team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference by a wide margin. Assuming the Gaels don't slip up in the conference tournament, they'll be in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. And, yes, if they get there, I'll advance them to the Sweet 16 in my bracket.

CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm is currently projecting Iona as a No. 12 seed, which would be a perfect spot given the history of 12-5 matchups. All Iona would have to do to make the Sweet 16 in that situation is upset a No. 5 seed and then beat the winner of a 4-13 matchup. Sounds doable to me. Remember, a No. 12 has made the Sweet 16 in each of the past two NCAA Tournaments. So it's not hard for me to imagine Pitino being the coach of the next No. 12 seed to do it. -- Gary Parrish

At least three non-No. 1 seeds make the Final Four

I'll explain this out to say at least two non-No. 1 or No. 2 seeds get there as well. I've maintained for months that the list of viable national title contenders is more than 10. If you expand that out to teams that can reasonably play their way into the Final Four (without needing a huge bracket break against one or two double-digit seeds after the first round), I think the number's 20. So when we get that glorious field of 68 on Selection Sunday, take a scan at which teams are occupying the No. 3, 4 and 5 lines. The sport is too deep and has too much talent this season to reliably depend upon some combination of only No. 1 or No. 2 seeds to play through to New Orleans. Teams like Providence, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, Villanova, UCLA, Arkansas and Houston could be No. 3, 4 or 5 seeds. None making the Final Four would be that shocking. I expect a competitive tournament that delivers with four quality teams, only those four teams won't be the best of the best (as we think they are) when revealed in less than two weeks. -- Matt Norlander

Gonzaga won't lose again

Do the math on this bold prediction, and yes, that's correct: I'm taking the Zags to at least make the Final Four before we get seeding or know what the bracket looks like. That shouldn't even be considered bold -- they have made two of the last four Final Fours -- but it may feel that way now after it took a surprising loss over the weekend to Saint Mary's. Truth is, this team has the goods to make a run, and between the star power of Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren, I'm ready to ride with them going the entire month of March without an L. With two national runner-up finishes since 2017 it feels like the Zags are due for some good fortunes and they've consistently been one of the best teams in the sport all season long. -- Kyle Boone

ACC will save face

In the AP Top 25 released on March 1 of last season, the Pac-12 had a whopping one team included. It was Colorado at No. 24. Similarly, this week's poll features just one ACC team. Much like no one expected the Pac-12 have a strong postseason in 2021, few expect the ACC -- perhaps aside from No. 4 Duke -- to do anything of note in March. But my bold prediction for the month is that the ACC will rally and salvage some respectability from a down season, much like the Pac-12 did a year ago. The ACC teams in position to make the Big Dance are teams with likable traits (for the most part). Notre Dame is one of the few teams to beat Kentucky when the Wildcats have been at full strength, and the Fighting Irish can be lethal if they are knocking downs 3-pointers. Miami has great veteran guards and a win at Duke under its belt. Wake Forest has the makings of a gritty Cinderella squad under second-year head coach Steve Forbes. And North Carolina…well let's just hope the defense shows up.

Then, there is Duke. The Blue Devils are a national title contender. It's a moment of uncertainty for the ACC as Mike Krzyzewski prepares to retire just a year after UNC legend Roy Williams retired. Fellow coaching legends Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and Leonard Hamilton at Florida State are also aging and will need miraculous runs through the ACC Tournament to even reach the NCAA Tournament. This is to say nothing of how prestigious programs Louisville and Virginia are also down.  Clearly, the ACC has long-term issues to address. But the league should have a better winning percentage in this NCAA Tournament than it did while posting a 4-7 mark in last year's event. Matching the Pac-12's 13-5 mark from last year's tournament isn't realistic, but the ACC will salvage some dignity in March, perhaps through a deep Duke run and a couple of surprise Sweet 16 runs from poorly seeded teams. -- David Cobb