Your bracket stinks, admit it. Duke losing hurt as much as Gonzaga did.

I mean, really, there they were, the sixth-best team in the nation, 29 and freakin’ 3, and the NCAA passes over Gonzaga like the academy passed on Russell Crowe.

A six seed? For Gonzaga?

Retribution will be theirs, you thought.

Retribution, sadly, was not.

Stupid Wyoming and their stupid 11 seed and their stupid upset.

Tired of the taunts and accusations of the first-round fortunates, you tore your bracket up.

Now it’s time to stick the remains to them – Up the ante.

You’re prepared. You’ve watched the analysis. Read what the bookies had to say. Parted with more money in a bet than you’d care to acknowledge.

It’s time to flare your nostrils, fill with March air, and SHUT EVERYONE UP.

Kansas will win. Here’s why.

(A quick disclaimer: I would have broken down why UConn will win the women’s side, but why be redundant? UConn could play 5-against-9-NBA-guys-on-Flubber and win.)

1. The Lineage Factor

James Naismith invented basketball. He coached Phog Allen at Kansas.

Allen coached the team himself years later. Later still, the people of Lawrence named the stadium after Allen.

But before they did, Allen coached Dean Smith, a reserve guard at the time.

Years later, Smith went to North Carolina, became the head coach and recruited a kid named Roy Williams.

After graduation, Williams became an assistant under Smith. After proper tutilage, Williams went to Kansas and became the head coach.

Too spooked yet to bet against Kansas? We’ll continue.

2. The Family Tree Factor: part deux.

Dean Smith was 51 when he won his first National Championship.

Roy Williams is 51 years old.

3. The Betsy Ross Factor

At a time when patriotism is quite fashionable, the Jayhawks are tied with North Carolina for most players-turned-Olympians (12).

Plus, it was the Patriots, people, that won the Super Bowl.

4. The Blue Factor

This is the type of reasoning my eighth-grade sister would have used five years ago, but since the inception of the Final Four in 1939, 30 of 63 champs had blue in their uniform.

Eighteen have sported red – the dominant color of the other teams this year.

5. The Scoring Factor

Kansas leads the nation in scoring, averaging 92 points a game. That means you have to score 46 each half just to tie them.

6. The Scoring Factor: Redux

Kansas has five guys – five – averaging 10 points or more a game. No one else has more than three.

7. The Delving Not As Deep As I Probably Should in the Numbers Factor

Williams came to Kansas in 1988. He owns Oklahoma: 17-10 lifetime.

Plus, since 1996, each time the Jayhawks lost to the Sooners, Kansas beat them the next time they played.

Oklahoma beat Kansas at the Big 12 Tournament this year.

8. The Chant Factor

Remember that eerie lineage business? Dido for the age-old chant.

Rawwwck, Chawwwwlk, Jaaaaayhawwwk gives me goosebumps like the Minnesota Mosquito Convention gives me bites.

9. The Delving Nowhere Near as Deep As I Should Into The Stats Factor

Kansas played Oklahoma in the 1988 Championship. Kansas won.

10. The Hardly Objective Factor Backed by No Facts

Juan Dixon scores for Maryland, but Kirk Hinrich is all-around better. He also has more teammates to pass to (see The Scoring Factor: Redux).

Ten’s a round number, we’ll stop there.

Sure, some reasons are better than others, but even if I’m wrong and Kansas loses, I know the winner couldn’t beat UConn.

Flubber or no flubber.

Paul Kix is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Hubbard. He is senior sports reporter for the Daily.