ESPN Magazine needed a Final Four, an Elite Eight, and all before the first week of January.

So we went with our gut. Or should I say, I went with Arizona, Mississippi State, Alabama and Notre Dame. My Elite Eight included Kansas, Duke, Indiana and Pittsburgh, each in need of one thing to leap over the other four teams.

	Kyle Korver is the kind of player that can carry a team deep into the Madness.

Then Pittsburgh roughed up Notre Dame ... Florida pulled away from Mississippi State, shattering its once impenetrable defense ... Alabama lost at Utah, looking vulnerable when a team collapses on the Tide in the post.

Oh, and did we mention, Georgia beat Pittsburgh handily and also took out LSU, which beat Arizona. Kansas then soundly won at Iowa State without Wayne Simien.

See, this isn't easy, is it?

The bottom line is any list of potential Final Four teams in January can't be summed up with just eight teams, now, or perhaps even in early March. If Florida plays like it did Tuesday, the Gators are a legit Final Four team, not to mention Georgia and Pittsburgh.

What about Kentucky? Well, the Wildcats have looked like a Final Four team in beating Indiana, but then were more like a second-round out in losing to Louisville.

And there are others, certainly.

Creighton fits into the category of a good team that could get hot for four days to join the three other "great" teams who reach New Orleans. The Bluejays have a sharpshooter in Kyle Korver, who certainly could carry them to the Final Four.

Texas? Point guard T.J. Ford is dominant enough to be the difference late in the game.

Oklahoma? Did you catch its wins over Michigan State and Connecticut? If the Sooners continue to play like they did on Tuesday night, ESPN.com's preseason No. 1 could very well end up back in the Final Four.

Texas Tech? Missouri? Louisville? Connecticut? Illinois? Wake Forest? Maryland? None of these teams playing in New Orleans would completely shock us. All of these teams are capable of getting hot enough in late March to keep playing in April.

So, go ahead and blast my picks. I had to make them early. We all know they're going to change.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.