For any of the 6 championship teams, were there any teams or bad match ups you were concerned about before the brackets were revealed or after they were revealed?
In 2004 I was convinced we'd have all we could handle against the Lakers. Other than that....
In 1999 the only time I considered the possibility of anyone beating us was during the Gonzaga game (that still gives me nightmares). I spent most of the second half having panic attacks that some supernatural force would always prevent us from making the final four.
In 2004 I didn't think anything other than Okafor reinjuring his back could stop us.
The best part of those two runs was beating Duke in the finals, then five years later beating them again, in the semifinals that time.
In 2011, once we got through the BE tournament I was almost as confident as I was the prior two title runs as nobody out there looked any better than we were and we had too much confidence from the BET.
In 2014, that we showed we were finally willing to stand up and fight with Louisville in the second half of the AAC title game (we may have been able to pull it off if we started at tipoff), I was sure we would beat them the next time we played (thinking it would be in the tournament). I was very worried for the entirety of the St Joe's game (the broadcast constantly showing Martelli's grandson brought some terrifying flashbacks to 1994, when they kept showing Lon Kruger's kid). Going into the Nova game I didn't think we would be in trouble (as many predicted) because we knew them. I really thought the run was over in the the first half when we were down by a lot and Bazz had to sit with foul trouble. When we got back in the game with Bazz on the bench I knew the gane was ours and started anticipating a title game against Louisville (who, as I said earlier, I fully believed we figured out how to stand up to in the AAC title game). Kentucky stopped that, but having a reverse run against Kentucky for titles three and four from what we did to Duke in titles one was also very enjoyable.
In 23, I thought things would be similar to 2011 where we would remain unbeaten out of conference. I didn't see any one team that I feared, but felt we were capable of beating ourselves. I didn't expect us to destroy everyone the way we did until well I to the first half against Arkansas, but after that game it looked like the only teams that may be able to give us a challenge were already eliminated.
In 24, I would have even taken my chances against the Lakers.
I refuse to speculate on what may be a better draw for us and I will never hope for one outcome over another on games that will lead up to a matchup with us. I remember Florida in 1994, Mississippi St in 1996, George Mason in 2006. I'll take my chances against whoever is in front of us.