By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

In a mailbag article, ESPN.com off-shoot Grantland.com compared the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 teams to the WWE roster leading up to WrestleMania. Author Mark Titus's break down:

- Brock Lesnar: Overall #1 seed Kentucky.

- John Cena: Duke. "Because everyone either loves them or hates them with no in between."

- Dolph Ziggler: Wisconsin. "Because they were recently close to being in the title picture and now they’re trying to claw their way back."

- Cesaro: Arizona. "Because they have an insane amount of talent but can’t seem to get out of the midcard."

- Rusev: Gonzaga. "Because they crush everyone, but their critics still say they haven’t faced real competition yet."

- Dean Ambrose: Oklahoma. "Because he’s 'unstable' and there’s no telling which Oklahoma team will show up on any given night."

- Sheamus: Note Dame. Irish factor.

- Ryback: Louisville.

- Randy Orton: North Carolina. "Because they have a Hall of Fame track record and are still really good even if they aren’t quite title contenders right now."

- Luke Harper: West Virginia.

- Bray Wyatt: Utah. "Because they don’t strike me as true title contenders, even though I can’t point to a single reason why."

- Kofi Kingston: Xavier. "Because they’ve made some deep tournament runs but have yet to make a Final Four. They always provide a few awesome spots but then get out of the way when it’s time for the big boys to take over."

- Triple H: Michigan State.

- Daniel Bryan: Wichita State. "Because they’re the little guy who improbably climbed to the top, got knocked down, and is desperate to get back where he was."

- Mizdow: N.C. State. "Because they’ve played second fiddle forever and are ready to make a name for themselves."

- Big Show: UCLA. "Because their heyday was forever ago and everyone wonders why they’re still around."

The mailbag also dives into a hypothetical scenario where WWE's Money in the Bank briefcase comes into play during the NCAA Tournament. [ LINK: Full Article HERE ]

[ Reax: Omitted from the list (among others) is WrestleMania main-eventer Roman Reigns, which is a story in itself not being a big factor in the public consciousness. An argument could be made that Reigns is also Kentucky with Lesnar. Kentucky is extremely young, but full of High School All-Americans and future NBA Draft Picks, having taken advantage of the (Performance Center) system where freshmen cannot enter the NBA Draft. The path has been cleared out for an undefeated season, (Royal Rumble victory), and making the top spot in the NCAA Tournament. Yet, despite the perfection, there are questions about whether the team is really that good or just not challenged enough yet. West Virginia player Daxter Miles pulled a Royal Rumble Crowd this week questioning Kentucky's toughness, not buying the hype leading into their Sweet 16 match-up. Time will tell on both Reigns and Kentucky. ]

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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