They're all important, so pay no heed to the order. And while there could be 10 if I dug hard enough, but it's a bit late. If you want a sixth, the Washington Post's Christian Swezey offers this up. If you want a seventh, I suppose it's fair to point out that only one No. 8 seed has even made it past the quarterfinals (1999 Syracuse), let alone won a title.

1. Thou shalt have a top-four seed.

It's pretty simple; only one team has managed to win a national title from a slot below a No. 4 seed since the tournament began in 1971. That was North Carolina in 1986. It helps to be a top-three seed; just two No. 4 seeds --- 1987 Hopkins and 2004 Syracuse --- went home with the hardware.

Favors: Duke, Virginia, Syracuse, North Carolina
Does not favor: Everybody else

2. Thou shalt have reached at least the quarterfinals last year.

Only six teams have won a title without having made the final four the previous year (minus the first champion, of course). Of those, only 1983 Syracuse didn't have even a quarterfinal appearance to its credit.

Favors: Duke, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Cornell
Does not favor: Everybody else

3. Thou shalt not have lost by double-digits during the regular season.

Only two teams have ever lost by 10 goals during a regular season and rallied to win a title: 1986 North Carolina and 2004 Syracuse. Both teams took 12-goal trouncings at Hopkins, and both defeated the Blue Jays in the semifinals.

But they're exceptions, not the rule. National title-caliber teams tend not to get run off the field.

Favors: Duke, Syracuse, Notre Dame
Does not favor: Virginia, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins

4. Thou shalt not have lost more than two straight games at any juncture.

Johns Hopkins of last year is an anomaly; no other team has ever overcome a three-game losing streak and still won a title. Of course, the Blue Jays had a five-game skid this year, so maybe they can make history again.

Does not favor: Johns Hopkins, Denver, Navy, Canisius
Favors: Everybody else

5. Thou shalt have a coach who has been to the final four before.

Only five coaches have won a tournament in the first time they went to the semifinals. Two (Cornell's Richie Moran and Virginia's Glenn Thiel) did it the first two years of the tournament. Two other guys (Don Zimmerman with 1984 Hopkins and Dave Klarmann with 1991 Carolina) took over pretty well-stocked teams. And Bill Tierney outfoxed everyone in 1992 for the first of his six titles at Princeton.

And that's it. Since Tierney's first title, 13 coaches have made their first Division I final four appearance. And all of them --- Peter Lasagna, Dom Starsia, Mike Pressler, Dave Urick, John Desko, John Haus, Kevin Corrigan, Dave Pietramala, Richie Meade, Greg Cannella, Bob Shillinglaw, Jeff Tambroni and John Danowski --- left without a title in that initial final four foray.

Does not favor: Ohio State, Denver, Colgate, Hofstra, Canisius, Loyola
Favors: Everybody else

Long story short: Everything favors Duke, which makes them an even safer pick to finally collect the program's first national title.

--- Patrick Stevens