This isn't a surprise, but one of the most important things an NCAA team needs to actually win March Madness is a future NBA player on its roster.
While that does not necessarily mean that the best player in men's college basketball hears his name called at No. 1 overall, it certainly helps to build a roster around a player who has the abilities to carve out a career for himself in the pros.
A few years ago, Kevin Flaherty wrote an interesting article about how often national champions have first-round picks on their roster. Here is what he said (via CBS Sports):
"Of the 45 men's college basketball national champions since 1976, the year of the NBA/ABA merger, 44 featured at least one first-round pick in a future NBA Draft.