Arizona Top-Seeded, but Certainly Not Out of Woods

1. ARIZONA (26-6)

* First-round opponent: Jackson State.

* Season in brief: School’s 13th consecutive 20-win season under Lute Olson, played nonconference schedule that included wins over Kentucky, Texas and Michigan State, swept Stanford in conference play but also suffered rare home defeat to New Mexico, lost by 26 at Louisiana State, hurt by late-season back injury to center Loren Woods.

* Player to watch: Woods. The 7-1 transfer from Wake Forest emerged as the Pac-10’s most dominating post player, but will his back be OK for the tournament?

* Tidbit: Forward Luke Walton, son of Bill, was named after former Portland Trail Blazer star Maurice Lucas.

* NCAA bio: Sixteenth appearance for team under Olson. Final Four appearances in 1988, ‘94, won title in 1997. Knocked out in first-round last year by Oklahoma.

2. ST. JOHN’S (24-7)

* First-round opponent: Northern Arizona.

* Season in brief: Suffered nonconference losses to Samford and DePaul, but swept Connecticut in the Big East and scored an impressive win at Duke on Feb. 26.

* Player to watch: Erick Barkley. A turbulent season for the 6-1 sophomore point guard, who missed two games in February while NCAA investigated a car swap he made with a longtime friend and summer league coach, and was held out another as another possible infraction was being looked into.

* Tidbit: In 1985, St. John’s had two players taken in the first round of the NBA draft, Chris Mullin (Golden State) and Bill Wennington (Dallas).

* NCAA bio: One of the greatest programs never to have won an NCAA title. Under former coach Lou Carnesecca, was one of three Big East teams to make the Final Four in 1985, losing to Georgetown in the semifinals.

3. OKLAHOMA (26-6)

* First-round opponent: Winthrop.

* Season in brief: Started 9-0 before losing to Cincinnati Dec. 11, suffered consecutive Big 12 losses to Texas and Colorado, scored a double overtime win over Iowa State.

* Player to watch: Eduardo Najera. The 6-8 senior plays as hard as anyone in the country and his violent collision with Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves was perhaps the lasting memory of last year’s tournament.

* Tidbit: In 1889, free land was offered in the Oklahoma territories, so long as settlers left to make their claims at the same time. Those who cheated, and jumped the gun, were called “Sooners.” Hence, the school’s nickname.

* NCAA bio: Shocked Arizona in the first round and advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to Michigan State last year. NCAA appearance No. 18 for the program, finished second in 1947 and 1988.

4. LOUISANA ST. (26-5)

* First-round opponent: Southeast Missouri State.

* Season in brief: Started 13-0, which included a 75-point win over Grambling. Suffered first loss Jan. 8 against Tennessee, followed by successive losses to Florida and Vanderbilt, then beat Arizona by 26 points at Baton Rouge Jan. 29.

* Player to watch: Stromile Swift. The 6-9 sophomore forward is a former Mr. Basketball in Louisiana.

* Tidbit: Former Tiger star Pete Maravich still holds the NCAA record for points, 3,667, and scoring average, 44.2. On Feb. 7, 1970, Pistol Pete scored 69 points against Alabama.

* NCAA bio: Has never won an NCAA title, but did win a national championship in 1935, defeating Pittsburgh in the American Legion Bowl held in Atlantic City, N.J.

5. TEXAS (23-8)

* First-round opponent: Indiana State.

* Season in brief: Played the nation’s third-toughest schedule, beat Michigan State and DePaul in nonconference games, lost to Arizona, Wisconsin, Utah and Connecticut. Six of team’s losses came against ranked opponents.

* Player to watch: Chris Mihm. The 7-foot junior averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds. Probably an NBA lottery pick if he leaves school early.

* Tidbit: Longhorns have four players named Chris on their roster: Chris Mihm, Chris McColpin, Chris Owens and Chris Odgen.

* NCAA bio: School’s 18th appearance. Knocked out in first round last year by Purdue. Finished third in 1943 under coach Bully Gilstrap and 1943 and in 1947 under Jack Gray, advanced to the round of eight in 1939 and 1990.

6. PURDUE (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Dayton.

* Season in brief: Started 2-2, which included a win over Florida and a loss to Ball State, lost to UCLA by two at Pauley Pavilion in late December, split with Indiana in the Big Ten, scored a key win against Michigan State on Feb. 8.

* Player to watch: Brian Cardinal. The 6-8 senior forward averaged only 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in nonconference, then averaged 18 points and seven rebounds in conference.

* Tidbit: Brian Cardinal’s father, Rod, is the head athletic trainer at Illinois.

* NCAA bio: Boilermakers’ eighth consecutive appearance and the 15th for Coach Gene Keady. Keady’s teams were top-seeded in 1988, ’94 and ‘96, but never reached the Final Four. Last season’s team advanced to the Sweet 16 despite being No. 10 seeded in the East.

7. LOUISVILLE (19-11)

* First-round opponent: Gonzaga.

* Season in brief: Started 0-2, had five consecutive victories before loss to Kentucky, beat North Carolina and Utah in nonconference, lost four in a row in late January slump, scored a key February nonconference win over No. 4 Syracuse.

* Player to watch: Marques Maybin The 6-3 junior guard averages 14 points a game and scored a 28 against Saint Louis on Feb. 23.

* Tidbit: This is the 20th anniversary of the 1980 national title team, led by Darrel Griffith, which finished 33-3 after defeating UCLA in the finals.

* NCAA bio: School’s 29th appearance. First-round loser last year to Creighton. Coach Denny Crum has a tournament record of 42-22. School ranks seventh in tournament victores, 48, and fourth in appearances, 29.

8. WISCONSIN (18-13)

* First-round opponent: Fresno State.

* Season in brief: Rebounded from a 1-4 start in Big Ten play, sneaked in on the basis of of a No. 2 ranking in schedule strength and wins over Temple, Texas and Indiana.

* Player to watch: Mark Vershaw. The 6-9 junior forward leads the team in scoring, assists and minutes and made a game-winning three-point shot against Illinois.

* Tidbit: Coach Dick Bennett’s brother Jack and daughter Kathi actually had better coaching seasons, winning 20 games for the Wisconsin Stevens Point men’s team and Evansville women’s team.

* NCAA bio: School’s sixth appearance. Scored only 32 points in a first-round loss last year to Southwest Missouri State.

9. FRESNO ST. (24-9)

* First-round opponent: Wisconsin.

* Season in brief: Finally! Five years after promising to return his alma mater to national prominence, Jerry Tarkanian lands his first bid for the Bulldogs. Tark’s 16th consecutive season with 20 or more wins. Team overcame early losses to Pepperdine, Northridge, San Francisco and Alabama Birmingham to sweep nationally ranked Tulsa in Western Athletic Conference.

* Player to watch: Courtney Alexander. The 6-5 senior guard had a breakout season, averaging 25 points per game, including a 40-point effort and game-winning shot March 1 to defeat San Jose State.

* Tidbit: Through the years, 41 of Tarkanian’s players have been drafted in the NBA, including nine first-round choices.

* NCAA bio: Tarkanian is 37-16 in the tournament. This is his 17th appearance. He led Nevada Las Vegas to four Final Four berths, winning the national title in 1990.

10. GONZAGA (24-8)

* First-round opponent: Louisville.

* Season in brief: Beat Pepperdine in overtime to win West Coast Conference’s automatic bid. Got off to a 4-0 start before consecutive road defeats to Cincinnati and Temple. Set off local alarms by dominating UCLA at Pauley Pavilion in December, scored 111 points against Texas Pan American, split with Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference regular season but lost to San Diego and Santa Clara.

* Player to watch: Matt Santangelo. With five assists against San Francisco on Jan. 13, the 6-1 senior point guard became the school’s career assist leader, surpassing John Stockton’s record of 554.

* Tidbit: School founded in 1887 by Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga with an initial class of 20 students. School dropped its football program in 1942 as a result of dwindling enrollment caused by World War II.

* NCAA bio: Raced to the Elite Eight last season, including stunning wins over Stanford and Florida before West Regional final loss to Connecticut.

11. DAYTON (22-8)

* First-round opponent: Purdue.

* Season in brief: Flyers got off to a flying 8-0 start, best since 1965-66, shocked Kentucky and won at New Mexico’s notorious “Pit” before being humbled Dec. 18 by Cleveland State.

* Player to watch: Mark Ashman. The 6-10 senior center averages 13 points and six rebounds.

* Tidbit: You can forgive ESPN’s Dan Patrick for saying Dayton is “en fuego.” Patrick is a Dayton grad.

* NCAA bio: UCLA fans won’t forget that Dayton, in the 1974 regional semifinals, nearly ended the Bruins’ remarkable, seven-year NCAA tournament winning streak. It took the Bruins three overtimes to beat the Flyers, 111-100. Donald Smith hit a jump shot that would have won the game in regulation for Dayton, but Coach Don Donoher had called time out before the shot.

12. INDIANA ST. (22-9)

* First-round opponent: Texas.

* Season in brief: Won Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship and 20 games for the first time since the Larry Bird-led 1978-79 team, shocked No. 14 Indiana, 63-60, on Dec. 11, but lost to Austin Peay.

* Player to watch: Nate Green. The 6-5 senior guard was the first Indiana State player to win conference player of the year since Bird.

* Tidbit: Before 1921, the Sycamores were known as “The Fighting Teachers.”

* NCAA bio: School’s second appearance. You may remember the first, when Bird led the Sycamores to the NCAA title game before losing to Magic Johnson and Michigan State.

13. SE MISSOURI ST. (24-6)

* First-round opponent: Louisiana State.

* Season in brief: Won regular-season Ohio Valley title and conference tournament despite having no player named to the all-conference team. Started the season 5-0 before a loss to Montana.

* Player to watch: Roderick Johnson. The 6-6 senior forward averages 13 points and eight rebounds while shooting 60%.

* Tidbit: The mens’ athletic teams are nicknamed the Indians, but the women are known as the “Otahkians,” named for a Cherokee Indian who died sometime in 1838-39 on the “Trail of Tears” march from the Appalachians to Oklahoma.

* NCAA bio: First appearance.

14. WINTHROP (21-8)

* First-round opponent: Oklahoma.

* Season in brief: Earned automatic bid with a win over North Carolina-Asheville in the Big South championship game, conference’s first repeat champion since 1990 and ’91. Posted consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in 18 years, took Maryland to overtime before losing at Cole Field House.

* Player to watch: Tyson Waterman. The 6-foot senior guard is the team’s floor leader and averages 13 points.

* Tidbit: Winthrop was an all girls college until 1974 and did not have a men’s basketball team until 1978. Actress Andie MacDowell once attended the school.

* NCAA bio: Second appearance. A first-round loser to No. 1-seeded Auburn last year.

15. N. ARIZONA (20-10)

* First-round opponent: St. John’s.

* Season in brief: Won the Big Sky’s automatic bid with an 85-81 overtime win against Cal State Northridge in conference tournament final, won 20 or more games for fourth consecutive season, has had the most successful stretch in the 90-year history of the program by winning 14 of its last 15 games.

* Player to watch: Ross Land. The 6-5 senior guard holds the conference record for career three-point baskets.

* Tidbit: The Lumberjacks were 12th in the nation in three-point shooting percentage (39.4%) after leading the three previous seasons. Their motto is “Recruit to Shoot.”

* NCAA bio: School’s second trip. In 1998, as the No. 15-seeded team in the West, the Lumberjacks took Cincinnati to the wire before losing, 65-62.

16. JACKSON ST. (17-15)

* First-round opponent: Arizona.

* Season in brief: Beat Southern in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament final to earn an automatic NCAA bid, finished fourth in the regular season, upset No. 1-seeded Alcorn State in semifinals.

* Player to watch: Vincent Jones. The 6-11 senior center averages 13 points and seven rebounds and was the SWAC defensive player of the year.

* Tidbit: Coach Andy Stoglin may have saved his job by getting into the NCAA tournament. Jackson State was only 14-15 in the regular season.

* NCAA bio: Stoglin has led the school to all three of its NCAA appearances, the last in 1997, when the Tigers were first-round losers to Kansas.