COLLEGE BASKETBALL : TEAM-BY-TEAM LOOK AT NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : MIDWEST REGIONAL

OHIO STATE

* Record: 25-3. Seeding: 1.

* Coach: Randy Ayers.

* Key player: No contest--Jimmy Jackson. Jackson is the best clutch player in the country and certainly one of the most versatile. With all due respect to Shaquille O’Neal, Larry Johnson, Eric Murdock, Kenny Anderson and Billy Owens, Jackson--who can play guard or forward--might be the player of the year.

* Little-known fact: Ohio State could be just as good next season. The Buckeyes lose senior starters Treg Lee and Perry Carter, but gain the troubled Lawrence Funderburke.

* Outlook: Rosy. The Buckeyes are used to close finishes, pressure games and national telecasts.

DUKE

* Record: 26-7. Seeding: 2.

* Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.

* Key player: This is point guard Bobby Hurley’s team and everyone knows it. As Hurley goes, so do the Blue Devils.

* Little-known fact: The coach who cut Hurley from the U.S. National team this summer was . . . Krzyzewski.

* Outlook: Excellent. The Blue Devils play as one, which is fun to watch. With Hurley, center Christian Laettner and star freshman Grant Hill, Duke could make its fifth Final Four appearance in six years.

NEBRASKA

* Record: 26-7. Seeding: 3.

* Coach: Danny Nee.

* Key player: Who knows? Nee relies on his bench so much that it’s hard to choose only one player. Rich King, a 7-2 senior center, earns attention simply because of his size and his notable play during the Big Eight tournament.

* Little-known fact: Nee was a high school teammate of Lew Alcindor at Power Memorial in Manhattan.

* Outlook: The Cornhuskers have plenty of depth, but do they have enough talent--especially in the backcourt--to work their way into championship contention? Probably not.

ST. JOHN’S

* Record: 20-8. Seeding: 4.

* Coach: Lou Carnesecca

* Key player: Malik Sealy, forward. The junior from the Bronx is easily among the best forwards in the country. Carnesecca, no dummy, has built his team around Sealy’s offensive strengths, which are many.

* Little-known fact: Carnesecca’s favorite insult: “I’ve known you 20 years and you’re still wearing the same suit.”

* Outlook: St. John’s has been up and down all season. Why should it be any different come tournament time?

TEXAS

* Record: 22-8. Seeding: 5.

* Coach: Tom Penders.

* Key Player: Joey Wright, guard. The Longhorns would be lost without Wright, who runs this team as if it were his, not Penders’.

* Little-known fact: Penders played two years in the Cleveland Indians organization. An injury forced him out of the game. Good career move.

* Outlook: The Longhorns upset Arkansas near season’s end, so you know they can play with just about anybody. Overshadowed by the Razorbacks during the regular season, Texas could come into its own in the NCAAs.

LOUISIANA STATE

* Record: 20-9. Seeding: 6.

* Coach: Dale Brown.

* Key player: Who else but center Shaquille O’Neal. A scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking machine. When healthy, O’Neal has no peer.

* Little-known fact: The eloquent but always opinionated Brown actually had to quit talking for 48 hours in mid-February--doctors orders. The silence was deafening.

* Outlook: With O’Neal in the lineup, the Tigers are given a chance of beating UNLV. Without him, LSU becomes an above-average team. The severity of O’Neal’s hairline leg fracture will determine how far this team goes.

IOWA

* Record: 20-10. Seeding: 7.

* Coach: Tom Davis.

* Key player: Guard James Moses is the team’s best scoring threat. A total player, he isn’t, but Moses is an excellent perimeter shooter who gets all sorts of help from an offense designed to set plenty of screens and picks.

* Little-known fact: In many preseason polls, the only team picked to have a worst Big Ten season than Iowa was Northwestern. The experts were half right.

* Outlook: The Hawkeyes have Moses and Acie Earl, who became one of the conference better centers this season as a sophomore (he ranked eighth in the nation in shot blocking). Is that enough? Doubtful. Then again, no one figured the Hawkeyes to make it to the tournament.

GEORGIA TECH

* Record: 16-12. Seeding: 8.

* Coach: Bobby Cremins.

* Key player: This is Kenny Anderson’s farewell tour. Only a sophomore, the ultra-talented point guard has said this is probably his last season with the Yellow Jackets. Anderson single-handedly carried a good, but not especially memorable team into the tournament. Critics said he tried to do too much this season. The logical response: He didn’t have a choice. Simply put, Anderson is a once-in-a-lifetime talent.

* Little-known fact: Georgia Tech has been to the NCAA tournament eight times. Seven of those teams have been coached by Cremins.

* Outlook: Tech fans will point to victories against Arizona and North Carolina State. But a late-season collapse saw the Yellow Jackets lose three consecutive games.

DePAUL

* Record: 20-8. Seeding: 9.

* Coach: Joey Meyer.

* Key player: If you want to stop DePaul, you have to stop forward David Booth, who averages 19.2 points. A junior, Booth can score off the dribble or hit the jump shot. He is also a feared shot blocker.

* Little-known fact: The Blue Demons join the Great Midwest Conference next season.

* Outlook: Not so long ago, DePaul’s chances of making the tournament were slim, at best. Meyer’s team would play well one game, lousy the next. But during the latter stages of the season, something clicked. Now, don’t be shocked if DePaul actually makes a mini-run of sorts.

EAST TENNESSEE STATE

* Record: 28-4. Seeding: 10.

* Coach: Alan LeForce.

* Key player: Keith (Mister) Jennings--who else? Only 5-7, Jennings is an assist man extraordinaire, an accomplished shooter and a good defensive player, despite his height.

* Little-known fact: The Buccaneers won 28 games without Greg Dennis, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder during his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. A foot injury caused him to miss this season.

* Outlook: With Dennis, ETSU would have been considered the sleeper of the tournament. Now the Buccaneers have to rely on Jennings for almost everything, especially since guard Calvin Talford recently injured his knee. East Tennessee is struggling.

CONNECTICUT

* Record: 18-10. Seeding: 11.

* Coach: Jim Calhoun.

* Key player: Chris Smith, guard. Smith was asked to do a lot of things this season, and for the most part, he delivered. At times, he struggled at point guard, which was a little surprising. With that said, Smith is a terrific offensive and defensive player. Few people can guard him and he isn’t afraid to take crucial shots.

* Little-known fact: Forward Scott Burrell spent the summer as a Toronto Blue Jays minor league pitcher.

* Outlook: Calhoun is an excellent coach who, when given a few days to prepare, usually comes away with a victory. So that takes care of the first round. After that, the Huskies need to duplicate some of the magic of 1990, when they came this close to advancing to the Final Four. Without Tate George and Nadav Henefeld, two standouts from last season’s team, it could be next to impossible.

ST. PETER’S

* Record: 24-6. Seeding: 12.

* Coach: Ted Fiore

* Key Player: Marvin Andrews, guard. Andrews was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference MVP as the Peacocks captured their first NCAA invitation. Known primarily as a defensive specialist, Andrews can chip in as an offensive threat, too. Witness the 13 points he scored against Iona in the conference tournament title game.

* Little-known fact: St. Peter’s is among the nation’s leaders in team scoring defense, allowing about 64 points a game.

* Outlook: One game and goodby.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

* Record: 25-5. Seeding: 13.

* Coach: Jim Molinari.

* Key player: Donnell Thomas, senior forward. Thomas leads the team in scoring (16.8 points a game) and rebounding (8.1 a game). Those familiar with Northern Illinois say that Thomas is a college version of Charles Barkley.

* Little-known fact: Four of the five starters are seniors.

* Outlook: Northern Illinois isn’t flashy, but it does play great defense. NIU is ranked second in the country in fewest points allowed per game (56.9) and opponents only shoot an average of 38.5% from the floor. A tournament victory still remains a longshot, though.

XAVIER (OHIO)

* Record: 21-9. Seeding: 14.

* Coach: Pete Gillen

* Key player: The Musketeers rely on point guard Jamal Walker for much of their offense. He is a nifty scorer and can take control of a game when necessary. A very underrated player.

* Little-known fact: The Virginia head coaching job was Gillen’s for the taking. He turned it down.

* Outlook: This was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding season for the Musketeers. Instead, they won the regular-season Midwestern Collegiate Conference championship, their fourth in the last six years. Last season, they made it all the way to the Sweet 16. They should be so lucky this time. The Musketeers have no inside game.

NORTHEAST LOUISIANA

* Record: 25-7. Seeding: 15.

* Coach: Mike Vining.

* Key player: Guard Anthony Jones deserves the most attention because of his knack of playing well against quality opponents. Southern Mississippi and Arkansas can attest to Jones’ ability to score against anyone. An exciting player to watch.

* Little-known fact: How happy were Northeast Louisiana fans when the Indians won a play-in against Florida A&M; to advance to the NCAA tournament? They stormed the floor.

* Outlook: Jones and Carlos Funchess will dazzle. As for the rest of the lineup. . . . If nothing else, Northeast Louisiana has a decent chance of doing what it couldn’t do last season: win a first-round game.

TOWSON STATE

* Record: 19-10. Seeding: 16.

* Coach: Terry Truax.

* Key Player: Point guard Devin Boyd, the lone returning starter from last season’s 18-13 team, is the guy to watch. He can score and dish out assists with equal ease. Boyd helped lead the Tigers, a team that wasn’t supposed to win half its games, into the NCAA tournament.

* Little-known fact: Towson State is in Maryland.

* Outlook: Towson State is accustomed to playing big-time schools, which might come in handy once the tournament begins. The Tigers faced Dayton, Maryland, Syracuse, Alabama and Virginia this season. They lost all five games.