TODAY’S GAMES : Rick Pitino Returning to Old Kentucky Home

No school has participated in more NCAA basketball tournaments than Kentucky.

When the Wildcats take the court against Old Dominion today in the opening round of the East Regional at Worcester, Mass., it will be the 34th tournament appearance for a program that is second only to UCLA in national championships.

Coach Rick Pitino has led Kentucky back for a chance at another national title after two years of probation that followed a year ruined by allegations, investigations and violations.

“We were rebuilding everything--an image, a team, a different spirit among the fans,” Pitino said. “That doesn’t take away from the great tradition Kentucky has.”

Kentucky (26-6) has won 11 of its last 12 games, including three in the Southeastern Conference tournament. Old Dominion (15-14), the Colonial Athletic Assn. champion, has the worst record in the 64-team field.

“Everyone’s excited to be here because very few of us have had the experience of playing in the NCAA tournament,” Kentucky senior John Pelphrey said. “This team understands we don’t just want to be in the tournament, we want to do well.”

In other East games, North Carolina Charlotte (23-8), the Metro Conference champion, meets Iowa State (20-12), one of six Big Eight Conference teams in the tournament; Atlantic 10 champion Massachusetts (28-4), playing only 30 minutes from its campus, takes on Patriot League champion Fordham (18-12) and Big East champion Syracuse (21-9) faces Ivy League champion Princeton (22-5).

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Kansas begins its quest for a return to the Final Four when the Jayhawks (26-4) meet Howard (17-13) at Dayton, Ohio. The Jayhawks lost to Duke in last year’s championship game.

Delaware (27-3), riding a 20-game winning streak, makes its tournament debut against Cincinnati (25-4).

Michigan State (21-7) plays Southwest Missouri State (23-7), which has not allowed more than 75 points in a game this season.

Evansville (24-5), winner of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament, faces Texas El Paso (25-6), which lost to Brigham Young on a half-court shot in the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament. UTEP, NCAA champion in 1966, is making its 14th tournament appearance in Coach Don Haskins’ 31 seasons.

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL

Oklahoma State (26-7) opens against Georgia Southern (25-5) at Atlanta, needing two victories to send Coach Eddie Sutton back to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., for the regional final.

Sutton was coach at Kentucky before the program unraveled in the wake of NCAA violations.

Oklahoma State, led by center Byron Houston, faces a Georgia Southern team that ranks fourth nationally in scoring with an average of 92 points a game.

St. John’s (19-10) will be seeking its fourth consecutive 20-victory season when it plays Tulane (21-8), which won its first 13 games but enters the tournament having lost six of eight.

Michigan (20-8) and its touted lineup of five freshmen meets Temple (17-12).

Arizona (24-6), which lost its final two Pacific 10 Conference games, faces East Tennessee State (23-6).

WEST REGIONAL

New Mexico State (23-7), which took the Big West Conference tournament but has not won a first-round game in five NCAA tournament appearances, goes up against DePaul (20-8) in an opener at Tempe, Ariz.

Earlier this week, Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian said New Mexico State is overmatched.

“He said we have a nice, hustling team, but he didn’t think we could play with DePaul,” said New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy, whose team has averaged 24 victories a season the last three years. “I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Say what?’ ”

Louisville (18-10), which lost in the first round of the Metro Conference tournament, plays Wake Forest (17-11) of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Oklahoma (21-8), which averages 95 points and had a victory margin of more than 13 points, meets Southwestern Louisiana (20-10).