COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENTS : Sun Devils With Powers That Be : Men’s Southeast: If Arizona State upsets Kentucky, it gets North Carolina-Georgetown winner.

The Southeast Regional was shaping up as a black-tie reunion of traditional basketball powers until Arizona State elbowed its way in.

Is there no regard for dress codes?

“How big of underdogs are we?” Arizona State center-forward Mario Bennett wanted to know about tonight’s matchup with top-seeded Kentucky. “We worked too hard to get this far and get blown out. You will not see a blowout game.”

One couldn’t blame the Sun Devils for being a little awe-struck. The other three teams in the regional--Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgetown--have collectively made 25 Final Four appearances and won nine national championships.

Arizona State, trying to advance to its first Final Four--the school was founded in 1885--is now considered the most successful team in its state only because Arizona lost in the first round.

“Every time anyone talked about Arizona basketball, they talked about the U of A,” Bennett said. “We’ve been left out quite a bit. This is our turn to make a name for ourselves.”

First, Arizona State must wait its turn.

In today’s regional opener, No. 2-seeded North Carolina (26-5) faces No. 6 Georgetown (21-9) at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.

The Tar Heels are here because they dutifully disposed of Murray State and Iowa State in first-round games. The Hoyas are here because forward Don Reid was smart enough to anticipate teammate Allen Iverson’s airball shot and convert the last-second basket that beat Weber State.

As much as the players, this game is about the coaches, Dean Smith and John Thompson, who hold such high regard for one another they refuse to meet in regular-season games.

“Why go through that?” Smith said. “I want him to win, he wants us to win. But two can’t win. A football coach even gets ties. We don’t get ties.”

The Smith-Thompson bond was formed at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games when Thompson served as an assistant on Smith’s U.S. staff.

“I’ve got a great deal of respect for the man,” Thompson said. “Without getting mushy and turning this into an ‘I love Dean’ story, he’s just a very special person in my life.”

The teams have met only once since 1982, when Smith’s Tar Heels defeated Thompson’s Hoyas to win the NCAA championship.

On the court, the Hoyas will face the usual bumper crop of Tar Heel talent. Although North Carolina’s bench has been suspect, its starting five might be better than the Clippers’. Leading Smith’s brigade are two sophomores--6-10 center Rasheed Wallace (16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds per game) and 6-6 forward Jerry Stackhouse (19.5, 8.2).

Wallace, hobbled by an ankle sprain, pronounced he is 80-85% sound.

Stackhouse has been burdened by comparisons to former Tar Heel Michael Jordan, while Smith must answer the same old complaints--that his selfless team system does not exploit the full talents of his stars.

“We didn’t hide Jordan much,” Smith countered. “He was the national player of the year. Actually, Jerry and Rasheed, much to my surprise, were All-Americans this year. I’m sorry I hid them.”

In the late game, Kentucky (27-4) meets fifth-seeded Arizona State (24-8) in what appears a mismatch. Unlike North Carolina, Kentucky’s bench runs deep. Coach Rick Pitino’s intense pressure defense and free substitution style have been wreaking havoc all season. The Wildcats’ four losses have been by a total of 10 points.

The Sun Devils are as loose as their goose-faced, rumpled-looking coach, Bill Frieder.

“We’re probably the craziest team in the country off the court,” said Bennett, whose stellar play has earned him the nickname “Super Mario.”

“Our coach is the same way.”

Frieder opened Tuesday’s news conference playfully baiting an NCAA tournament host, an obvious dig at Indiana Coach Bob Knight’s tirade last week after his Hoosiers were bounced out of the West Regional.

Then, Frieder asked if it was against NCAA rules to have his hair cut during the news conference.

Pitino wasn’t buying any of Frieder’s sandbagging.

“This is no Cinderella team,” Pitino said of Arizona State.

Pitino said the Sun Devils, led by Bennett and Ron Riley, are the quickest team he has seen this year and his team’s only advantage will be depth.