WHAT TO LOOK FOR

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL

* The biggest matchup in this regional may be Indiana Coach Bob Knight versus the NCAA postgame interview coordinator. Actually, Knight has kept a low profile most of the season, as have his nondescript Hoosiers. Indiana’s perimeter-roaming Brian Evans and Boston College’s bruising Danya Abrams offer a contrast at forward.

* Georgia Tech resumes NCAA tournament play after having been snubbed by the selection committee last year. Stephon Marbury and Drew Barry deliver a 1-2 outside scoring punch that should send Austin Peay and its one-man band of Bubba Wells, the nation’s No. 2 scorer at 26.7 points a game, reeling.

* Oklahoma never seemed to fully recover from its first-round exit, courtesy of Manhattan, in last year’s tournament. The Sooners’ designated scorer, Ryan Minor, may need to borrow some pads and a helmet from the football team to survive his full-contact matchup with Temple, which is second in the nation in field-goal defense at 38.4%.

* UNC Greensboro’s Scott Hartzell had nearly twice as many three-point baskets, 72, as those from inside the arc, 38, but much of his long-range scoring figures to be in vain. Cincinnati is fifth in the nation in scoring margin at +15.6.

EAST REGIONAL

* George Washington is a study in contradictions. The Colonials are the only team to have beaten Massachusetts and one of six to have lost to La Salle. Center Alexander Koul dominated Marcus Camby but looked pitiful against Jasper van Teeseling. Guard Shawnta Rogers must cope with Iowa’s full-court pressure.

* Lute Olson knows that 500 college coaching victories or no, he will be run out of Tucson on a rail if Arizona continues a tradition of losing NCAA tournament openers, especially to, gulp, Valparaiso. Arizona has lost six first-round games since 1985. Valparaiso offers the father-son/coach-star player Homer and Bryce Drew.

* Santa Clara, you’ve got what it takes--at least in the eyes of the tournament selection committee. But the Broncos lost twice to Pepperdine, a loser of 18 games and its coach at midseason. Maryland’s master thief, Johnny Rhodes, who has 105 steals, is lying in wait for Steve Nash, who may not be the next John Stockton after all.

* Kansas blew a No. 1 regional seeding in the Big Eight tournament final loss to Iowa State, but the second-seeded Jayhawks won’t have to try too hard against South Carolina State on one of the less treacherous paths to the Final Four. South Carolina State hopes to milk the clock with talented ballhandler Rodney “Moo Moo” Blakeney.

EAST REGIONAL

* No team has made it to the Sweet 16 with more regularity the last 15 years than North Carolina, which has missed it only once. The reeling Tar Heels may not be up to the task thistime, though, as one-dimensional teams such as three-point-happy New Orleans figure to give them fits.

* Much like Larry Bird-led Indiana State in 1979, Texas Tech has a glossy record, a high ranking, no national exposure and a do-it-all forward, Jason Sasser, with a role-oriented support cast. That should be enough to advance past Northern Illinois in the first round.

* California’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim is considered the nation’s premier freshman, but New Mexico’s first-year forward Kenny Thomas wears out the baseline with an assortment of NBA-style moves. Kansas State will have its work cut out to stop Thomas.

* Georgetown and Mississippi Valley State figure to play at breakneck speed, and the Delta Devils figure to be the first ones to crack. Allen Iverson is Georgetown’s driving force, butwhen the tempo slows in the tournament, center Othella Harrington becomes a vital part of theHoyas’ attack.

MIDWEST REGIONAL

* Denny Crum put all the pieces back together to avoid what could have been a Humpty Dumpty season for Louisville. Crum has been without three starters almost the whole season and forward Samaki Walker was sidelined for 10 games because of an NCAA inquiry. Tulsa, by contrast, kept the nucleus of its consecutive Sweet 16 teams virtually intact. UCLA fans may remember the geography lesson Shea Seals gave the Bruins two years ago.

* Now that Villanova and Kerry Kittles have learned that their best route to the Final Four isn’t long distance, look for center Jason Lawson, a 60% shooter, to play a more prominent role for the Wildcats. Portland doesn’t measure up to the 6-foot-11 Lawson or the team that stunned Villanova in the first round last year, Old Dominion.

* Michigan and Texas are up-tempo dynamos that play defense only as an afterthought, with the exception of Wolverine forward Maceo Baston, whose last-second blocked shots preserved two early-season victories. Texas guard Reggie Freeman, who averages 22.8 points on 20 shots a game, will keep firing.

* Wake Forest and center Tim Duncan should continue to stand tall against Northeast Louisiana, but the Demon Deacons will need a sound Tony Rutland, who has a sore ankle, to make an extended tournament run.