WEST REGIONAL

1. KENTUCKY (30-4)

* First-round opponent: Montana.

* Season in brief: After losing their opener in overtime to Clemson, the Wildcats won 16 in a row and appeared an even bet to defend their national title until star guard Derek Anderson was lost in January because of season-ending knee surgery. Despite two Southeastern Conference losses to South Carolina, Kentucky proved it could play with anyone in a blowout of Villanova on Feb. 9.

* Player to watch: Ron Mercer is the star, but Anthony Epps is the unsung point guard who selflessly managed Kentucky’s title run last year.

* Tidbit: Coach Rick Pitino started his career as a University of Hawaii assistant in 1975-76.

* NCAA bio: Won sixth national title last season, the first for Pitino. The Wildcats lost four starters, redshirted guard Jeff Sheppard, lost Anderson to injury and still had enough talent to get a No. 1 tournament seeding. With Anderson, the SEC’s leading scorer when he went down, Kentucky had a legitimate shot to repeat. Now, a Final Four berth would be a crowning achievement.

2. UTAH (26-3)

* First-round opponent: Navy.

* Season in brief: A consistent top-10 team despite losing its two most important nonconference games, against Arizona in the John Wooden Classic and at home against Wake Forest. Utes also were pounded at the Pit, losing by 17 at New Mexico.

* Player to watch: Senior forward Keith Van Horn is the obvious choice, but Coach Rick Majerus can’t stop talking down the stretch about all the little things senior guard Ben Caton does to make the team better.

* Tidbit: Majerus, who is never going to be confused with Hugh Hefner, was named Playboy’s Coach of the year in 1992.

* NCAA bio: Twenty-nine-point losers to Kentucky in last year’s Midwest Regional semifinals. The Utes have one of the nation’s top five players in Van Horn and motivation. Utah is a Sweet 16 team, maybe more with a lucky bounce.

3. WAKE FOREST (23-6)

* First-round opponent: St. Mary’s.

* Season in brief: Thanked the basketball gods that center Tim Duncan returned for his senior season. Demon Deacons beat Utah in an otherwise weak nonconference schedule, but held their own in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference. They became truly imposing when 7-footer Loren Woods joined Duncan in the front court during conference play. Had a fluke loss to North Carolina State on a bad official’s ruling.

* Player to watch: Duncan is college basketball’s best player, but junior guard Tony Rutland will be the key to any Final Four hopes.

* Tidbit: Duncan did not play organized basketball until the ninth grade.

* NCAA bio: With Rutland injured in last year’s ACC tournament, Wake rode Duncan to the Midwest Regional final before a 20-point loss to Kentucky. Rutland is still not 100%, and Wake Forest did not look invincible down the stretch.

4. ST. JOSEPH’S (24-6)

* First-round opponent: Pacific.

* Season in brief: After reaching last year’s NIT title game, the team struggled to a 3-3 start but finished fast after two conference losses to Temple to get a high regional seeding. The Hawks were known as “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight,” but had to drop the name after making 16 three-point shots against Temple.

* Player to watch: Rashid Bey, a junior point guard, is the only legitimate star on the roster, a player with incredible dribbling skills.

* Tidbit: After Arizona canceled a game against St. Joseph’s last year, citing “bad weather,” Coach Phil Martelli quipped of Lute Olson: “He recruits McDonald’s All-America’s. I recruit guys who eat at McDonald’s.”

* NCAA bio: The Hawks made their first NCAA tournament since 1986 with an anonymous, team-oriented work ethic. They play great defense. The talent level isn’t quite there, though.

5. BOSTON COLLEGE (21-8)

* First-round opponent: Valparaiso.

* Season in brief: Coach Jim O’Brien fought off early season reports that he was going to resign under protest over a beef with the administration over incoming recruits. The Eagles were only 5-5 in January and struggled to beat Fairfield in overtime.

* Player to watch: Danya Abrams. The 6-7 senior was only returning first-team All-Big East selection, averaging 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds a game.

* Tidbit: Boston College won the first game in Big East history, 82-61, over Seton Hall on Dec. 11, 1979.

* NCAA bio: Beat Indiana in last year’s first round before losing to Georgia Tech and made the round of eight in 1994 before losing to Florida.

6. STANFORD (20-7)

* First-round opponent: Oklahoma.

* Season in brief: The early season was marked by loss to College of Charleston, then followed by seven consecutive victories. Things were going as scheduled in the Pac-10 until the Cardinal unraveled in a three-game losing streak to California, UCLA and USC, effectively eliminating the team from title contention.

* Player to watch: Brevin Knight is the best point guard west of Jacque Vaughn and the type that can give a team fits in the tournament.

* Tidbit: Team lost four starters from last year’s NCAA team, accounting for 56.9% of its scoring.

* NCAA bio: Played Massachusetts tough in second-round loss last year. The guard-center combination of Knight and sophomore Tim Young is effective when Young is healthy. Cardinal has a nice group of perimeter shooters, but has often been unable to handle Knight’s brilliant passes.

7. UNC CHARLOTTE (21-8)

* First-round opponent: Georgetown.

* Season in brief: Melvin Watkins turned in a masterful first-year performance after 18 years as a Charlotte assistant. A lukewarm nonconference schedule hurt the 49ers’ power ranking, as they lost to both USCs--South Carolina and Southern California. They lost to Tulane, Cincinnati and Louisville in Conference USA but got hot near the end.

* Player to watch: DeMarco Johnson. The 6-8 junior forward averaged 19.6 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.

* Tidbit: This is the 20th anniversary of UNC’s Final Four season in which it lost to eventual national champion, Marquette, 51-49, in the semifinals.

* NCAA bio: The 49ers have no chance of repeating their Final Four trip of 1977. They are a so-so team that lost most of its important games this season. The NIT would have been a better fit.

8. IOWA (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Virginia.

* Season in brief: Lost the Big One--the intrastate game with Iowa State--but how about that victory over Cal State Northridge? Hawkeyes appeared on life-support after losing three consecutive conference games by a total of four points, but held serve against Michigan on Feb. 20 in an important NCAA decider.

* Player to watch: Andre Woolridge. The senior guard is a great floor leader who had to pick up some of the scoring slack this season with loss of Chris Kingsbury (turned pro, bad move) and injury-marred Jess Settles (came back, bad move).

* Tidbit: Since 1988, Iowa has played in five NCAA tournaments and lost in the second round each time.

* NCAA bio: Office poolers, note the tournament trend. Iowa is a smart first-round choice but a bust after that. Looks like another second-round exit here.

9. VIRGINIA (18-12)

* First-round opponent: Iowa.

* Season in brief: The Cavaliers sneak into the field despite finishing 7-9 in the conference and losing its first ACC tournament game. Virginia scored key nonconference victories against South Carolina and Massachusetts and split with North Carolina in the conference.

* Player to watch: Harold Deane. The 6-2 senior guard is a dynamic player when healthy, but he limped painfully through the ACC tournament loss to North Carolina on a “stress reaction” leg injury that has plagued him all season.

* Tidbit: Coach Jeff Jones set school single-season assist record in 1979-80 while playing for Terry Holland, now Virginia’s athletic director and chairman of the NCAA tournament selection committee.

* NCAA bio: Missed the tournament last year after three consecutive appearances.

10. GEORGETOWN (20-9)

* First-round opponent: UNC Charlotte.

* Season in brief: Won the Big East 7 regular-season title. The Hoyas beat Massachusetts in December but also lost to Pacific by 17. Rebounded from a 4-5 January to go 6-1 in February.

* Player to watch: Victor Page. The 6-3 sophomore guard picked up where Allen Iverson left off, leading the conference with a 22.8-point scoring average.

* Tidbit: Page, the most valuable player of the 1996 Big East tournament, was the first freshman to win the award.

* NCAA bio: Coach John Thompson brings a 34-18 record into his 20th tournament. Hoyas won the title in 1984 and lost to Massachusetts in last year’s East Regional final.

11. OKLAHOMA (19-10)

* First-round opponent: Stanford.

* Season in brief: The Sooners won four of their last six games and came within two points and three open-shot misses from upsetting Kansas on Feb. 24 to get into the tournament. Oklahoma sweated out this bid, even though every former Big Eight team with 17 wins and a winning conference record had made the field since it expanded to 64.

* Player to watch: Nate Erdmann. The 6-5 senior guard set a single-season school record with 92 three-pointers. He averaged 20.5 points per game, third best in the Big 12.

* Tidbit: You want tough? Oklahoma Coach Kelvin Sampson had back surgery to repair a ruptured disk during the 1996 season but did not miss a game, coaching the team’s Big 12 opener four days after the operation.

* NCAA bio: Sampson is still looking for his first NCAA victory. Three years ago at Washington State, he lost to Boston College. Two years ago, his first at Oklahoma, his team lost to Manhattan. Last year, Temple beat the Sooners in the first round.

12. VALPARAISO (24-6)

* First-round opponent: Boston College.

* Season in brief: Led by the Drews, the first family of college basketball, the Crusaders had their fourth consecutive 20-victory season and earned an automatic NCAA berth by winning the Mid-Continent Conference tournament. Homer Drew is the coach, and his son Bryce is the team’s top player. Another Drew, Scott, is an assistant coach.

* Player to watch: Bryce Drew. The 6-3 junior is not playing because he’s the coach’s son. The 1994 Mr. Indiana Basketball averaged 19.7 points per game and also had 141 assists.

* Tidbit: Dana Drew, the family’s only daughter, once held the women’s all-time scoring record at Toledo.

* NCAA bio: The Crusaders are hoping their second NCAA trip is better than their first. Last year, Valparaiso lost its first-round game to Arizona, 90-51.

13. PACIFIC (24-5)

* First-round opponent: St. Joseph’s.

* Season in brief: Won 16 consecutive games after a season-opening loss to Fresno State and nearly cracked the AP Top 25. Consecutive conference losses to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo meant the Tigers had to win the Big West tournament to advance. The nonconference schedule looked softer because once-strong programs such Brigham Young and Pepperdine werelousy.

* Player to watch: Michael Olowokandi. The 7-foot junior center from London, known as “The Kandi Man,” did not play organized basketball in high school but has developed into an effective post player.

* Tidbit: Olowokandi received a tryout from UOP after he randomly phoned the school from London and told an assistant coach he was seven feet tall.

* NCAA bio: Pacific returns to the tournament for the first time since Stan Morrison led the Tigers in 1979. Bob Thomason has done an outstanding job with an overachieving team, but probably doesn’t have enough muscle to much of an NCAA stand.

14. ST. MARY’S (23-7)

* First-round opponent: Wake Forest.

* Season in brief: The Gaels ended the season with a nine-game winning streak that concluded with the West Coast Conference tournament title.

* Player to watch: Brad Millard. The 7-3, 345-pound sophomore center scored a career-high 22 points in WCC title-game victory over San Francisco. Gonzaga Coach Dan Fitzgerald once remarked of Millard: “The son-of-a-gun’s big enough to eat hay.” Millard is much improved after attending Pete Newell’s Big Man camp.

* Tidbit: In 1959, St. Mary’s lost a second-round NCAA game to Newell’s national championship California team.

* NCAA bio: This is only the Gaels’ third NCAA appearance. St. Mary’s won a first-round game against Idaho State in 1959 and went out in the first round against Clemson in 1989.

15. NAVY (20-8)

* First-round opponent: Utah.

* Season in brief: Fifth-year Coach Don DeVoe has rekindled the days of David Robinson in leading Navy to prominence. The Midshipmen earned the Patriot League’s automatic berth by beating Bucknell in the conference tournament.

* Player to watch: Hassan Booker. The 6-3 junior is, yes, a power forward, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game with a style that would make Charles Barkley proud.

* Tidbit: Booker is one of five Navy players from Los Angeles, all recruited by assistant coach Doug Wojcik. Booker is from South Central, the son of a Highway Patrol officer.

* NCAA bio: This is Navy’s 10th tournament, the first since 1994, when the Midshipmen were blown out in the first round by Missouri.

16. MONTANA (21-10)

* First-round opponent: Kentucky.

* Season in brief: The Grizzlies wrecked a local NCAA dream by beating Cal State Northridge in the Big Sky tournament title game. Montana has extended its streak of winning seasons to 20.

* Player to watch: Ryan Dick, a 6-7 junior forward, had 21 points and 11 rebounds against Northridge.

* Tidbit: In 1975, John Wooden’s last season, UCLA struggled to beat Jud Heathcote-coached Montana, 69-63, in the West Regional semifinal. The game helped Heathcote get hired at Michigan State, where he signed a recruit named Ervin Johnson and won the NCAA title in 1979.

* NCAA bio: This is the Grizzlies’ fourth trip but the first since 1992, when they were first-round losers to Florida State.