COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENT

EAST REGIONAL

1. NORTH CAROLINA (24-6)

* First-round opponent: Fairfield.

* Season in brief: Suffered opening-game loss to Arizona, then won nine in a row before starting 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time under Coach Dean Smith. He needs one win to tie Adolph Rupp’s all-time record of 876.

* Player to watch: Player to watch: Antawn Jamison. The sophomore forward is arguably the best player in the ACC and another in a long line of Tar Heels with NBA skills.

* Tidbit: The last time the Tar Heels failed to make the NCAA tournament was 1973-74.

* NCAA bio: Storied tradition, highlighted under Smith with titles in 1982 and ’93. One can only wonder how far ‘Heels could have gone this year had Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse remained in school. As it is, Smith has another great team.

2. SOUTH CAROLINA (24-7)

* First-round opponent: Coppin State.

* Season in brief: After stocking his roster with 10 players from the state, Eddie Fogler’s Gamecocks started slowly, losing three in a row in December, but rallied to go 11-0 in Southeastern Conference play before losing to Georgia. The Gamecocks beat Kentucky twice.

* Players to watch: Larry Davis, BJ McKie and Melvin Watson emerged as the nation’s finest guard trio. Davis is the scorer, McKie the most versatile and Watson the best penetrator.

* Tidbit: The school’s all-time leading scorer is Alex English.

* NCAA bio: Last appearance was 1989. Frank McGuire-coached teams made four trips in early ‘70s. The Gamecocks’ three-guard alignment is in vogue. UMass used the strategy to turn around its season. Any team with great guard play is a threat in the tournament.

3. NEW MEXICO (24-7)

* First-round opponent: Old Dominion.

* Season in brief: If the Lobos could play every game at the Pit, they would cruise to the national title. The team set a school record for consecutive home wins, but didn’t fare nearly as well on the road, losing at Texas Tech, Hawaii and Texas Christian.

* Player to watch: Sophomore center Kenny Thomas got most of the preseason publicity because of his eligibility fight with the NCAA, but the standout is senior guard Charles Smith, a great one-on-one player who averages 18 points a game and makes 40% of his three-point shots.

* Tidbit: New Mexico Coach Dave Bliss was an assistant under Bobby Knight at Army (two years) and Indiana (four years).

* NCAA bio: Fourth trip under Bliss. Lobos were second-round losers last season to Georgetown. New Mexico is a great home team, but the NCAA doesn’t let you bring your court.

4. VILLANOVA (23-9)

* First-round opponent: Long Island University.

* Season in brief: Won the Big East 6 regular season title with a 12-6 record. It looked like a season on the brink when the Wildcats lost to Kentucky by 37 points at Rupp Arena and then lost to Pittsburgh. Best nonconference victory was 81-65 over St. Joseph’s in December.

* Player to watch: Tim Thomas. The 6-9 forward made the conference’s all-freshman team, but needs to assume a more aggressive role in the tournament.

* Tidbit: As a youth, Thomas used to drink a large cup of coffee every day because he thought it would stunt his growth. Thomas did not want to be bigger than his classmates.

* NCAA bio: Won the national championship with Rollie Massimino’s team of 1985, but were disappointments in last two tournaments. Lost to Old Dominion in first round two years ago and in last year’s second round to Louisville.

5. CALIFORNIA (21-8)

* First-round opponent: Princeton.

* Season in brief: First-year Coach Ben Braun inherited a mess from deposed Todd Bozeman. Underclassmenstandouts Tremaine Fowlkes and Shareef Abdur-Rahim were long gone, but Braun somehow melded a senior-led team into a potential NCAA sleeper until guard Ed Gray, the Pacific 10’s leading scorer, broke his leg.

* Player to watch: Tony Gonzalez. The 6-6 senior forward, a certain first-round NFL pick as a tight end, has to pick up his offensive game if the Bears are to survive.

* Tidbit: Braun’s Eastern Michigan team upset Duke in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

* NCAA bio: A first-round loser to Iowa State last season. Won national championship under Pete Newell in 1959. Cal might have made a mark in the tournament if Gray was in the lineup. Without him, the Bears will be fortunate to make the second round.

6. LOUISVILLE (23-8)

* First-round opponent: Massachusetts.

* Season in brief: Denny Crum’s team escaped serious NCAA sanctions in the Samaki Walker case and seemed to be buoyed by the reprieve, putting together a surprising top-20 team despite serious questions entering the season. Louisville was a downright amazing until three consecutive losses in February: to Temple, St. Louis and Memphis.

* Player to watch: DeJuan Wheat. The 6-foot senior became the first Cardinal to have 2,000 points and 400 assists and might be, apologies to Jacque Vaughn and Brevin Knight, the best guard in the country.

* Tidbit: Crum ranks fourth in NCAA tournament victories with 39.

* NCAA bio: National titles in 1980 and ’86. Crum may have done a better coaching job this season than last, when he took a so-so team to the Sweet 16. He is almost a cinch to take this team beyond the first round--he’s 16-4 in opening NCAA tournament games--and maybe further if Wheat gets hot.

7. WISCONSIN (18-9)

* First-round opponent: Texas.

* Season in brief: Inspired by Packer-mania, the Badgers under second-year Coach Dick Bennett made a fine showing with the former coach’s players. Bennett’s first recruiting class arrives next season. Wisconsin posted its first four-game winning streak in 18 years and pulled off shocking--or so it seemed--victory over Indiana

* Players to watch: Wisconsin’s bench. In the first nine conference games, the Badger reserves averaged 61.2 minutes and 13.4 points.

* Tidbit: This season team is only the eighth in the school’s 99-year basketball history with 17 or more wins.

* NCAA bio: Beat Cincinnati in 1994 first round under coach Stu Jackson before losing to Missouri. Bennett took three teams to the tournament with Wisconsin-Green Bay. Stifling defense makes Badgers a tough first-round draw.

8. INDIANA (22-10)

* First-round opponent: Colorado.

* Season in brief: Knight spent most of the season juggling, starting more than 15 different lineups as he tried to work his way around injuries to freshman center Jason Collier and junior forward Andrae Patterson. Beat Duke in November, had a great comeback win on the road at Michigan after trailing by 18 points but was also swept by Purdue.

* Player to watch: A.J. Guyton. Knight actually compared the freshman’s game-winning shot against Michigan to Keith Smart’s in Indiana lore. Guyton got hot late in the season, scoring 31 points each against Michigan and Purdue.

* Tidbit: This is the first time in Knight’s career he has gone more than three years without winning a Big Ten title.

* NCAA bio: National titles in 1976, ’81 and ’87 under Knight. Guyton and Collier are sensational freshmen, but untested in crunch time. Patterson is a great player when he wants to be, which isn’t often enough.

9. COLORADO (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Indiana.

* Season in brief: Fairytales can come true, it can happen to you, if you hire Ricardo Patton. The decision to keep Patton after he served an interim role when Joe Harrington bolted a year ago was brilliant. He should win several coach-of-the-year honors.

* Player to watch: Chauncey Billups. One of the great players in the country, a sophomore point guard who gives you 20 points, five assists and three TV highlights per game.

* Tidbit: Patton has a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

* NCAA bio: The Buffaloes’ first tourney appearance since 1969 under Coach “Sox” Walseth, when they lost first game to arch-rival Colorado State.

10. TEXAS (16-11)

* First-round opponent: Wisconsin.

* Season in brief: Tom Penders took on all comers with a brutal nonconference schedule, but continued his losing ways against ranked teams--Arizona, Utah, Kansas--until finally breaking through with a victory over No. 7 Iowa State on Feb. 19.

* Player to watch: Reggie Freeman, a senior guard, is a prolific scorer with a 22-point average.

* Tidbit: Penders played competitive softball for 15 years and was inducted into the Connecticut Fast-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame in 1989.

* NCAA bio: Beat Michigan in last season’s first round before loss to Wake Forest. Playing tough opponents is admirable, but it doesn’t mean much in a single-elimination tournament.

11. MASSACHUSETTS (19-13)

* First-round opponent: Louisville.

* Season in brief: One of the season’s best turnaround stories. Minutemen started 3-6 and were 6-9 before winning 10 of next 11 games after rookie Coach Bruiser Flint added Charlton Clarke to form a three-guard lineup that included Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla. UMass completed the comeback with a 17-point home win against No. 8 Maryland on Feb. 15, a credibility boost for UMass and the Atlantic 10 conference.

* Players to watch: Padilla and Travieso. The guards are holdovers from UMass’ Final Four team and the nation’s best guard tandem when healthy.

* Tidbit: Flint set the school record this season for victories as a rookie coach, breaking Johnny Orr’s 15-9 record in 1963-64.

* NCAA bio: Made Final Four under John Calipari last season. This season’s team hit stride after a rough start in which Padilla, Travieso and Tyrone Weeks were fighting through injuries. Not near as dominating as last year’s powerhouse, but UMass is still a dangerous NCAA opponent.

12. PRINCETON (24-3)

* First-round opponent: California.

* Season in brief: Long-time assistant Bill Carmody took over for retired Pete Carril and kept this Ivy League basketball power rolling. Princeton went 14-0 in the league. Hung tough in nonconference losses to Indiana (10 points) and North Carolina (nine points).

* Player to watch: Steve Goodrich. The 6-7 junior center has a great touch, making 70 of 94 shots (75%) during one late-season stretch.

* Tidbit: Nathan Walton, son of basketball great Bill, is a 6-7 freshman forward on this year’s team.

* NCAA bio: The Tigers return four of the five starters who pulled off last year’s first-round upset against UCLA and under Carmody still play Carril’s methodical, back-door-you-to-death style that worked so well against the Bruins.

13. LONG ISLAND UNIV. (21-8)

* First-round opponent: Villanova.

* Season in brief: The school that took a chance by signing controversial freshman Richie Parker and withstood the taunts of opposing crowds to win the Northeast Conference title with a win over Monmouth. Parker had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.

* Player to watch: Charles Jones. The 6-3 junior won the national scoring title, averaging 29.9 points.

* Tidbit: The Blackbirds were once coached by Hall of Famer Clair Bee, whose team won several NIT titles but never played in the NCAA tournament.

* NCAA bio: This is Long Island’s third tournament trip but the first since 1984, when the Blackbirds were ousted in the first round.

14. OLD DOMINION (22-10)

* First-round opponent: New Mexico.

* Season in brief: Odell Hodge’s game-winning shot in the closing seconds of overtime lifted the Monarchs to a victory over James Madison and secured the Colonial Athletic Assn. Conference’s automatic berth.

* Player to watch: Hodge, a 6-9 fifth-year senior, has twice been the CAA player of the year.

* Tidbit: Old Dominion Coach Jeff Capel is the father of Duke guard Jeff.

* NCAA bio: Two years ago, the Monarchs pulled off a first-round tournament shocker when they defeated No. 3 Villanova in three overtimes.

15. COPPIN STATE (21-8)

* First-round opponent: South Carolina.

* Season in brief: The Eagles earned the Mid-Eastern Conference’s automatic bid by defeating North Carolina A&T; in overtime in the the tournament final.

* Player to watch: Terquin Mott, a 6-8 senior forward, was the tournament MVP and is a probable NBA draft choice. Mott, a transfer from La Salle, declared himself for last year’s NBA draft but withdrew it to return for his senior season.

* Tidbit: Ron Mitchell is the runaway winner for college coach with the best nickname-- “Fang.”

* NCAA bio: This is Coppin State’s third appearance, all under Mitchell. The Eagles are 0-2 in NCAA play, losing to Syracuse in 1990 and to Cincinnati in 1993.

16. FAIRFIELD (11-18)

* First-round opponent: North Carolina.

* Season in brief: To answer your first question, the school is located in Connecticut. The Stags, seeded last, defeated Canisius to earn the Metro Atlantic Conference’s automatic bid. Fairfield is the 13th team to make the tournament with a losing record.

* Player to watch: Greg Francis, a 6-3 senior guard, was MVP of the MAAC tournament, scoring 26 points in the win over Canisius.

* Tidbit: The last 10 teams to make the NCAA tournament with below-.500 marks all were eliminated in the first round.

* NCAA bio: None. The Stags were actually favored to win the MAAC until injuries cut them down. For inspiration, the team should look to the 1955 Bradley team, the last to win an NCAA game with a losing record.