SOUTHEAST REGIONAL

1. KANSAS (32-1)

* First-round opponent: Jackson State.

* Season in brief: The Jayhawks weathered significant injuries to two standouts--guard Jacque Vaughn and center Scot Pollard--to establish themselves as the class of the nation. In nonconference games, Kansas waxed California, Virginia, Cincinnati, UCLA and George Washington before doing similar damage in the Big 12. It took double-overtime for Missouri to snap the Jayhawk winning streak at 22.

* Player to watch: Vaughn, the senior point guard, is the key to Kansas winning the title. He’ll have to control tempo and break down defenses with his quickness.

* Tidbit: Roy Williams has won at least 25 games each season since 1988-89.

* NCAA bio: Won national titles with Phog Allen in 1952 and Larry Brown in ’88. This is the year Williams gets his. Kansas has the same kind of talent Kentucky used to run the NCAA field last season. No team is deeper and can match the Jayhawks’ Scot Pollard and Raef LaFrentz.

2. DUKE (23-8)

* First-round opponent: Murray State.

* Season in brief: Rebounded from last year’s disappointing NCAA first-round loss with a spectacular season under Mike Krzyzewski, who mixed up his deep lineup masterfully and boldly. The turning point was going “small” in a victory at No. 2 Wake Forest, defeating the Demon Deacons’ huge front line by sitting down center Greg Newton and relying on quickness and outside shooting.

* Player to watch: Steve Wojciechowski was the biggest question mark entering the season, but the scrappy junior point guard has exceeded expectations with his defensive tenacity and three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.

* Tidbit: Duke became the fifth school with 1,500 victories in basketball this season, joining Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and St. John’s.

* NCAA bio: Seven Final Four appearances in nine years, including titles in 1991 and ’92. An interesting team, making up for its lack of inside bulk with depth and skill on the perimeter. Trajan Langdon has the best-looking shot in basketball.

3. GEORGIA (24-8)

* First-round opponent: Tennessee Chattanooga.

* Season in brief: Tubby Smith did a great job molding a team that lost eight seniors and five starters into a tournament contender. Georgia defeated South Carolina twice as well as Colorado, Maryland and Memphis.

* Player to watch: G.G. Smith, a sophomore guard contributes valuable minutes and never talks back to the coach--his father.

* Tidbit: Georgia lost its two exhibition games, to Marathon Oil and Australia.

* NCAA bio: Smith has made three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, two with Tulsa, but returns with an untested team. The Bulldogs do have depth and balance.

4. ARIZONA (19-9)

* First-round opponent: South Alabama.

* Season in brief: Without Miles Simon, the Wildcats stunned North Carolina while unveiling freshman Mike Bibby, college basketball’s point guard of the future. Arizona’s only nonconference losses were to New Mexico and at Michigan in overtime, but the Wildcats stumbled in conference play, being swept in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, losing at Washington and to UCLA at home.

* Player to watch: Bibbywasn’t quite as sensational as his 22-point debut suggested, but he has the ability to control a game.

* Tidbit: Lute Olson was 24-2 in his one season at Long Beach State, in 1973-74.

* NCAA bio: Advanced to Sweet 16 last year before three-point loss to Kansas in West Regional final. A great perimeter team that can shoot its way in or out of any game. Forward Bennett Davison runs the floor like Dennis Rodman, but the Wildcats lack inside power.

5. MARYLAND (21-10)

* First-round opponent: College of Charleston.

* Season in brief: Despite losing four starters off last season’s team, the Terrapins opened the season with 11 consecutive wins before an overtime loss to Georgia. Played first nine games in state of Maryland, stumbled a bit in ACC play and took a credibility hit with a blowout loss at Massachusetts.

* Player to watch: Keith Booth, a senior forward, emerged from the shadow of Joe Smith and Johnny Rhodes to become an ACC standout.

* Tidbit: Joe Smith, had he not opted for the NBA two years ago, would have been a senior this season.

* NCAA bio: First-round loser to Santa Clara last year. Booth is super, but the Terrapins had some serious late-season lapses that make them a tournament question mark.

6. ILLINOIS (21-9)

* First-round opponent: USC.

* Season in brief: Crept out of nowhere in the conference under first-year Coach Lon Kruger, who did what the Illini could not do last season in Lou Henson’s swan song: make the NCAA tournament with standout guard Kiwane Garris. Illinois was a first-round NIT casualty. Nonconference notes include losses to Louisville and California but a 16-point December rout of UCLA.

* Player to watch: Garris shoots a lot for a point guard, but is an explosive scorer who can handle the ball and pass.

* Tidbit: The school has the nation’s largest fraternity and sorority system, and the baseball coach is Richard “Itch” Jones.

* NCAA bio: The Illini made 12 trips under Henson from 1981 to 1995, reaching the Final Four in 1989. If Garris gets hot, the Illini may be good for a round or two.

7. MARQUETTE (22-8)

* First-round opponent: Providence.

* Season in brief: The Golden Eagles needed a strong showing in the Conference USA Tournament to make the NCAA and responded with a four-game sweep to take the league’s automatic berth. Marquette’s season was in peril less than a month ago, when it lost four in a row, including a nonconference game against Maine.

* Player to watch: Aaron Hutchins, a 5-10 junior guard was the Conference USA tournament MVP, scoring 16 points in the final against UNC Charlotte while playing without backcourt partner Anthony Pieper, injured in the team’s semifinal victory over top-seeded Cincinnati.

* Tidbit: Twenty years ago --March 28, 1977--Al McGuire’s Marquette team defeated North Carolina to win the national championship.

* NCAA bio: The 21st appearance for Marquette. Last season, the Golden Eagles beat Monmouth in the first round before losing to Arkansas.

8. PURDUE (17-11)

* First-round opponent: Rhode Island.

* Season in brief: Left for dead in West Lafayette, Gene Keady’s team awoke to make a tournament charge in the last four weeks. No victory was bigger than the Boilermakers’ in overtime over Indiana in Bloomington on Chad Austin’s last-second jump shot. It completed a sweep of Indiana and probably put the Boilermakers in the tournament.

* Player to watch: Brian Cardinal, a freshman forward, has already become a crowd favorite for his fearless play, which has left his body a mass of bumps and floor burns. His nickname is “Citizen Pain.”

* Tidbit: Keady and Bob Knight have both been named Big Ten coach of the year six times.

* NCAA bio: The 11th appearance for Purdue under Keady, but no Final Fours. Keady rode a senior-led team to a No. 1 seeding last year, but is now treading into deep waters without a senior on the roster.

9. RHODE ISLAND (20-9)

* First-round opponent: Purdue.

* Season in brief: Al Skinner returned all five starters from last season’s 20-14 team but didn’t live up to expectations. The Rams lost four of six conference games after starting 5-0.

* Player to watch: Tyson Wheeler, a junior, might be the best point guard in the league, and that’s saying something in the company of Massachusetts’ Edgar Padilla and George Washington’s Shawnta Rogers.

* Tidbit: In 1993, Rhode Island upset Glenn Robinson-leds Purdue in the East Regionals.

* NCAA bio: This is the Rams’ sixth appearance since 1961. Skinner’s teams tend to blow hot and cold, but play well in March, having reached the NIT quarterfinals twice.

10. PROVIDENCE (21-11)

* First-round opponent: Marquette.

* Season in brief: Suffered a bad loss early to Middle Tennessee State and was blown out by Rhode Island in December, but had quality victories against Texas and Wisconsin.

* Player to watch: Austin Croshere, a 6-9 senior forward from Crossroads High in Santa Monica, was a unanimous first-team Big East selection, averaging 17.3 points per game. Made 93.3% of his free throws, and his streak of 57 consecutive ended in the Big East tournament.

* Tidbit: Providence coach Pete Gillen is the winningest coach at Xavier, 202-75 (.729) in nine seasons.

* NCAA bio: Considered the best team not invited to last year’s tournament, the Friars are best remembered for a 1987 Final Four run under Coach Rick Pitino. Providence last appeared in the tournament in 1994 with Coach Rick Barnes--now at Clemson--and lost in the first round to Alabama.

11. USC (17-10)

* First-round opponent: Illinois.

* Season in brief: It took Henry Bibby less than a year to turn the program into a winner and lead the Trojans into the tournament for the first time since 1992. Best nonconference victory came against UNC Charlotte. Worst nonconference loss was by 19 points at home to Cincinnati. Also defeated then-No. 6 Arizona on Jan. 16.

* Player to watch: Stais Boseman, a 6-4 senior guard, is a terrific defender who shuts down an opponent’s best offensive player.

* Tidbit: Bibby, the former UCLA star, is the only player to win a NCAA, NBA and CBA championship.

* NCAA bio: The Trojans are making their 10th appearance. In 1992, under George Raveling, USC was a second-seeded in the Midwest Regional and beat Northeast Louisiana before losing to Georgia Tech by a point.

12. CHARLESTON (28-2)

* First-round opponent: Maryland.

* Season in brief: College of Charleston is finally eligible for NCAA automatic bid in the Trans America Athletic Conference after serving out a seven-year probationary periodfollowing upgrade from the NAIA. Cougars had another great season under John Kresse, posting quality nonconference victory against Stanford, Arizona State, Drexel and Northern Illinois.

* Player to watch: Thaddeous Delaney. The 6-8 senior center is known as “Shaq of the TAAC” and a legitimate NBA prospect, ranking among TAAC leaders in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.

* Tidbit: As an NAIA school, Charleston won 25 or more games eight times in the 1980s.

* NCAA bio: The Cougars are no storybook team. They cracked the top 25 for the first time this season and are capable. Lost only NCAA appearance as at-large team to Wake Forest in 1994.

13. SOUTH ALABAMA (23-6)

* First-round opponent: Arizona.

* Season in brief: It took former Minnesota task-masker Bill Mussleman only two years to turn a sorry program into an NCAA tournament team. Mussleman’s team, playing his traditional, methodical s-l-o-o-o-w ball, earned the berth by beating Louisiana Tech in the Sun Belt championship game, 44-43.

* Player to watch: Mark Neal. The 6-7 senior from Long Beach City College is a natural power forward, although Mussleman had to play him at center in 1995-96.

* Tidbit: In 1994-95, the year before Mussleman took over, the Jaguars under Ronnie Arrow lost to Southern Utah, 140-72.

* NCAA bio: This is South Alabama’s fifth appearance, the first since 1991, when the Jaguars lost in the first round to Utah.

14. TENN. CHATTANOOGA (22-10)

* First-round opponent: Georgia.

* Season in brief: Chris Mims’ follow shot with three seconds left in overtime gave the Moccasins a 71-70 victory over Marshall in the Southern Conference title game.

* Player to watch: Johnny Taylor, a 6-8 senior forward, is an NBA prospect who has been compared to a Scottie Pippen He was the conference’s most valuable player, finishing among the leaders in scoring, rebounding, free throws and blocked shots.

* Tidbit: The Moccasins are ranked as the 131st best team in the RPI index.

* NCAA bio: Tennessee Chattanooga made consecutive NCAA trips before missing out last year with what was supposed to be Mack McCarthy’s best team. Moccasins lost by 29 points to Connecticut in ’95 tournament and by 29 to Kansas in ’94.

15. MURRAY STATE (20-9)

* First-round opponent: Duke.

* Season in brief: Wrecked Bubba Wells’ great comeback story with an overtime victory over Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference final. Racers’ Coach Mark Gottfried joins Steve Lavin as former Jim Harrick assistants who have led their schools to NCAA berths this season.

* Player to watch: Vincent Rainey, a 6-5 junior guard-forward, joined Popeye Jones as the only Racers with 1,800 points, 600 rebounds and 150 steals.

* Tidbit: Gottfried, 32, is the sixth-youngest coach in Division I, eight months older than Lavin, the fifth-youngest.

* NCAA bio: The Racers are 1-7 in the tournament, the lone victory coming in 1988 when, seeded 14th, they upset Jim Valvano’s North Carolina State team.

16. JACKSON STATE (14-15)

* First-round opponent: Kansas.

* Season in brief: Isn’t it wonderful? Another losing team has qualified for an NCAA automatic berth, this time by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Jackson State made the field by defeating Mississippi Valley State, the only school in the conference with a winning record. Jackson State has won seven in a row.

* Player to watch: Trent Pulliam, a 6-8 junior guard, is the team’s undisputed leader. He was the SWAC tournament MVP.

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* Tidbit: The last SWAC team to win a tournament game was Southern, in 1993 over Georgia Tech.

* NCAA bio: This is Jackson State’s first trip. A reminder, no No. 16 seeded team has defeated a No. 1.