THE TIMES’ RANKINGS TOP 25

No. School (Record): Comment

1. North Carolina (30-3): “Remember Fairfield.”

2. Duke (29-3): Can win NCAA title, just not against UNC.

3. Arizona (27-4): Struggled at end of last Pac-10 season too.

4. Kansas (34-3): Weak Big 12 competition hurts in postseason.

5. Connecticut (29-4): First, North Carolina took the Whalers. . . .

6. Kentucky (29-4): Recovered from earlier trouble.

7. Michigan (24-8): “Tractor” Traylor in overdrive.

8. Stanford (26-4): Can’t face Arizona till Final Four.

9. Cincinnati (26-5): Strong-willed, battle-scarred team.

10. Utah (25-3): WAC tournament loss a bad sign.

11. Purdue (26-7): Needs Cornell to heal.

12. Princeton (26-1): Moment of truth is now.

13. South Carolina (23-7): Still not close to Kentucky.

14. Mississippi (22-6): Not too bad a draw.

15. Maryland (19-10): Decent path until Arizona.

16. UCLA (22-8): Last chance to be as good as it can be.

17. Arkansas (23-8): Nolan Richardson tries again.

18. Clemson (18-13): Chance to redeem season.

19. Michigan State (20-7): Looking very shaky.

20. TCU (27-5): Century mark tougher in tournament.

21. Temple (21-8): Matchup zone hard for uninitiated.

22. Oklahoma State (21-6): Can’t outrun Duke in second round.

23. St. John’s (22-9): Felipe’s first fling at NCAAs.

24. Syracuse (24-8): Etan’s the Intimidator.

25. Murray State (29-3): NCAA joke at Harrick’s expense.