WHAT TO LOOK FOR

How they got there: The Midwest has the expected--No. 1-seeded Michigan State and No. 3-seeded Kentucky--and the others. Not just the others in that they are surprise visitors to St. Louis, but, in some ways, the other teams from their own neighborhoods.

Ohio State, which is still alive in the South, and Cincinnati, which isn’t in the East, are the powers in Ohio, not Miami of. And Oklahoma, although it beat Oklahoma State in both Big 12 meetings and had a better RPI, was still seeded four spots lower in the Midwest than the Cowboys in the South. But the Sooners got a berth at the Trans World Dome by defeating No. 4-seeded Arizona and No. 5-seeded North Carolina Charlotte. Miami made it by beating No. 7-seeded Washington and No. 2-seeded Utah.

Michigan State beat Mount St. Mary’s by 23 and Mississippi by eight. Kentucky, after beating Evansville by 21 in the first round, needed overtime to beat Kansas.

* Difference-maker: Wally Szczerbiak of Miami of Ohio. A curiosity at the start of the season as the best player you had never heard of, he has now become a star. With everything from head fakes to beating his man off the dribble to feathery fall-away jumpers, he has scored 67 of the RedHawks’ 125 points. That’s 53.6%. Sunday against Utah, he took only 11 shots, but still played a major role by making all 10 free throws, six in the final 1:29, and getting seven rebounds and five assists.

* Team updates: Michigan State’s 20-game winning streak is second-best in the nation, behind Duke’s 29. Oklahoma is only the third No. 13-seeded team to advance this far. Miami of Ohio’s second-round win was all the more impressive because its 66 points and 48% shooting came against a Utah team that allowed an average of 54.9 points--third-lowest in the nation--and 39% shooting. Kentucky is still around to defend its national title despite a stretch of 4:32 without a basket late in the second half against Kansas.

* How it shakes out: Not having a true post player, or much of any inside game, finally catches up to Oklahoma, which got this far because it made 13 three-pointers against UNC Charlotte. Mateen Cleaves leads top-seeded Michigan State into the Elite Eight. Meanwhile, John Estick, Jason Stewart, Damon Frierson, Rob Mestas--the “other” Miami of Ohio starters--get a crack at the defending champions. That’s about all they’ll get. Kentucky has more reliable weapons, more tournament experience and, thanks to Tubby Smith, more coaching. After beating Miami and Michigan State, the Wildcats will also have one more Final Four to attend.