You Have to Duke It Out With Best

1. DUKE (29-4)

* First-round opponent: Monmouth

* Season in brief: Scored impressive victories against Illinois, Boston College, Virginia (42 points), Wake Forest (23) and Florida State (42). Lost to Stanford by one point in December at the Pete Newell Classic, suffered a rare loss at home to North Carolina and had its amazing 24-game, conference road winning streak snapped at Virginia on Feb. 14. Point guard Jason Williams sprained his left ankle Sunday against North Carolina but said he will be ready to play.

* Player to watch: Shane Battier. The 6-foot-8 senior forward has evolved from a defensive stopper to a complete player. In a Jan. 20 victory against Georgia Tech, Battier had 34 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

* Tidbit: Battier is the 10th Duke player to have his jersey retired, joining Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Mike Gminski, Dick Groat, Art Heyman, Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner and Jeff Mullins.

* NCAA bio: School’s 25th appearance. Two national titles. Duke has finished second six times, four under Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

2. KENTUCKY (22-9)

* First-round opponent: Holy Cross

* Season in brief: Another white-knuckle ride in Lexington, where Coach Tubby Smith and his point-guard son, Saul, overcame five losses before New Year’s before making its annual late-season charge, cracking the top 15 with an eight-game winning streak finally halted with a late February loss at Arkansas.

* Player to watch: Saul Smith. The 6-2 guard, the team’s only senior, had to overcome another year of taunts from fans. The opposing crowds got him, too.

* Tidbit: The Kentucky cheerleading squad now leads the basketball team in national championships, 11 to seven, after locking up its seventh consecutive title in national competition on Jan. 13.

* NCAA bio: Leads the tournament in appearances, games and victories. Only UCLA, with 11 titles, has more than Kentucky. Wildcats survived a double-overtime victory against St. Bonaventure last season before a second-round loss to Syracuse.

3. BOSTON COLLEGE (26-4)

* First-round opponent: Southern Utah

* Season in brief: Completed the nation’s most amazing worst-to-first turnaround after finishing last in the Big East Conference and 11-19 overall. This season’s squad had no top recruits and only one player taller than 6-foot-6, yet raced to its best start since 1966-67 and proved its regular season was no fluke by winning the Big East tournament.

* Player to watch: Troy Bell. The 6-1 guard was the Big East freshman of the year last season and only got better, sharing Big East player of the year honors with another Troy--Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy.

* Tidbit: You wouldn’t have thought this was going to be a great season after a 92-85 exhibition loss on Nov. 5 to the Boston Amateur Basketball Club.

* NCAA bio: School’s 12th appearance, first since 1997. Former high-profile coaches Bob Cousy, Tom Davis, Gary Williams and Jim O’Brien have all led the Eagles to the tournament, but the school has yet to advance to a Final Four.

4. UCLA (21-8)

* First-round opponent: Hofstra

* Season in brief: The usual: A loss to Northridge, a 4-4 start, a 25-point loss at Arizona, a 29-point loss at California, the cries for Steve Lavin’s hide, followed by a brilliant late-season surge to stave off another crisis. Beat No. 1 Stanford on the road for a second consecutive season, and answered a humiliation in Tucson with an overtime victory over Arizona at Pauley.

* Player to watch: Earl Watson. The 6-1 senior guard is a four-year starter who has developed into one of the classiest players in recent UCLA lore.

* Tidbit: Legendary coach John Wooden was 3-9 in his first 12 NCAA tournament games from 1950 through 1963 before winning 44 of his next 45.

* NCAA bio: School’s 37th appearance. Eleven national titles. Lavin’s tournament record is 7-4. Last season, the Bruins defeated Ball State and Maryland before losing to Iowa State in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

5. OHIO STATE (20-10)

* First-round opponent: Utah State

* Season in brief: Turns out there was life after Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd, the star guards who led the Buckeyes’ 1999 Final Four run. Overcame an early loss to Valparaiso to score significant Big Ten victory over No. 3 Michigan State on Jan. 27, No. 14 Iowa on Feb. 7 and No. 16 Wisconsin on Feb. 10.

* Player to watch: Ken Johnson. The 6-11 senior center keeps getting better and better. He is school’s all-time leading shot blocker and one of the top 10 in NCAA history. He had game highs of 28 points against Minnesota, 12 rebounds against Syracuse and nine blocks against Massachusetts.

* Tidbit: In Ohio State’s 1960 national title game victory over California, reserve guard Bob Knight missed his only shot attempt and finished with no points and one foul.

* NCAA bio: School’s 21st appearance. Buckeyes have gone to nine Final Fours. As the No. 3-seeded team in the South Regional last year, Ohio State lost in the second round to Miami.

6. USC (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Oklahoma State

* Season in brief: Despite a strong RPI, USC lacked a major win over a quality opponent, unless you count the victory over Rick Majerus-less Utah. The Trojans lost in overtime against Mississippi, suffered an unpardonable defeat at Northwestern, got swept by UCLA and lost by 44 at home to Arizona.

* Player to watch: Sam Clancy. The 6-7 junior forward dominated at times early in conference play. He had 31 points in a losing effort Jan. 11 at UCLA.

* Tidbit: The 1940 team finished third under coach Sam Berry, losing to Kansas in the national semifinals.

* NCAA bio: School’s 11th appearance, first since 1997. Trojans’ last NCAA tournament victory was against Northeastern Louisiana in the opening round of 1992.

7. IOWA (22-11)

* First-round opponent: Creighton

* Season in brief: Iowa was one of the nation’s hottest teams early on, blazing to a 9-0 start and scoring a Dec. 9 victory over Iowa State. But things fell apart after Luke Recker suffered a chip fracture of his right kneecap Jan. 27 against Indiana. Incredibly, without Recker, Steve Alford’s Hawkeyes made a surprising run to the Big Ten tournament championship to secure what had been a very shaky NCAA bid.

* Player to watch: Reggie Evans. The 6-8 junior forward was an instant impact player after transferring in from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Evans had 30 points and a tournament-record 18 rebounds in Iowa’s semifinal victory over Penn State. He is the nation’s leading rebounder and has shot more free throws than any player in the country.

* Tidbit: Iowa owned the home turf this season, winning the mythical “state” championship with victories against Iowa State, Drake and Northern Iowa.

* NCAA bio: School’s 20th appearance. Missed the tournament last season after going 14-16. Hawkeyes finished fourth in 1955 and second in 1956 under Bucky O’Connor and made a Final Four in 1980 under coach Lute Olson.

8. GEORGIA (16-14)

* First-round opponent: Missouri

* Season in brief: Proved that a good schedule means everything. The 14 losses ties the record for at-large teams making the tournament, but the selection committee was impressed with Georgia’s No. 1-rated schedule strength and finishing 9-7 in the Southeastern Conference, the top-ranted conference in the committee’s power polls.

* Player to watch: D.A. Layne. The 6-foot junior guard is the No. 9 scorer in school history.

* Tidbit: Did you know that nine assistants who have worked for Jim Harrick have become Division I head coaches, including former UCLA assistants Steve Lavin (UCLA), Lorenzo Romar (Saint Louis) and Mark Gottfried (Alabama).

* NCAA bio: School’s eighth appearance, first since 1997. Hugh Durham led he school to a third-place finish in 1983.

9. MISSOURI (19-12)

* First-round opponent: Georgia

* Season in brief: Played a tough schedule and paid for it, losing to the likes of Iowa, Syracuse and Illinois. Tournament hopes hinge on status of forward Kareem Rush, who injured his thumb Feb. 5 at Oklahoma State. Tigers went 4-3 without him. Rush returned for the Big 12 Conference tournament.

* Player to watch: Clarence Gilbert. The 6-2 junior guard is instant offense off the bench. He made eight three-point baskets against Texas A&M.;

* Tidbit: Rush is the first Missouri player to make first-team, all-conference since Melvin Booker in 1994.

* NCAA bio: School’s 19th appearance. No championships. First-round loser to North Carolina last season.

10. CREIGHTON (24-7)

* First-round opponent: Iowa

* Season in brief: Had enough mid-major clout to make the field despite losing to Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Bluejays posted their third consecutive 20-win season. Big wins over Providence, Georgia State and Tulsa earned Creighton a high RPI.

* Player to watch: Kyle Korver. The 6-7 sophomore forward led the team in three-point baskets. He tied his career high in points with a 25-point effort against Wyoming on Feb. 17.

* Tidbit: Before 1924, the team was known as the Hilltoppers, but the nickname fell out of favor because at least six other schools in the country used the name. Creighton is the only Division I school nicknamed Bluejays.

* NCAA bio: School’s 12th appearance and third in a row for Coach Dana Altman. Bluejays lost in the first round last year to Auburn. In 1999, No. 10 Creighton upset No. 7 Louisville, 62-58, before losing in the second round to Maryland. Beat Iowa, its first-round opponent, in 1998 and 1999.

11. OKLAHOMA STATE (20-9)

* First-round opponent: USC

* Season in brief: Who isn’t rooting for the Cowboys? Team made the field despite the aftermath of a Jan. 27 plane crash that killed 10 members of the Oklahoma State program, including two players. Cowboys were a tournament question mark before winning four of their last five regular season games. On Feb. 5, in their first game back after the plane crash, they scored an emotional home victory against Missouri.

* Player to watch: Maurice Baker. The 6-1 junior guard averaged 20 points a game and had 31 in a regular-season ending loss to Oklahoma.

* Tidbit: All 11 Big 12 announcers agreed to call an Oklahoma State basketball game and donate their $500 talent fee to the Bill Teegins Memorial Fund. Teegins, Oklahoma State’s longtime play-by-play announcer, was among those killed in the plane crash.

* NCAA bio: School’s 18th appearance. Advanced to the Sweet 16 last season, defeating Hofstra and Pepperdine before losing to Florida in the East Regional semifinals.

12. UTAH STATE (27-5)

* First-round opponent: Ohio State

* Season in brief: Defeated Pacific in the Big West Conference title game, 50-38, to win the NCAA bid. No surprise the game was the lowest scoring in tournament history. Utah State is one of the nation’s best defensive teams, holding opponents to less than 60 points a game.

* Player to watch: Shawn Daniels. The 6-6 senior forward led the Big West in blocked shots and was 12th in scoring. He became only the fifth Utah player to win all-league honors in consecutive seasons.

* Tidbit: Utah State is the only Big West team to have a winning record against every other team in the league. The Aggies also went 15-0 at home this season.

* NCAA bio: School’s 14th appearance. A first-round loser last season to Connecticut. Made the tournament in 1998 under coach Larry Eustachy, now at Iowa State.

13. HOFSTRA (26-4)

* First-round opponent: UCLA

* Season in brief: Won the America East Conference’s automatic bid with a victory over Delaware in the tournament championship game. Third consecutive 20-win season. Received 12 votes in last week’s Associated Press poll. Team tied the school record for victories and scored nonconference victories against Rutgers and St. John’s.

* Player to watch: Norm Richardson. The 6-7 senior forward was the third Hofstra player to win player-of-the-year honors in the last four years.

* Tidbit: The school used to be known as the Flying Dutchmen, but is now commonly known as the Pride.

* NCAA bio: School’s third appearance. A first-round loser last season to Oklahoma State.

14. SOUTHERN UTAH (25-5)

* First-round opponent: Boston College

* Season in brief: Won its first NCAA bid with a 62-59 victory over Valparaiso in the Mid-Continent Conference tournament title game, snapping the Crusaders’ six-year reign as champions. Southern Utah, located in Cedar City, lost to Arizona State and Brigham Young, but won two of three games against Valparaiso.

* Player to watch: Frederick House. The 6-5 senior forward was the Mid-Continent tournament most valuable player, scoring 24 points in the title game. He scored a season-high 30 points against Oral Roberts.

* Tidbit: Coach Bill Evans and his wife, Denise, have six children. Oldest son Dave was the Utah 3-A most valuable player in high school and played for his father at Southern Utah.

* NCAA bio: Welcome to your first dance.

15. HOLY CROSS (22-7)

* First-round opponent: Kentucky

* Season in brief: Scored a 68-64 victory against Navy to win the Patriot League’s automatic bid. Quite a turnaround from last season, when the Crusaders finished 10-18. Scored a nonconference win over Massachusetts.

* Player to watch: Tim Szatko. The 6-8 sophomore forward was the Patriot League player of the year, averaging 14.5 points and nearly eight rebounds a game.

* Tidbit: Holy Cross was founded in 1843 by the Society of Jesuits in Worcester, Mass.

* NCAA bio: School’s ninth appearance, first since 1993. Bob Cousy was a member of the 1947 national championship team, but scored only two points in the victory against Oklahoma. George Kaftan led the Crusaders with 18 points and Dermie O’Connell added 16.

16. MONMOUTH (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Duke

* Season in brief: Rallied from 20 points down with 13:59 left to defeat St. Francis, 67-64, and claim the Northeast Conference’s automatic bid. The Hawks have improved rapidly under Coach Dave Calloway. They were 12-16 last season and 5-21 two seasons ago.

* Player to watch: Rahsaan Johnson. The 6-foot junior guard was the NEC player of the year, averaging 19 points and six rebounds a game. He is tough to defend and a good enough leaper to rank 14th in the league in rebounding.

* Tidbit: There’s nothing like a group outing to promote team chemistry. Last summer, Monmouth took a basketball-playing tour of France, Monaco and Switzerland. The team played five games, going 3-1, with one game not being finished.

* NCAA bio: School’s second appearance. The goal this time is to score 50 points. In 1996, Monmouth’s only previous tournament encounter, it lost to Marquette, 68-44.