Last Year’s Finalists Find Way Into Same Regional

1. MICHIGAN STATE (24-4)

* First-round opponent: Alabama State.

* Season in brief: Call it reloading. The Spartans lost three starters off last year’s national title team, yet remain formidable. Michigan State defeated all three teams in last year’s Final Four: Florida, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

* Player to watch: Marcus Taylor. The 6-3 freshman point guard has had the unenviable task of replacing Mateen Cleaves. Taylor is not Cleaves, not yet.

* Tidbit: For $75,000, Michigan State purchased the floor on which it won the national title last year in Indianapolis and had it transported to the Breslin Center.

* NCAA bio: School’s 15th appearance. Won national titles in 1979 and 2000.

2. NORTH CAROLINA (25-6)

* First-round opponent: Princeton.

* Season in brief: Overcame a 3-2 start, with consecutive losses to Michigan State and Kentucky, by reeling off 18 consecutive wins. Spent three weeks at No. 1 in February before a loss to Clemson. Lost some luster with a 20-point loss at Virginia on Feb. 25 and a home loss to Duke.

* Player to watch: Joseph Forte. Virginia Coach Pete Gillen says of the 6-4 sophomore guard: “He reminds me of [Wayne] Gretzky on ice. He just flows.”

* Tidbit: Former coach Dean Smith led the Tar Heels to 27 NCAA tournaments, a coaching record.

* NCAA bio: Making an NCAA tournament-record 27th consecutive appearance. Advanced to Final Four last year before defeat by Florida. Won titles 1957, ’82 and ’93.

3. FLORIDA (23-6)

* First-round opponent: Western Kentucky.

* Season in brief: Overcame numerous injuries to post a third consecutive 20-win season. Led the SEC in surgeries, four. Posted five, 100-or-more-point games, but injuries forced Gators to slow down the tempo at times. Lost the national title-game rematch with Michigan State.

* Player to watch: Matt Bonner. The 6-9 sophomore forward went from sub to starter and improved his scoring average from five to 13 points a game.

* Tidbit: Florida is one of only four schools to make the round of 16 the last two years. The others are Duke, Gonzaga, and Michigan State.

* NCAA bio: School’s eighth appearance and third straight under Coach Billy Donovan. Before last year, the highest Florida finished was a third-place tie in 1994 under Lon Kruger.

4. OKLAHOMA (26-6)

* First-round opponent: Indiana State.

* Season in brief: It looked as if the season was lost in late February when Coach Kelvin Sampson dropped the bombshell that he was dismissing star guard J.R. Raymond for violating team policy. But Oklahoma, without Raymond, knocked out Missouri, Kansas and Texas en route to the Big 12 tournament title.

* Player to watch: Aaron McGee. The 6-8 junior forward needs to pick up his game and be more consistent. He has had scoring nights of 32, 28, 27, 26 and 24, but also has had games of zero, three, four, five and six points.

* Tidbit: Long before “Sooner Schooner,” Oklahoma had a mascot named “Ol’ Mex,” a dog. Mex was so revered that when he died in 1928, the university closed so that people could attend his funeral.

NCAA bio: School’s 20th consecutive postseason appearance (16 in the NCAA, four in the NIT). Finished second in 1947 and 1988.

5. VIRGINIA (20-8)

* First-round opponent: Gonzaga.

* Season in brief: Started 10-0 before a Jan. 4 loss at Wake Forest. Rose as high as No. 6 in the polls. Avenged a 42-point loss at Duke with a win over the Blue Devils at home. It ended Duke’s road win streak in Atlantic Coast Conference play at 25. Also won at home against North Carolina.

* Player to watch: Donald Hand. The senior guard is only the third Virginia player to have 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, 400 assists and 150 steals.

* Tidbit: While Cavaliers is the school’s nickname, the sporting teams are also commonly known as the “Wahoos” and “Hoos” by Virginia students and fans.

* NCAA bio: School’s 15th appearance, first since 1997. Went to Final Fours in ’81 and ’84 under former coach Terry Holland.

6. TEXAS (25-8)

* First-round opponent: Temple.

* Season in brief: Reached 20 wins for the 17th time in school history. Won six consecutive games to close the regular season and kept the momentum going by advancing to the Big 12 tournament finals.* Player to watch: Maurice Evans. The 6-5 junior forward scored 28 points in the win over Iowa State, making 10 of 14 shots.

* Tidbit: Priorities? Last season, center Chris Mihm was the first Longhorn basketball to make first-team All-America by the Associated Press. By contrast, Texas football has produced 32 consensus All-Americans.

* NCAA bio: School’s 19th appearance. Finished second in 1943 and ’47.

7. PENN STATE (19-11)

* First-round opponent: Providence.

* Season in brief: Wins over Michigan and Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament got team off the bubble.

Finished only 7-9 in conference play, but beat Kentucky and Temple in nonconference games. Loss to Northwestern on Feb. 21 looked to be tournament-killer, but team recovered.

* Player to watch: Joe Crispin. The 6-1 senior guard led the Big Ten in scoring and is a dynamic player. He was the star in the win over Michigan State, but he has been selfish at times.

* Tidbit: Big Ten schools play six teams twice and four teams once. This year, Penn State got to play three of the teams below it in the standings--Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan--only once.

* NCAA bio: School’s eighth appearance, first since 1996.

8. CALIFORNIA (20-10)

* First-round opponent: Fresno State.

* Season in brief: Recovered from a 1-3 start and loss to UC Irvine to win seven consecutive games. Most impressive win was a 29-point drubbing of UCLA on Feb. 1.

* Player to watch: Sean Lampley. The 6-7 senior forward led the Pac-10 in scoring and had 32 points at Oregon State on Feb. 8.

* Tidbit: The 1959 NCAA title team coached by Pete Newell had no all-conference players yet beat Oscar Robertson-led Cincinnati in the national semifinals and Jerry West-led West Virginia for the title.

* NCAA bio: School’s 11th appearance. In a four-year stretch under Newell from 1957-60, Cal finished first, second, and twice made the round of eight.

9. FRESNO STATE (25-6)

* First-round opponent: California.

* Season in brief: Won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title, the school’s first since winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title in 1982. Lost early to St. Bonaventure and San Francisco, but became a different team after freshman point guard Tito Maddox joined the lineup. * Player to watch: Maddox. The 6-4 freshman from Compton sat out the first eight games because of an NCAA suspension, but returned to lead the Bulldogs into the top-25 poll.

* Tidbit: Coach Jerry Tarkanian led Nevada Las Vegas to a 103-73 win over Duke in the 1990 championship game. It remains the largest winning margin in title-game history.

* NCAA bio: School’s fourth appearance. Only tournament win was 50-46 over West Virginia in 1982.

10. PROVIDENCE (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Penn State.

* Season in brief: One of the nation’s best comeback stories after finishing 11-19 last season, 4-12 in the Big East. Rallied after a 2-3 start and an early loss to Maine to post wins over No. 13 Connecticut on Jan. 13 and trounced No. 15 Georgetown, 103-79, on Feb. 10. Also swept St. John’s.

* Player to watch: John Linehan. The 5-9 junior point guard was the key to the Friars’ resurgence after returning from an early-season hamstring injury. He led the Big East in steals and is a consummate team player.

* Tidbit: The team mascot is a purebred Dalmatian, Friar Boy V. The original dog debuted in 1935, but died two years later of distemper.

* NCAA bio: School’s 14th appearance, first since 1997, when the Pete Gillen-led squad made round of eight.

11. TEMPLE (21-12)

* First-round opponent: Texas.

* Season in brief: Less than two weeks after its football team got kicked out of the Big East Conference for lackluster effort, the Owls’ basketball program staged a stunning comeback, emerging from the brink of NCAA extinction to win the Atlantic 10’s automatic bid. At one point this season, Temple lost seven consecutive games, the longest losing streak in Coach John Chaney’s 18 seasons at the school.

* Player to watch: Lynn Greer. The 6-1 junior guard scored 20 points in the title game and was named the conference tournament’s MVP.

* Tidbit: It’s not likely the Owls will get hooted out of the Atlantic 10. Temple has won more tournament games, 38, and made more title-game appearances, 12, than any other conference school.

* NCAA bio: Chaney’s miracle run in the conference tournament extends his consecutive NCAA tournament streak to 12 seasons.

12. GONZAGA (24-6)

* First-round opponent: Virginia.

* Season in brief: The Great Spokane Story continues. The Bulldogs lost five seniors off last season’s Sweet 16 squad, including stars Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm, yet won 18 of their last 19 and took the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid.

* Player to watch: Dan Dickau. The 6-0 junior guard, a transfer from Washington, scored 25 points in the bid-clinching win over Santa Clara. Dickau missed nine games because of a broken finger; Gonzaga was 19-2 with him in the lineup.

* Tidbit: Dickau’s idol is John Stockton, the former Gonzaga great. The school has not issued Stockton’s uniform No. 12 since he left the school in 1984, Dickau wears No. 21.

* NCAA bio: School’s fourth appearance. Gonzaga has won five tournament games the last two seasons. The only others to make the Sweet 16 the last two years are Duke, Florida and Michigan State.

13. INDIANA STATE (21-11)

* First-round opponent: Oklahoma.

* Season in brief: As the No. 5-seeded team in the Missouri Valley tournament, the Sycamores knocked off No. 1 Creighton in the semifinals and Bradley in the finals. Indiana State was the lowest-seeded team to win in the 25-year history of the tournament, but the Sycamores did beat Indiana and Butler this season.

* Player to watch: Matt Renn. The 6-6 senior forward leads the team in scoring and rebounding and ranks among the top five in school history in rebounds and steals.

* Tidbit: John Wooden was coach and athletic director for two years in the late 1940s before heading to UCLA. In two seasons, Wooden’s Sycamores were 44-15.

* NCAA bio: School’s third appearance. Lost to Texas in last year’s first round. Finished second in 1979, losing to Michigan State in the most talked-about NCAA title game.

14. WESTERN KENTUCKY (24-6)

* First-round opponent: Florida.

* Season in brief: Defeated South Alabama, 64-54, in the tournament finals to win the Sun Belt’s automatic bid. The Hilltoppers completed the second-best turnaround in the school’s 82-year basketball history after finishing 11-18 last season. The 1946-47 team finished 25-4 the season after going 15-19. Nonconference high point was a Dec. 9 win over Louisville.

* Player to watch: Chris Marcus. The 7-1 junior center averages 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. He was the Sun Belt’s offensive and defensive player of the year.

* Tidbit: Jerry Tarkanian wasn’t the first coach to chew on a towel. Long ago, Western Kentucky coach E.A. Diddle gnawed on his “red towel.” Diddle chewed it, threw it and cried on it in his 1,062 games as coach. To honor the late coach, Hilltopper fans wave red towels during games.

* NCAA bio: School’s 17th appearance. In 1971, Coach Johnny Oldham led the team to Final Four, but the school’s participation was later vacated by the NCAA.

15. PRINCETON (16-10)

* First-round opponent: North Carolina.

* Season in brief: Defeated Penn to win the Ivy League title and cap an interesting season that began with coach Bill Carmody leaving for Northwestern and the team opening with a 37-point loss to Duke in the Preseason NIT. Most impressive win was a 58-52 victory over Xavier in December. First-year Coach John Thompson III is the son of the legendary former Georgetown coach.

* Player to watch: Nate Walton. The 6-7 senior forward, and son of Bill, had a scoring line his dad could be proud of against Penn, finishing with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals.

* Tidbit: This year’s NCAA tournament will be dominated by Waltons. Nate’s brother Luke plays for Arizona and father Bill is on loan from NBC to work as tournament analyst.

* NCAA bio: School’s 22nd appearance. Bill Bradley scored 58 points against Wichita State in the 1965 consolation game. And who can forget Princeton’s Back Door! win against defending champion UCLA in the opening round of 1996.

16. ALABAMA STATE (22-8)

* First-round opponent: Michigan State.

* Season in brief: Earned its first NCAA bid by defeating Alcorn State in the final of the Southwestern Athletic tournament. Hornets returned all five starters and were the team to beat this year, winning the regular-season conference title.

* Player to watch: Tyrone Levett. The 6-5 junior forward is athletic enough to play on the perimeter and strong enough to go inside, making him one of the SWAC’s more difficult matchups.

* Tidbit:The Hornets play in the conference’s best arena, the Joe L. Reed Acadome.

* NCAA bio: None.