WHAT TO LOOK FOR

The draw: The tournament committee’s decision to reconfigure the first- and second-round sites to ease travel concerns has paid immediate dividends for Maryland, a bit perturbed last year when it had to go through Boise, Idaho, and then Anaheim to win the West. This year, Maryland enjoys its first-ever No. 1 seeding and opens at Washington’s MCI Center, a stone-crab’s throw from home. Maryland should be Beast of the East in this draw and we can’t see a bump on the road until a possible regional semifinal matchup against Kentucky. The rest of the draw features a parade of star coaches as five of the 16 coaches in play here have won Division I national titles: Bob Knight, Jim Harrick, Jim Calhoun, Tubby Smith and Tom Izzo.

Best first-round game: Texas Tech vs. Southern Illinois. Imagine the half-time speech possibilities: Bob Knight: “I came all the ... way to Chicago and we’re losing to the Salukis?” Actually, Southern Illinois is capable of an upset, having already this season defeated Indiana.

Sleeper: Michigan State. After advancing to three consecutive Final Fours and winning the national title in 2000, the Spartans seem oddly out of place with their No. 10 seeding. Yet, if you think defense and rebounding are keys to NCAA success, Michigan State is capable of a mild first-round upset of North Carolina State and might even scare Connecticut should the Huskies survive Hampton.

Upset in the making: Take your pick of possible giant-slayers here, No. 15 Hampton over No. 2 Connecticut or No. 13 Valparaiso over No. 4 Kentucky. Hampton, of course, pulled off last year’s biggest upset in knocking off No. 2 Iowa State, while most contend this is Valparaiso’s best team since the 1998 squad that advanced to the Sweet 16.

Impact coach: Texas Tech’s Bob Knight. Love him, hate him, make a bad cable movie about him, Knight cannot be ignored. Texas Tech’s turnaround was one of college basketball’s best stories this season, but there may be plenty of drama left to be played out. Knight hasn’t coached a team to the Sweet 16 since Indiana in 1994, but his Red Raiders have a good chance to win two games in Chicago and put Knight on a higher pedestal.

Impact player: Maryland’s Juan Dixon. He’s the kind of tough-as-nails guard you need to make deep tournament runs. Not only is he the only Division I player in history with 2,000 points, 300 steals and 200 three-pointers, the senior shooting guard also shoots 90.7% from the free-throw line.

The pick: Maryland. The Terrapins have the talent to tiptoe through a less-than-enthralling bracket and get to start off with essentially home-court advantage. Maryland should have a relatively free ride until the regional finals, where a possible matchup against Connecticut awaits, yet the Terrapins have a much easier road to the Final Four this year than they did last season.