WHAT TO LOOK FOR

The draw: The West is stacked not only with excellent teams, but with excellent teams playing very well. Of the top seven seeded teams, only Miami did not win its conference tournament. The bracket lacks a Duke-Maryland-Kansas gorilla at the top, but No. 1 Cincinnati and No. 2 Oklahoma are so close, either could be considered a top seed. A ho-hum first round could produce monster second-round matchups, including Gonzaga-Arizona, Cincinnati-UCLA and Ohio State-Missouri.

Best first-round game: Miami-Missouri. Neither team played well down the stretch, but both are dangerous. Five Hurricane players average at least 11 points and the Tigers have potent three-point shooters in Clarence Gilbert, Ricky Paulding and Kareem Rush. Even if the game is one-sided, Rush and 6-foot-10 Darius Rice of Miami--cousin of NFL great Jerry Rice--undoubtedly will entertain.

Sleeper: Missouri. The 12th-seeded Tigers were ranked No. 2 in the nation early in the season after winning nine in a row with victories over Alabama, Xavier and Iowa, but are 12-11 since. A near-upset of Kansas in the regular-season finale and a 20-point win over Iowa State in the first round of the Big 12 tournament offered glimpses of their potential.

Upset in the making: No. 10 Hawaii over No. 7 Xavier. Besides Missouri’s game against Miami, this is the best chance for a lower-seeded team to win. Hawaii defeated Tulsa on its home court for the Western Athletic Conference tournament title, stuck around for Sunday’s selection announcement and must travel only about 250 miles to Dallas for its first-round matchup. Xavier has NBA prospect David West and the Atlantic 10 tournament title, but its weak conference and suspect nonconference schedule could spell a first-round exit.

Impact coach: Lute Olson of Arizona. Yes, Gonzaga’s Mark Few is everybody’s favored rising genius, but Olson proved in the Pac-10 tournament he is still the best coach in the Pacific time zone, getting his outmanned roster to produce its best 20 minutes of the conference tournament in the second half of the final against USC. Arizona gained a No. 3 seeding with a team that played the nation’s toughest schedule and has six freshmen among its nine scholarship players a year after losing four starters.

Impact player: Steve Logan of Cincinnati. Some say the two-time Conference USA player of the year is more important to the Bearcats than Jason Williams is to Duke. The only player in the West Regional who can approach his value is Gonzaga guard Dan Dickau. Logan, who can play either guard position, is a tremendous clutch shooter who averages 22 points and has scored at least 30 five times.

The pick: Gonzaga. Back in the familiar role of believing they have something to prove, the ‘Zags will overcome Olson’s coaching to beat Arizona and Logan’s shooting to beat Cincinnati, making their first Final Four appearance.