Breakdown

Teams

* The favorites: No. 1 North Carolina has player-of-the-year co-favorite Tyler Hansbrough in post and classic position guards in the backcourt. Talk about the best point guard in the country always includes North Carolina’s Ty Lawson. Tar Heels shooting guard Wayne Ellington is an explosive scorer who had 36 points in an overtime victory against Clemson.

No. 2 Tennessee is the only team to beat Memphis. Besides guard Chris Lofton they have three unrelated Smiths -- Tyler, JaJuan and Ramar -- in the lineup. JaJuan is the second-leading scorer (14.5), Tyler is third (13.6) and Ramar is sixth (7.5).

* Cinderella search: Butler has been nationally ranked but the mid-major still qualifies. It had Florida on the ropes last season in a Sweet 16 game.

* No chance: Indiana. The Hoosiers are 3-3 since changing coaches, including losses to Penn State and Minnesota.

--

Games

* Must see: Does No. 12 George Mason still have some magic? Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas were stalwarts on the 2006 Final Four team. The Patriots upset Connecticut to reach the national semifinals and they’ll be facing another Big East beast in No. 5 Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish are led by Big East player of the year Luke Harangody, a sophomore forward.

Veteran bracket-watchers are aware that the No. 12 teams historically are most likely to pull off an upset.

* Must skip: No. 3 Louisville should run past No. 14 Boise State, which has to be dragging. The Broncos haven’t played an easy game in weeks, finishing in a four-way tie for first place in the Western Athletic Conference regular season, then needing triple overtime to beat New Mexico State in the WAC tournament final.

--

Players and numbers

George Mason’s Thomas averages a double-double, 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds.

Campbell is the team’s leading scorer at 15.9, and has scored 15 or more in the last 17 consecutive games, a span in which he’s averaged 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He is the only player in school history with more than 1,500 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists, 150 three-pointers, 100 steals and 50 blocks.

Notre Dame guard Kyle McAlarney was suspended from school last season on a marijuana possession charge, but has returned to become the team’s second-leading scorer at 15.2 points a

game.

Tennessee’s Chris Lofton is a somewhat streaky shooter. He scored 24 points in a November game against North Carolina A&T; -- making eight of 20 from three-point range.