Ncaa Tournament

The map of the NCAA tournament, outside of a team from Waco, looks like America right after the Louisiana Purchase. Is this a Sweet 16, or the "original?" One of every four teams remaining is from Ohio, with Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati and Ohio all advancing. No state has ever pushed four schools into the round of 16, which only invites the question: What happened to Akron? This is the tournament, you could say, where most of the rubber met the road. The westernmost school at the "West" Regional, Marquette, will need to bring its own bratwurst to Phoenix.

Seeded teams 1 INDIANA: The Hoosiers' six losses came against NCAA tournament teams. Their mix of high-scoring offense and ugh defense cinched a top-four seeding despite a Big Ten semifinal loss. 2 MIAMI: Experience and a strong backcourt led the 'Canes to their first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles. And they have a clear path to a regional final. 3 MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles represent a tough matchup along the front line. Forward Jamil Wilson has come on as a scorer and rebounder at the end of the season.

Southwest Regional No. 1 Kansas (35-2) vs. No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (27-11), San Antonio, 11:15 a.m. PDT, Ch. 2 Forward Jamie Skeen is Virginia Commonwealth's leading scorer and the Rams' only real low-post threat, but he has nearly as many made free throws (14) as made field goals (17) in four NCAA tournament games. He has to provide offense in the paint or the Rams will be far too perimeter-oriented. The Jayhawks have held opponents to 29.1% shooting from three-point range this season; that's fourth-best in the nation.

South Regional I picked Kentucky to win the South shortly after picking up a bucket with biscuits from KFC. This choice has mostly to do with freshman center Anthony Davis' enormous wing span and a feeling this might finally be Coach John Calipari's year. Kentucky's path is paved with bluegrass as the Wildcats need only two wins to get from Louisville to Atlanta. Wichita State is coached by Gregg "two Gs" Marshall, which is good this year for two tournament wins before a bow-out against Kentucky.

Maryland Coach Gary Williams is one of seven active coaches who has led three teams to the NCAA tournament. He took Boston College to the NCAA tournament in 1983 and '85, and led Ohio State to the tournament in '87. This is the Terrapins' third trip under Williams.