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Team to beat: Memphis

You have to like John Calipari, who was pointing out the flaws of No. 1 seed Louisville during the weekend, while pushing for his team to be on the top line. The Tigers have a beef with the selection committee, but that's over now. The best way for Calipari and Tyreke Evans to get even is to bust the bracket and advance to Detroit. Memphis has three losses. All by seven points or less. All before winter started. Syracuse, Xavier and Georgetown (in overtime) are the only ones who have stopped Calipari's team. Of course, Conference USA isn't good enough for the Tigers. But when Calipari's team left league play late in the season, it won 68-50 at Gonzaga. Which the committee picked as a No. 4 seed. This might be the year Calipari gets his title.

Team in trouble: Connecticut

Maybe you can forgive the Huskies for their six-overtime loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament. But they also dropped a pair of games to Pitt, by eight and 10 points. They miss injured Jerome Dyson and there isn't a player they can count on to get a critical balance. Sure, there is balanced scoring. And Hasheem Thabeet is a beast, sharing Big East Player of the Year honors. Prickly Jim Calhoun has blown more than his share of games as a favorite in the tournament. Somebody had to lose for George Mason to become a Final Four team in 2006 and it was UConn.

Dark horse: Marquette

The Big East is so deep that it's easy to overlook the Golden Eagles. If Dominic James was healthy, the seed would have been better and Marquette would be considered a Final Four team. Without James, the Golden Eagles are forgotten. Still, Buzz Williams has a pair of superstars, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, averaging more than 18 points a game. Marquette dropped five of its last six but played well in close losses to Louisville and Villanova.

Sentimental favorite: Mississippi State

No team made a more unlikely run to the tournament than the Bulldogs, who needed to win four games in four days to win the SEC tournament. Mississippi State entered the weekend ranked No. 83 in the RPI. Beating Georgia in the first round was expected. But knocking off South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee wasn't. Mississippi State's Jarvin Vernardo has 165 blocked shots this season, more than all but a handful of teams. Illinois has 119.

Best first-round matchup: BYU vs. Texas A&M

Sure, Josh Carter and the Aggies struggled in the Big 12 tournament, blowing a big lead in a first-round loss to Texas Tech. But Warren Carter's little brother is back in the NCAA tournament. Again. The team's leading scorer will have all sorts of fun against BYU, which doesn't mind a fast-paced game.

Worst first-round matchup: Missouri vs. Cornell

Mike Anderson has helped the Tigers back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003 and has made the program relevant again. Hopefully, the school can keep him. While the Tigers have wins against Kansas, Oklahoma, Southern Cal and Cal, Cornell has losses to Indiana, Princeton, Yale and Harvard.

Local connection: Lewis Jackson, Purdue

The 2008 News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year from Decatur Eisenhower is sixth on the team in scoring. He is coming off a nice weekend at the Big Ten tournament and will get some quality time in Philadelphia. Playing Connecticut in the second round will be a bit different than last year's sectional game against Champaign Central.

National reaction

"Five years ago, would we have been disappointed with a 2? I know people in the city are mad. That's OK. Good karma, good will. It just bows your neck a bit, and you do it anyway." – Memphis coach John Calipari on not getting a No. 1 seed.