If Cleaves Is On, Michigan State Will Be In Like Flint

1. MICHIGAN ST. (26-7)

* First-round opponent: Valparaiso.

* Season in brief: Didn’t have star guard Mateen Cleaves through the Christmas holidays because a broken foot, played eight ranked schools (Arizona, Ohio State, Indiana, Texas, Kentucky, Purdue, Kansas and Connecticut), led the nation in rebounding margin, suffered an embarrassing 53-49 loss to Wright State.

* Player to watch: Cleaves. The 6-2 senior guard, averaging 11 points and seven assists, is the catalyst to any hopes of a return trip to theFinal Four.

* Tidbit: Cleaves, guard Charlie Bell and forward Morris Peterson are known as the “Flintstones” because they all played high school ball in Flint, Mich.

* NCAA bio: School’s 14th appearance. Lost to Duke in last year’s Final Four. Spartans won the national title in 1979 as Magic Johnson’s team defeated Larry Bird and Indiana State.

2. IOWA ST. (29-4)

* First-round opponent: Central Connecticut State.

* Season in brief: A breakout season under national coach-of-the-year candidate Larry Eustachy. Cyclones were picked to finish last in one Big 12 poll, were the first team in school history to have more than 18 wins through January, beat Kansas for the first time since 1982.

* Player to watch: Marcus Fizer. The 6-8 junior led the Big 12 in scoring, highlighted by a Big 12 tournament-record 38-point game against Baylor.

* Tidbit: In 1894, a cyclone swept through the town of Ames, and the next season a nickname was born after the football team “blew out” Northwestern.

* NCAA bio: School tied for third in the 1944 tourney, Coach Johnny Orr had six tournamentruns from 1985-93. School advanced in 1995, ’96 and ’97 under Coach Tim Floyd.

3. MARYLAND (24-9)

* First-round opponent: Iona.

* Season in brief: Won 20 games or more for fourth consecutive season, beat Duke and North Carolina, split with Kentucky, lost to Temple, held opponents to 40% shooting, rebounded after losing consecutive games in January to North Carolina State, Duke and Georgia Tech.

* Player to watch: Juan Dixon. The 6-3 sophomore shooting guard weighs only 155 pounds, but he carried his weight down the stretch, scoring a career-high 33 points against Georgia Tech on Feb. 16.

* Tidbit: When someone asks what a Terrapin is, you may respond, “Any of various edible American turtles living in fresh or brackish waters.”

* NCAA bio: Advanced to the Sweet 16 last year, beating Valparaiso and Creighton, before losing to St. John’s. School’s 17th appearance, seventh under Coach Gary Williams. The Terrapins have made it as far as the round of eightin 1973 and ’75.

4. SYRACUSE (24-5)

* First-round opponent: Samford.

* Season in brief: Soft nonconference schedule helped team to 19-0 start and No. 4 national ranking before consecutive defeats by Seton Hall and Louisville. Veteran team with five starters who average double figures in scoring.

* Player to watch: Etan Thomas. The 6-9 senior center ranks fifth all-time in the NCAA in blocked shots .

* Tidbit: The Orangemen will never lack for a play-by-play announcer, having produced MarvAlbert, Len Berman, Bob Costas, Sean McDonough, Andy Musser and Dick Stockton.

* NCAA bio: The school’s 26th appearance and 20th under Coach Jim Boeheim, whose teams lost in the 1987 title game to Indiana and in 1996 to Kentucky.

5. KENTUCKY (22-9)

* First-round opponent: St. Bonaventure.

* Season in brief: Recorded 45th season of 20 or more wins despite a 4-4 start, played the nation’s No. 1-rated schedule, scored nonconference wins over Utah and Michigan State.

* Player to watch: Jamaal Magloire. The 6-10 senior center disappears for stretches, but is a talented shot blocker.

* Tidbit: Coach Tubby Smith is the sixth of 17 children raised on a Maryland farm.

* NCAA bio: Glossiest resume east of Westwood. Wildcats’ seven NCAA titles are second only to UCLA’s 11. This is Kentucky’s 42nd appearance. Wildcats won two titles in the 1990s and made consecutive title-game appearances in1996, ’97 and ’98.

6. UCLA (19-11)

* First-round opponent: Ball State.

* Season in brief: A wild one for Coach Steve Lavin’s Bruins, who suffered the loss of JaRon Rush to an NCAA inquiry, ignominious defeats--Colorado State, Gonzaga at home, at the Arizona schools--yet rallied from a 13-11 start to make the tournament for a 12th consecutive season.

* Player to watch: Dan Gadzuric. The 7-foot sophomore center and his aching knees are a constant concern. He has shown brilliance--an 18-point, 12-rebound effort at Syracuse and a 22-point, 16-rebound performance at California--but also disappears for stretches.

* Tidbit: In the history of the Associated Press poll, UCLA has been No. 1 a record 128 weeks, followed by Kentucky (87) and Duke (70).

* NCAA bio: The 36th appearance for the Bruins, who are 79-28 overall and have won 11 national titles, the last in 1995. Lavin’s team advanced to the round of eight in 1997, the Sweet 16 in ’98 and was eliminated in the first round last year by Detroit.

7. AUBURN (23-9)

* First-round opponent: Creighton.

* Season in brief: Reached Southeastern Conference tournament final despite loss of star Chris Porter (declared eligible for taking money from an agent), won 20 games for only the seventh time in program’s 94-year history. Lost in December to Stanford in the Wooden Classic, then won 10 in a row.

* Player to watch: Since Porter is no longer around to watch, the focus is on seven-footer Mamadou N’diaye, who has developed his gamein the same fashion as Hakeem Olajuwon did at Houston in the early ‘80s.

* Tidbit: Cliff Ellis isn’t just the team’s coach. He’s an accomplished singer and recording artist. His last album, “Cliff Ellis and Friends,” rocketed to No. 13 on the “Beach Music” charts.

* NCAA bio: Tigers were top seeded in the South last year and looked like a Final Four team before a regional semifinal loss to Ohio State in Knoxville. Only the seventh NCAA bid for the school. It advanced as far as the Elite Eight in 1986.

8. UTAH (22-8)

* First-round opponent: Saint Louis.

* Season in brief: Won 20 games for a sixth consecutive season under Rick Majerus, suffered nonconference losses to nemesis Kentuckyand Weber State, won nine in a row before loss to Louisville, had a 25-game conference winning streak ended by Nevada Las Vegas on Feb. 5 and dropped out of polls after loss to Colorado State.

* Player to watch: Hanno Mottola. The 6-10 senior forward was sidelined the first eight games because of a knee injury and three more games in February because of elbow and thumb injuries. He is only about 75%.

* Tidbit: School nicknamed “Utes” after a Native American tribe that lived in the area. The word means “high place.”

* NCAA bio: School’s 22nd appearance. Won title in 1944 with Vadal Peterson as coach and finished second in 1998 with Majerus.

9. SAINT LOUIS (19-13)

* First-round opponent: Utah.

* Season in brief: Led by former Pepperdine coach and UCLA assistant Lorenzo Romar, Billikens got an automatic NCAA bid with an improbable four-game Conference USA tournament run through Southern Mississippi, Cincinnati, Tulane and DePaul, and beat Missouri and Dayton in nonconference.

* Player to watch: Justin Love. The 6-2 senior guard, one of C-USA tournament heroes, averages 18 points and five rebounds a game.

* Tidbit: A “Billiken” was a toy bank statuette manufactured in the early 1900s. St. Louis sportswriter William O’Connor thought Saint Louis football coach John Bender resembled the animal-like caricature and the nickname stuck.

* NCAA bio: School’s sixth trip. Former coach Charlie Spoonhour led trips in 1994, ’95 and ’98.

10. CREIGHTON (23-9)

* First-round opponent: Auburn.

* Season in brief: Defeated Southwest Missouri State, 57-45, in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final to get the automatic NCAA bid. , Set a conference record with 277 three point baskets.

* Player to watch: Ryan Sears. The 6-foot junior is an unselfish point guard with NCAA tournament experience.

* Tidbit: Nerijus Karlikanovas, the Bluejays’ third-leading scorer, was kicked off the team Feb. 25 for rules violations.

* NCAA bio: School’s 11th appearance. Last year, for the first time, the Missouri Valley Conference advanced two teams to the second round. Southwest Missouri State defeated Wisconsin and Creighton beat Louisville.

11. BALL STATE (22-8)

* First-round opponent: UCLA.

* Season in brief: Defeated Miami of Ohio in Mid-American Conference tournament final to get automatic NCAA berth, beat Purdue by 20 in December, lost triple overtime games to Eastern Michigan and Miami.

* Player to watch: Duane Clemens. The 6-foot senior guard averages 18 points; he played 54 minutes against Eastern Michigan.

* Tidbit: Coach Ray McCallum is the school’s second all-time leading scorer and was the MAC player of the year in 1983.

* NCAA bio: School’s seventh appearance, first since 1995. Note: Rick Majerus led the team to a bid in 1989.

12. ST. BONAVENTURE (21-9)

* First-round opponent: Kentucky.

* Season in brief: Secured a tournament spot by advancing to the final of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, scored wins over Temple, Dayton and Xavier.

* Player to watch: Tim Winn. The 5-10 senior guard averages 13 points, four rebounds and four assists and is only the sixth St. Bonaventure player in 21 years to be named first team all-conference.

* Tidbit: Among the notable names in the school’s Hall of Fame are basketball star Bob Lanier and football coach Ted Marchibroda.

* NCAA bio: School’s first appearance since 1978.

13. SAMFORD (21-10)

* First-round opponent: Syracuse.

* Season in brief: Won the Trans America Athletic bid with a victory over Central Florida, opened season with an upset victory over St. John’s, defeated Alabama, but lost to Louisiana Monroe.

* Player to watch: Marc Salyers. The 6-9 junior forward averages 17 points and seven rebounds.

* Tidbit: In four seasons from 1959-62, Samford’s head football coach posted a 31-6 record before moving onto to greater glory. His name?Bobby Bowden.

* NCAA bio: Back-to-back visits after never before appearing. First-round loser last year to St. John’s.

14. IONA (20-10)

* First-round opponent: Maryland.

* Season in brief: Beat Siena, 84-80, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament final to get automatic NCAA bid and has won 14 of 15 games after a 6-9 start.,

* Player to watch: Tariq Kirksay. The 6-6 senior forward is the MAAC player of the year, ranking among the conference’s top five in eight statistical categories.

* Tidbit. The school, located 25 miles south of New York City in New Rochelle, takes its namefrom the island Iona off the west coast of Scotland.

* NCAA bio: Sixth appearance. Jeff Ruland is the fourth coach to lead the school to an NCAA bid, following Jim Valvano, Pat Kennedy and Tim Welsh.

15. CENT. CONNECTICUT ST. (25-6)

* First-round opponent: Iowa State.

* Season in brief: Defeated Robert Morris, 63-46, in the the Northeast Conference tournament and won 15 consecutive games at one point. Became Division I program in 1986

* Player to watch: Rick Mickens. The 6-4 seniorguard was the conference player of the year and had 17 points, five rebounds and five stealsin the bid-clinching win over Robert Morris.

* Tidbit: When Central Connecticut defeated Providence, 54-50 on Dec. 21, it was the school’s first victory against a Big East team in 17 tries and snapped the Northeast’s 36-game losing streak against the conference.

* NCAA bio: First appearance.

16. VALPARAISO (19-12)

* First-round opponent: Michigan State.

* Season in brief: Defeated Southern Utah to win the Mid-Continent Conference’s automatic bid.

* Player to watch: Dwayne Toatley. The 6-2 junior guard is a walk-on player, but the Crusaders have won 12 of 13 games since Coach Homer Drew made him a starter.

* Tidbit: Or, maybe Toatley isn’t the reason forValparaiso’ recent success. The team is also 12-1 since former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda spent a day at practice and gave the team a pep talk.

* NCAA bio: School’s fifth consecutive appearance after never having appeared before 1996. Two years ago, Valparaiso was one of the tournament’s great stories when it made the Sweet 16, defeating Mississippi and Florida State before a Midwest regional semifinal loss to Jim Harrick’s Rhode Island.