Any website or loud-mouthed office jerk can give the statistics and site records of coaches in NCAA Tournament play or guarantee a No. 16 seed will upset a No. 1 this year. But there are stories behind the stats that will help you sound really smart when the upsets start rolling in.
Every player, coach and team is motivated, but some programs have an extra edge, an edge that could make them March Madness sleepers.
St. Louis lost coach Rick Majerus to heart failure, before the season started. The Billikens went on to win the Atlantic-10 Tournament and get a No. 4 seed. They are as tough, disciplined and physical a team as there is in the tournament.
Billikens coach Jim Crews, a member of the undefeated 1976 Indiana team and a former head coach at Army, told The Post how St. Louis has chosen to remember Majerus.
“We didn’t dedicate the season to him because it trivializes his death,’’ he said. “If we had lost, would that have meant we didn’t love him enough?
“Every player and every coach on this team is vested in this. So we said we’re just going to keep doing things the right way. If something gets in our way, just keep doing things the right thing way. And wherever that takes us, it takes us.’’
You don’t want to see St. Louis in your bracket.
Louisville’s Russ Smith played at Archbishop Molloy for the legendary Jack Curran, who passed away last week. Smith is playing this tournament in his late coach’s honor. He told family and friends he will cut down a piece of the net for Coach Curran.
Notre Dame will have sixth-year senior Scott Martin on the bench. After undergoing reconstructive surgery and surgery to repair a meniscus tear, Martin’s knee just can’t hold any more.
“He’s everything a teammate and a team leader should be,’’ said ND coach Mike Brey.
UCLA lost guard Jordan Adams in the Pac-12 tournament to a broken right foot. Don’t count on the Bruins getting past Minnesota.
Indiana’s Austin Etherington, one of the most respected players on the team, went down with a fractured kneecap early in the season. He will be a second coach on the bench.
Montana lost leading scorer Mathias Ward to foot surgery. They also lost guard Will Cherry early in the season to a broken foot, which he reinjured later in the season. Yet the Grizzlies still held on to win the Big Sky Conference. Memo to Syracuse: The only animal more dangerous than a Grizzly is an injured one.
CHARITY STRIPERS:
Looking for a great team to pick for an early upset? Think close game, underdog has the gym rocking, and it comes down to free throws.
Davidson (14 seed), Iona (15), South Dakota State (13) and Oklahoma (10) are the only teams in the tournament ranked in the top 10 in the nation in free-throw shooting. Davidson is first followed by Iona (fourth), South Dakota State (eighth) and Oklahoma (10th).
IMPRESSIVE RESUMES:
Many think coaches who have gotten to the Final Four have an advantage from the experienced gained. So who has the edge in the South Region?
Bill Self (Kansas), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Jay Wright (Villanova), Shaka Smart (VCU), Ben Howland (UCLA), Tubby Smith (Minnesota), Billy Donovan (Florida), Steve Fisher (San Diego State) and John Thompson III (Georgetown) have all made it.
So, of course, we picked Michigan to win the region because we think John Beilein is an good as any coach in the college game.
EUROPEAN SUBREGIONAL:
St. John’s coach Steve Lavin has described Notre Dame as a European-like team because it puts four shooters around the 3-point line and is sixth in the nation in assists (17 per game.)
The Irish’s second-round opponent is Iowa State, which has made 325 3-pointers this season and leads the nation with 9.8 3’s per game. The Cyclones have three players who’ve made 60 or more threes for the second straight season.
The winner of this game not only advances to the third round but gets an automatic berth in the European League playoffs.
FEELING RIGHT AT HOME, LIKE A NO.1:
The Michigan State Spartans are the No.3 seed in the Midwest Region but would like to thank the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee for treating them like a No.1 seed.
They will play their second- (and third-) round games in Auburn Hills. If they win before what is sure to be a huge home-court advantage, they advance to Indianapolis, where the Spartans won the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
FACES TO WATCH:
Mississippi’s Marshall Henderson is college basketball’s version of Marshall Mathers or college football’s Johnny Manziel. Henderson, who takes almost 11 3’s per game, will talk trash to opposing players, fans, cheerleaders, mascots, vendors, rims … you get the point. He leads a loose Ole Miss squad, the antithesis of Wisconsin.
South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters is a 21-year-old senior who might have to shave once a week. Don’t be fooled. He’s got swag. When Wolters, who scored 53 points in a game this season, was asked who would win a game of horse between himself and Grinnell College’s Jack Taylor, who scored 138 points, Wolters quipped, “I have no clue, but if he wanted to play, I’d be game,” said Wolters.
DESIGNER’S CHOICE:
Lifestyle guru, crazed college basketball fan and very distant brother-in-law Jonathan Adler has picked Syracuse to win it all. Because Orange is the new black.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com