College Basketball

Team-by-team look at South Region

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Florida v Kentucky

1. FLORIDA (32-2) Conference: SEC PPG: 70.7 | OPP: 57.9 Post-ing up: Depth, experience, versatility, size, long-range shooting — name it, Florida does it. The Gators ran away with the SEC regular-season crown and have emerged as a favorite to cutdown the nets in Dallas.

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Albany

16. ALBANY (18-14) Conf.: America East | PPG: 65.9 | OPP: 64.0 Post-ing up: The Great Danes are in the tourney for the second straight year. What Albany lacks in talent, it makes up for with clutch play.

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Karvel Anderson, Rashad Whack

16. MT. ST. MARY’S (16-16) Conf.: Northeast | PPG: 76.2 | OPP: 78.0 Post-ing up: The Mountaineers finished with four straight wins, going on the road to win the conference semis and finals.

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Josh Scott

8. COLORADO (23-11) Conference: Pac-12 PPG: 70.9 | OPP: 67.9 Post-ing up: Colorado lost its best player, Spencer Dinwiddie, to a torn ACL Jan. 12, yet rallied to reach its third straight NCAA Tournament. Sophomore forwards Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson have emerged.

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James Robinson, Josh Newkirk, Cameron Wright, Lamar Patterson

9. PITTSBURGH (25-9) Conference: ACC PPG: 72.5 | OPP: 62.4 Post-ing up: Coach Jamie Dixon’s Panthers opened their inaugural ACC season at 16-1, then were exposed a bit in conference play, finishing the regular season 0-6 against top-25 teams in the RPI.

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Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival

5. VCU (26-8) Conf.: Atlantic 10 PPG: 75.0 | OPP: 64.9 Post-ing up: Sure, VCU’s Havoc defensie is the brand, but Shaka Smart’s team can really score. The trio of Treveon Graham, Juvonte Reddic and Melvin Johnson offer the Rams the kind of attack they have lacked.

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StephenFAustin

12. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (31-2) Conference: Southland PPG: 76.5 | OPP: 62.6 Post-ing up: The Lumberjacks opened the season with three wins in their first five games, but then won 28 straight to reach their first NCAA Tournament since 2009.

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Kyle Anderson, Travis Wear, Bryce Alford

4. UCLA (26-8) Conference: Pac-12 PPG: 81.8 | OPP: 71.0 Post-ing up: Fun to watch but weak defensively, UCLA will need to score big to win. The Bruins are capable of putting on a show — as they did in winning the Pac-12 conference tournament.

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Tulsa

13. TULSA (21-12) Conf.: C-USA PPG: 73.1 | OPP: 67.4 Post-ing up: It wasn’t supposed to happen this fast for Tulsa and second-year coach Danny Manning. His three sophomore stars, however, emerged quicker than expected, ripping off 11 wins to close the regular season.

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Syracuse v Pittsburgh

3. SYRACUSE (27-5) Conference: ACC PPG: 68.2 | OPP: 59.3 Post-ing up: The Orange opened the season with a school-record 25 wins, but lost four of their final six games of the regular season. With Jerami Grant back from injury, Syracuse could make its second straight Final Four.

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MAC Toledo W Michigan Basketball

14. WEST. MICH. (23-9) Conference: MAC PPG: 71.7 | OPP: 67.4 Post-ing up: The top-seeded Broncos survived an overtime semifinal in the conference tournament against Akron to reach their first NCAA Tournament in 10 years.

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Aaron Craft, Rayvonte Rice

6. OHIO STATE (25-9) Conference: Big Ten PPG: 69.8 | OPP: 59.8 Post-ing up: The Buckeyes season began with 15 consecutive wins and followed that with five losses in six games, finishing fifth in the conference and with the seventh-best scoring defense in the nation.

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Fordham Rams v Dayton Flyers

11. DAYTON (23-10) Conf.: Atlantic 10 PPG: 73.6 | OPP: 67.6 Post-ing up: Transfer Jordan Sibert couldn’t get off the bench at Ohio State, but his shooting touch hasn’t gone to waste for the Flyers, who have won nine of their last 10 regular-season games.

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New Mexico v UNLV

7. NEW MEXICO (27-6) Conference: Mountain West PPG: 74.6 | OPP: 66.4 Post-ing up: New Mexico won’t overlook its first foe this year, not after it was stunned by Harvard last March. This veteran group, led by Cameron Bairstow and Kendall Williams, is eyeing a big run.

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Chasson Randle, Anthony Brown, Robbie Lemons

10. STANFORD (21-12) Conference: Pac 12 PPG: 73.5 | OPP: 68.6 Post-ing up: The Cardinal is back in the Big Dance after a six-year absence. Stanford snuck into the field, despite a poor finish to the regular season, but has faced a rugged schedule that included high seeds Michigan and Arizona.

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Kansas v Texas

2. KANSAS (24-9) Conference: Big 12 PPG: 79.6 | OPP: 70.5 Post-ing up: Arguably the most talented team in the country, the Jayhawks have had consistency issues, and could be without touted freshman center Joel Embiid (back, knee) for their first two games.

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Orlando Williams, Eric Stutz, Tarius Johnson

15. EASTERN KENTUCKY (24-9) Conf.: Ohio Valley PPG: 79.0 | OPP: 70.6 Post-ing up: The Colonels are one of the nation’s worst rebounding teams, but make up for it by shooting 49 percent from the field. Eastern Ky. knocked off the top two seeds to reach the tournament for the first time since 2007.