1. Duke: The defending tournament champions are a handful for any team because they are just as good inside as they are at hitting 3-pointers.
2. San Diego State: The Mountain West champs played just two ranked teams all season: Gonzaga and Brigham Young three times. They went 2-2.
3. Connecticut: After losing their last two games in the regular season, the Huskies came back with five consecutive victories in the Big East tourney to win the title.
4. Texas: One of the top defensive teams in the country, the Longhorns allow just 60.8 points per game.
5. Arizona: The Wildcats have a pedigree having reached four Final Fours in their 28 previous appearances in the tournament.
6. Cincinnati: The Bearcats won 15 consecutive games to open the season, and lost eight of their last 18.
7. Temple: It's hard to tell how good the Owls are because they played three ranked teams all year, going 1-2.
8. Michigan: This is just the second appearance since 1999 for this program, once considered one of the best in the country.
9. Tennessee: Don't even try to figure out this team, which lost every other game it has played since Feb. 19.
10. Penn State: The Lions likely won't be around long because they averaged just 63.1 points per game and were among the nation's worst rebounding teams.
11. Missouri: The Tigers love to run teams off the court, averaging 81.4 points per game, ninth most in Division 1.
12. Memphis: The Tigers won their last four games, including the Conference-USA championship, to secure their place in the tournament, but were 0-2 against ranked teams.
13. Oakland: The Summit League champs were the second-highest scoring team in Division I, averaging 85.6 points per game.
14. Bucknell: The Patriot League champs won 23 of their last 25 games after starting the season 2-6.
15. Northern Colorado: The Big Sky champs have never played in the NCAA tournament before.
16. Hampton: The MEAC champs authored one of the biggest upsets in the tourney's history when they beat No. 2 Iowa State in 2001.
Doug Roberson
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