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Moments Of Madness: It's Tournament Time

By JOEY JOHNSTON

jjohnston@tampatrib.com

Published: March 19, 2009

BEST GAMES

No. 8 LSU (26-7) vs. No. 9 Butler (26-5) - One of the best 8-9 games in recent memory. LSU has the SEC's best overall record. Butler was flirting with a top-four seed but stumbled against Cleveland State in the Horizon final.

No. 7 Clemson (23-8) vs. No. 10 Michigan (20-13) - Clemson once looked like a lock for a No. 2 or No. 3 seed. It tries to halt the slide against Michigan, making its first NCAA appearance since 1998 but a winner against Duke and UCLA.

No. 5 Purdue (25-9) vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa (23-10) - The Boilermakers, Big Ten Tournament champions, are flying way under the radar. But the Panthers, Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champions, have the right ingredients (7-foot-1, 290-pound center in Jordan Eglseder, smart point guard in Kwadzo Ahelegbe) to challenge the Boilers.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tyreke Evans, Memphis (vs. Cal State Northridge) - Best freshman in the tournament. The No. 2-seeded Tigers (31-3) have won 25 straight games since he shifted to point guard.

Blake Griffin, Oklahoma (vs. Morgan State) - Best player in the tournament. He's a double-double machine.

Ty Lawson, North Carolina (vs. Radford) - Tar Heels everywhere want updates on The Toe. Lawson, the ACC player of the year, didn't play in the conference tournament because of a jammed right big toe.

POTENTIAL UPSETS

No. 13 Mississippi State (23-12) over No. 4 Washington (25-8) - The Bulldogs, led by intimidating Jarvis Varnado, won four games in four days to win SEC Tournament in Tampa.

No. 12 Western Kentucky (24-8) over No. 5 Illinois (24-9) - The Hilltoppers made last season's Sweet 16 - and the Illini might be over-seeded.

No. 11 VCU (24-9) over No. 6 UCLA (25-8) - UCLA, bidding for its fourth straight Final Four trip, could be hitting a buzz-saw in Philadelphia.

COOL STORYLINES

Gonzaga-Akron: It's the Zags vs. the Zips.

Tubby Smith: The Minnesota coach takes his fourth team (Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky) to the NCAA Tournament and puts his 13-1 first-round NCAA record to the test against Texas.

Mormon Uprising: BYU, opening its NCAA Tournament for the second straight season against Texas A&M, is one of three Utah teams in the NCAA field (along with the Utah Utes and Utah State). That's three times as many as Florida produced (the FSU Seminoles are carrying the state's hopes).

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