A road-tripper's guide to March Madness: West

PILOT PICKS IN BOLD

1 UCONN (27-4)

16 Chattanooga (18-16)

3 p.m. Thursday, Philadelphia The Huskies lead the nation in blocks - again - and Chattanooga starts no player taller than 6-foot-8, so expect the upstart Mocs to eat plenty of leather courtesy of Hasheem Thabeet and Co. But after losing 10 of their first 14 games, the Mocs still marvel they even made it this far.

2 MEMPHIS (31-3)

15 CAL STATE-NORTHRIDGE (17-13)

12:25 p.m. Thursday, Kansas City The Matadors are a great story, as they overcame the arrest of their leading scorer and a season-ending injury to their point guard to win the Big West. But their run ends here. Already a good team, the Tigers became a potentially great one when they moved freshman Tyreke Evans to point guard. They have arguably the nation's best defense, and they'll be playing with a chip on their shoulder after receiving "only" a No. 2 seed.

3 MISSOURI (28-6)

14 CORNELL (21-9)

3 p.m. Friday, Boise A disciple of Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, Missouri's Mike Anderson has brought the Razorbacks' famed "40 Minutes of Hell" style to the Show-Me State. That's probably about 39 minutes more Hell than the Big Red can stand. Watch for their stunned looks as they go into the first TV timeout.

4 WASHINGTON (25-8)

13 MISSISSIPPI STATE (23-12)

5 p.m. Thursday, Portland, Ore. That the SEC tournament champion merited only a 13 seed says all you need to know about the committee's opinion on the quality of that league. The Bulldogs then got shipped to Portland to take on a Huskies team that will enjoy the closest thing to a home-court advantage in this bracket.

5 PURDUE (24-9)

12 NORTHERN IOWA (23-10)

2:30 p.m. Thursday, Portland, Ore. Capturing the Big Ten tournament title put some shine on an otherwise disappointing season for the Boilermakers. But they can't afford to relax against a Panthers team with 12 road wins.

6 MARQUETTE (24-9)

11 UTAH STATE (30-4)

12:30 p.m. Friday, Boise As the (Dominic) James Gang, Marquette was a darkhorse Final Four contender. Then the star broke his foot, and the James-less Gang seems like a first-round loser waiting to get beat. Runaway winners of the WAC, Utah State has enough talent to make that happen.

8 BYU (25-7)

9 tEXAS A&M (23-9)

12:30 p.m. Thursday, Philadelphia It took a 43-point barrage by Texas Tech's Mike Singletary to subdue the Aggies, who found their groove late in the Big 12 season and finished the regular season as that league's hottest team. The Cougars survived the rugged Mountain West Conference and have one of the game's more unheralded stars in Lee Cummard.

Roadside attraction

7 CAL (22-10)

10 MARYLAND (20-13)

2:55 p.m. Thursday, Kansas City Chalk up Maryland's appearance here as a classic case of Gary Williams' great coaching overcoming his poor recruiting. The Terps do have a true go-to player in Greivis Vasquez and have beaten elite teams. But their inconsistency is stunning. This tag also fits the Golden Bears, who called their own play "an embarrassment" after losing to USC in the Pac-10 tourney. If both teams are on, this will be one heck of a matchup. If they're not, well, another game will be on shortly.

 - Compiled by Paul White