What you didn't know about the nation's top 32 teams

By Eric Horowitz

Editor's Note: A sentence about the BYU basketball team in this story posted on SI on Campus last week was offensive to Mormons. SI.com would like to apologize for this lapse in judgment.

It's tournament time again, but before the madness begins, let's take a closer look at the top 32 teams that will take the court this week. (If a seed lower than No. 8 ever made the Final Four, they might be worth paying attention to, but since that could never happen, I'll just skip over them).

Ohio State Buckeyes 30-3, 15-1

Will Greg Oden be cutting down the nets in Atlanta? He'll have to make it through Central Connecticut State with a clean bill of health first. Bill Smith/WireImage

Ohio State is a good bet to reach the Final Four, assuming one of Greg Oden's teammates doesn't fall on his ankle while celebrating an opening-minute layup against Central Connecticut State. The Buckeyes have been the most dominant team in the country since Oden began using his right hand, and the news get even worse for OSU opponents -- it turns out point guard Mike Conley Jr. isn't really left-handed either.

Kansas Jayhawks 30-4, 14-2

The Jayhawks have been upset in the first round of the tournament in each of the last two years, which means that beating Niagara, the 16th seeded play-in game winner, will make this their most successful tournament run since 2004. The first-round losses have left Jayhawks fans pining for the days when it was Roy Williams, and not Bill Self, who was leading the team to an early tournament exit.

North Carolina Tar Heels 28-6, 11-5

The Tar Heels are the deepest team in college basketball -- perhaps a little too deep. Some critics believe they would be better off if Roy Williams gave his stars more playing time instead of playing everyone on his bench. I think Williams knows what he's doing -- even if UNC doesn't win the title, he will at least prove he'll make a great Little League coach.

Florida Gators 29-5, 13-3

If Florida wins its second straight national championship, it may not be long before a Joakim Noah Road sprouts up in Gainesville. Photo courtesy of joakimnoahroad.com

The defending champions stumbled down the stretch, losing three of their last five before dominating the SEC tournament. The only question now is how the team can possibly stay motivated after already accomplishing their goal of defending their SEC championship. Perhaps star center Joakim Noah will be driven by the idea of having a road named after him.

Memphis 30-3, 16-0

The Tigers went undefeated in Conference USA, but failed to beat a team that finished the season ranked in the Top 25. Considering that the tournament contains 25 teams that finished the season in the Top 25, that's bad news for Memphis.

Georgetown 26-6, 13-3

The Hoyas, who have won 15 of their last 16, are one of the hottest teams in the tournament. The Big East champs are coached by the son of former Georgetown coach John Thompson, and get key minutes off the bench from the son of former Hoya Patrick Ewing. If they had only recruited the children of Dikembe Mutombo and David Wingate, they would be unstoppable.

Wisconsin 29-5 13-3

A Wisconsin national championship could bring a smile to the face of Brian Butch. AP

It was not an ideal last three weeks of the season for Wisconsin. The team dropped three out of six, and lost center Brian Butch to an elbow injury. Fortunately for the Badgers they still have Big Ten Player of the Year Alando Tucker, a player so tenacious in the paint that he has atender pop song written about him.

UCLA 15-3, 26-5

Bruins coach Ben Howland will face his alma mater (Weber State) in the first round, a possible rematch from last year against the school that gave him his first coaching job (Gonzaga) in Round 2, and a potential game against the last school he coached (Pitt) in the Sweet 16. The connections have Howland speculating that CBS has a say in how the brackets are set up. If Howland is right, it would certainly explain how Greg Gumbel's alma mater, Loras College in Iowa, managed to sneak into the tournament.

Texas A&M 25-6, 13-3

Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie is a workaholic. He routinely stays up late to work, he watches as many as 15 game tapes of Aggie opponents, and he once went six months without buying groceries because he was busy working -- the six months of no groceries shattered Rick Majerus's personnel record by about six months

Oregon 26-7, 11-7

The dangerous guard trio of Aaron Brooks, Bryce Taylor and Tajuan Porter led the Ducks to their first Pac-10 tournament championship since 2003. Oregon had hoped the title would earn them better than a No. 3 seed, but that was the highest seed Phil Knight could afford to buy them.

Pittsburgh 27-7, 12-4

Pitt star center Aaron Gray has been struggling of late. Foul trouble kept him out for most of the first half against Louisville, and then he missed all nine first-half shots he took in the Big East championship game against Georgetown. The good news for Pitt is that point guard Levance Fields is strictly adhering to the Khalid El-Amin point guard diet that led El-Amin and UConn to the national title in 1999.