NCAA TOURNAMENT

NCAA Tournament stats and facts

Jeff Potrykus, and Jeff Maillet

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Northwestern coach Chris Collins and guard/forward Sanjay Lumpkin react while watching the the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection show.

INTRIGUING MATCHUPS

• Purdue, the No. 4 team in the Midwest, is the highest-seeded Big Ten team. The Boilermakers open in Milwaukee against No. 13 Vermont (29-5), which won the America East regular-season and tournament titles. The Catamounts have won 21 consecutive games, the nation’s longest current winning streak.

• Big Ten tournament champion Michigan, No. 7 in the Midwest, faces No. 10 Oklahoma State on Friday in Indianapolis. Can the Wolverines, who won four games in four days in Washington, D.C., to win the league tournament, continue their run?

• Northwestern, making its first NCAA appearance, is seeded No. 8 in the West Regional and faces No. 9 Vanderbilt. Will the Wildcats get their first NCAA victory Thursday in Salt Lake City?

• Virginia drew the No. 5 seeding in the East Regional. The Cavaliers, who are tremendous defensively but struggle to score, face a UNC-Wilmington team that is 29-5 and has won its last seven games. The Seahawks, a No. 12 seed, may be able to score enough to surprise Virginia on Thursday in Orlando.

• Gonzaga (32-1) is seeded No. 1 in the West. Some analysts believe the Zags are good enough to reach the Final Four. The road starts Thursday in Salt Lake City against No. 16 South Dakota State.

D'AMATO: Marquette has shooter's chance

RELATED: Schools playing in Milwaukee

BRACKETS: USA Today Bracket Challenge | Printable bracket (with times/TV)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Lonzo Ball, UCLA, fr., guard: Ball has transformed the Bruins’ offense, which last season produced 45% shooting and 78 points per game. The Bruins closed the regular season shooting 53% and averaging 91 points per game. The 6-foot-6, 190-pounder entered the Pacific-12 tournament averaging 14.9 points, 7.8 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game.

Caleb Swanigan, Purdue, soph., center: The player of the year in the Big Ten recorded 25 double-doubles in 31 regular-season games, including four games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. He is relentless, scores from inside or outside and entered the postseason averaging 18.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

Justin Jackson, North Carolina, jr., forward: Jackson recently became the 14th Tar Heel to be named ACC player of the year. Jackson closed the regular season at a team-best 18.3 points per game, an increase of 6.1 points from last season and the highest mark since Tyler Hansbrough averaged 20.7 points per game in 2009. In addition to his scoring, Jackson entered the postseason No. 2 on the team in assists at 2.6 per game.

Josh Hart, Villanova, sr., forward: Villanova lost two key seniors from its national title team, but Hart stepped up his game. He entered the Big East tournament leading the Wildcats in scoring (18.7 points per game) and rebounds (6.2) and was second in assists (3.2).

Monte Morris, Iowa State, sr., guard: Morris is the ideal point guard. He didn’t shoot well from three-point range in the Big 12 title game but still contributed 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in 38 minutes. He enters the NCAA Tournament with 200 assists and only 35 turnovers in 33 games. He also is a dependable free-throw shooter at 79.0%.

Kris Jenkins and Villanova are a No. 1 seed in the East.

WHO'S HOT

• Defending champion Villanova appears capable of making another run to the title game. The Wildcats have won their last five games and 12 of their last 13. They opened the Big East tournament with a 41-point victory over St. John’s, showed their poise in a two-point victory over Seton Hall in the semifinals and then handled Creighton by 14 in the title game. This team is tough, talented and well tutored.

• Is Duke finally living up to the preseason hype? The Blue Devils on Saturday became the first ACC team to win four games in four days to capture the tournament title. They blitzed top-seeded North Carolina, 93-83, in the semifinals and then rallied to defeat Notre Dame, 75-69, in the title game.

• Will Arizona coach Sean Miller finally lead the Wildcats to the Final Four? Arizona took down UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals and then outlasted Oregon in the tournament title game, avenging a 27-point road loss to the Ducks and a five-point home loss to the Bruins. The Wildcats have won 24 of their last 26 games.

RELATED: NCAA field set

WHO'S NOT

• Butler was ranked No. 13 and 23-6 when it hosted fellow Big East member Seton Hall in the teams’ regular-season finale. The Bulldogs blew a 10-point lead in the second half and then went one-and-done in the league tournament with a 62-57 loss to a struggling Xavier team.

• Michigan State generally flourishes in March, but the Spartans enter the NCAAs with three losses in their last four games. The Spartans lost by three points at Illinois, by three at Maryland and then went 1-1 in the Big Ten tournament. Michigan State looked impressive in a 27-point victory over Penn State in the opener but then went 6 of 30 from three-point range in a 63-58 quarterfinal loss to Minnesota.

• Baylor was 20-1 after rallying for a 78-75 victory over Ole Miss in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 28. The Bears are 5-6 since that victory, with their last loss a 70-64 decision to Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. Baylor no longer appears to be a team capable of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Middle Tennessee defeated Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament last year.

SMALL-SCHOOL WONDER

Middle Tennessee State was seeded 15th and 24-9 last season when it shocked No. 2 Michigan State in the opening round. The Blue Raiders return two starters from that team and enter the NCAAs with a 30-4 mark. The Conference USA regular-season and tournament champions have victories over North Carolina-Wilmington and Vanderbilt.

TEAM TO AVOID

Wichita State (30-4) doesn’t appear to have the talent or firepower to make a deep tournament run, but Gregg Marshall’s team is tough and fearless. The Shockers haven’t lost since Jan. 14 and enter the tournament on a 15-game winning streak. Their three victories in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament came by 26, 15 and 20 points.

BY THE NUMBERS

1.9 Yearly salary in millions of dollars of NCAA President Mark Emmert.

7.3 Yearly salary in millions of dollars of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

11 NCAA Tournament titles won by UCLA.

21 Schools that have reached the Final Four not seeded 1-4.

56 NCAA Tournament appearances by Kentucky, the most all time.

477 Average price in dollars of a 2017 Final Four ticket in Phoenix.

703,854 Fans who attended the 36 sessions of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

FINAL FOUR PREDICTIONS

Jeff Potrykus: Villanova, Kansas, Arizona and UCLA.

Matt Velazquez: Duke, Kansas, Arizona and UCLA.