Far away from home, Connecticut controls its own destiny out West

While the West Region appears to be top-seeded Connecticut's to lose, there is intrigue in the lower-level games that promises to provide excitement throughout the NCAA tournament.

UConn enters the tournament on the heels of its 82-63 throttling of St. John's in the Big East tourney. After getting a scare in the opening round of the tournament from Seton Hall, the Huskies regrouped and dominated Syracuse and the Red Storm en route to the Big East crown.

One intriguing first-round matchup pits the Penn Quakers against the University of Florida. The Gators are only 5-5 in their last ten games, and have had a very up and down season, beating Kentucky at home yet losing to Vanderbilt on Feb. 27. The Quakers, on the other hand, avenged their 27-point blown lead to Princeton by beating the Tigers on the final weekend of the Ivy League season to ensure a berth in the Big Dance. In addition, Ivy League teams have a history of pulling off surprises, so depending on which Florida team shows up to play, this could be an upset.

In the top half of the draw, Iowa has been riding an emotional roller-coaster all season since it was announced that legendary coach Tom Davis would not be returning. Will it be enough for the Hawkeyes? They face a UAB team that many thought would not make it into the Tournament before going up against the Arkansas-Siena winner.

Second-seeded Stanford lost only six times this season, and Mike Montgomery's squad must have been disheartened to see two of those opponents staring back at the Cardinal in the West bracket. The third-seeded Tar Heels vanquished Stanford in the preseason NIT Tournament, and UConn went to Stanford without Richard Hamilton and emerged with a 70-59 dominant victory. For Stanford to emerge from the West, it will likely have to avenge those losses. Given that UConn is back at full strength, that would provide the Cardinal with a monumental challenge to get to the Final Four.

Having beaten favored Maryland in the semifinals of the ACC, many would expect North Carolina to be riding a wave of momentum. But another back-to-earth crushing by Duke, the second in eight days, might have thrown the ship off course. Ed Cota and his Tar Heel teammates reacted poorly after the ACC finals defeat, and it will be very telling to see how Carolina comes out against undermanned Weber State. If the Tar Heels catch a little fire, they will definitely threaten Stanford and could be poised to unseat UConn and reach their fourth consecutive Final Four. If the Duke loss continues to haunt them, a second round defeat to the Florida-Penn winner is possible.

Among the lower seeds, Gonzaga and Siena could each catch a sleeping first-round opponent (Minnesota and Arkansas, respectively) and pull an upset. The Golden Gophers finished sixth in the Big Ten, losing six of their final 12 games, including an upset to Illinois in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Gonzaga, on the other hand, has won seven of its last eight, including the WCC Tournament title. Siena was third in the nation in scoring at 86.9 points per game. A shootout with the Razorbacks could give the edge to the Saints.