Inside dish: Breaking down the region

Final Four favorite: Kansas

Final Four dark horse: Clemson

First-round upset: Davidson over Gonzaga

Sweet 16 surprise team: USC

Dream matchup: Kansas vs. Georgetown in regional final

Team on a roll: Davidson

Team on the slide: Kansas State

Best tournament coach: John Thompson III, Georgetown

Best scorer: Michael Beasley, Kansas State

Best defender: Mario Chalmers, Kansas

Best rebounder: Michael Beasley, Kansas State

Best 3-point shooter: Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

Unknown star: Stephen Curry, Davidson

Under the radar: Kent State

Dribbles

Kent State coach Jim Christian played on the 1988 Rhode Island team that reached the Sweet 16 under coach Tom Penders, who became Texas’ coach after that season.

USC freshman O.J. Mayo’s full name is Ovinton J’Anthony Mayo. He scored 157 points in the Trojans’ last six regular-season games.

Davidson’s top player is Stephen (pronounced STEFF-in) Curry. The son of former NBA player Dell Curry averages 25 points per game and makes 44 percent of his 3-point shots.

Portland State is making its NCAA Tournament debut. The school participated in the NAIA tournament in 1955 and 1956 plus the NCAA College Division tournament in 1967. The school dropped men’s basketball after the 1980-81 season and restored it in 1996.

Stat sheet

Kansas has won 51 conference titles, the most in NCAA history.

Davidson’s 22-game winning streak is the longest in Division I.

Wisconsin leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just over 54 points a game.

Kansas has outscored its opponents by an average of 21 points per game, the best in Division I.

Kansas entered the postseason shooting 50.6 percent from the field. The Jayhawks are the only team in the bracket making half their shots.

Georgetown leads Division I in field goal percentage defense. The Hoyas’ opponents are making just over 36 percent of their shots.

Kansas State is fourth in Division I in rebounding margin. The Wildcats out-board their foes by over eight per game.

Kent State has won 20 or more games in 10 consecutive seasons. The only other Division I teams in the 20-10 club are Duke, Creighton, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas and Kentucky.

Relatively speaking

Georgetown sophomore guard Jeremiah Rivers is the son of Boston Celtics coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers.