Last year produced an exceptionally chalky tournament, and all of the supposed rules of picking upsets were thrown out the window. A 12 always beats a 5? Not in 2007. Late night games are prime upset possibilities? Not so much.

So rather than go over a bunch of guidelines that didn't work last year, it seemed more sensible just to find an 11 --- or lower --- seed in each bracket capable of pulling an upset over the next few days.

The odds are this will be a much more entertaining tournament than a year ago. It just has to be. There just has to be someone seeded lower than 11th that advances, and there just has to be someone seeded lower than seventh than moves on to the second weekend.

With that in mind, here are the prime possibilities:

EAST: No. 11 Saint Joseph's

Nothing foretells NCAA tournament success quite like steady, balanced offense. The Hawks have five players averaging 9.7 points, and go up against a streaky Oklahoma team in the first round. In particular guards Pat Calathes and Tasheed Carr and power forward Ahmad Nivens provide the sort of look most teams in any conference would like. Phil Martelli's team did lose seven of its last 13, but slipped a pair of victories over Xavier into that stretch. They'll be a headache in the first weekend.

MIDWEST: No. 12 Villanova

The Wildcats were downright horrible for a two-week stretch, losing five straight games and putting their season on life support. The rest of the time, they were 20-7 with victories over George Mason, Temple, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Connecticut. Scottie Reynolds can be ridiculously uneven, but he's capable of carrying a team for a night. Plus, Clemson is a horrid 62.4 percent at the foul line. That will doom the Tigers, quite possibly in the first round.

SOUTH: No. 12 Temple

The Owls have won seven straight games, including a three-day run to the Atlantic 10 tournament last week. They have two dynamic guards in Dionte Christmas and Mark Tyndale that will make it worthwhile to be in an arena at 10:20 a.m. local time. They beat Saint Joseph's twice and Xavier once. They get an erratic Michigan State team which went 7-8 outside its home state. And they have the Jerry Palm seal of approval. That might be better than anything else.

WEST: No. 13 San Diego

The Toreros aren't all that chic a pick against Connecticut, which speaks to the soundness of Jim Calhoun's team. But Bill Grier has done a fine job in his first season, unleashing the inside-outside combination of Gyno Pomare and Brandon Johnson quite well. San Diego has defeated Kentucky, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's (twice), and is certainly plucky enough to do some damage. No team seeded 13th or lower is a better bet to win a game.

--- Patrick Stevens