Division I Men's Basketball Championship

Dates and sites: The opening-round game will be March 15 in Dayton, Ohio. First- and second-round games will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina; Worcester, Massachusetts; Nashville, Tennessee; Oklahoma City; Cleveland; Indianapolis; Boise, Idaho; and Tucson, Arizona, March 17-20. Regionals will be in Syracuse, New York; Austin, Texas; Chicago; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 24-27. The Final Four will be in St. Louis April 2 and 4.

Field: Sixty-five teams.

Selection date: March 13.

2004 champion: Connecticut.

Top contenders: Illinois, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Oklahoma State, Boston College, Arizona.

Championship notes: Illinois, ranked No. 1 most of the campaign, saw its bid for an undefeated regular season come to an end March 6 with a 65-64 loss at Ohio State ... North Carolina coach Roy Williams is in search of his first national championship after taking Kansas to four Final Four appearances ... Wake Forest's only Final Four appearance came in 1962 ... Kansas has made three straight trips to the regional finals and two Final Four appearances in 2002 and 2003 ... Kentucky is looking for its first Final Four appearance since appearing in three straight championship games from 1996 to 1998 ... Duke and Oklahoma State both lost in the national semifinals last season.

Division I Women's Basketball Championship

Dates and sites: First- and second-round games will be in Dallas; Fresno, California; Minneapolis; Seattle; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; College Park, Maryland; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Storrs, Connecticut, March 19-22. Regionals will be in Philadelphia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; and Tempe, Arizona, March 26-29. The Final Four will be in Indianapolis April 3 and 5.

Field: Sixty-four teams.

Selection date: March 13.

2004 champion: Connecticut.

Top contenders: LSU, Stanford, Tennessee, North Carolina, Duke, Baylor, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Connecticut.

Championship notes: LSU captured its first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship by going 14-0 in league play, but then lost in the SEC tournament championship game to Tennessee, a team the Tigers had tamed at home in February, ending the Lady Vols' 42-game league regular-season win streak ... LSU's loss to Tennessee opened the door for Stanford to grab the top spot in the Associated Press poll March 7, marking the first time the Cardinal have been ranked No. 1 since December 1996 ... Tennessee has won six NCAA national titles and is looking for its first since 1998, which capped a run of three straight championships ... North Carolina is looking for its first Final Four appearance since winning the 1994 national title ... Connecticut is the three-time defending champion and has made four consecutive trips to the Final Four ... Rutgers has wins over LSU, Tennessee, Connecticut and Boston College this season.

Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship

Dates and sites: East and Midwest regional games (Worcester, Massachusetts, and Grand Rapids, Michigan), March 25-26; Northeast and West regional games (Amherst, Massachusetts, and Minneapolis), March 26-27; national semifinals and final (Columbus, Ohio), April 7 and 9.

Field: Sixteen teams divided into four regions. Four regional winners advance to the Frozen Four.

Selection date: March 20.

2004 champion: Denver.

Top contenders: Colorado, Cornell, Denver, Michigan and Boston College were the top five teams according to the USA Today/USA Hockey magazine poll for the week of February 28.

Championship notes: The 2004 tournament made history with a record five shutout games. The championship game was a shutout for only the third time, with Denver besting Maine, 1-0 ... Last year's 2.2 average goals per game per team was a record low for the tournament ... This is the first time the Frozen Four has been held at a campus site since North Dakota hosted the event in 1983 ... The Men's Frozen Four has remained one of the more popular NCAA championships, selling out for the last five years. This year's Frozen Four also is sold out.

Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships

Dates and site: The national meet will be March 24-26 at Minnesota's University Aquatic Center.

Field: The maximum number of participants allowed is 270. All qualifiers who have made the "A" time standard will be admitted into the meet; those who have met the "B" time standard will be considered until the event is filled. A total of 35 divers will be entered into the championships. No team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

2004 team champion: Auburn.

Top team contenders: California, Auburn, Stanford, Florida and Michigan topped the final regular-season dual-meet poll conducted by the College Swim Coaches Association of America.

Championships notes: Defending champion Auburn won its ninth straight Southeastern Conference title with a 28-point cushion over Florida. Senior Fred Bousquet, the defending national champion in the 50-yard freestyle, won the 100-yard freestyle and became only the second SEC swimmer to successfully defend a title in that event ... Florida's Ryan Locthe set an American, NCAA and US Open record in of 1:38.29 in the 200-yard backstroke at the SEC meet ... Though California was ranked No. 1 in the dual-meet poll, Stanford won the Pacific-10 Conference title for the 24th straight year behind Gary Marshall, who set three league records during the meet. "We expected Gary to swim well, but he was just unbelievable," Stanford coach Skip Kenney said afterward. California finished second, 50 points behind the Cardinal.

Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships

Dates and site: The national meet will be March 17-19 at Purdue's Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

Field: The maximum number of participants allowed is 322. All qualifiers who have made the "A" time standard will be admitted into the meet; those who have met the "B" time standard will be considered until the event is filled. A total of 41 divers will be entered into the championships. No team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

2004 team champion: Auburn.

Top team contenders: Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Texas and Stanford topped the final regular-season dual-meet poll conducted by the College Swim Coaches Association of America.

Championships notes: Auburn won a third consecutive Southeastern Conference championship, but by the slimmest margin (seven points) in meet history. Senior Kristy Coventry, defending national champion in the 200-yard backstroke, was the meet's high point scorer, winning the 200-yard backstroke and both IMs. "I love my team," Coventry said after the Tigers' victory. "There are so many more good things to come at the NCAAs." Georgia placed second at the SEC meet behind Kara Lynn Joyce and Mary DeScenza. Joyce won the freestyle sprints at last year's nationals, while DeScenza is the defending national champion in the 200-yard butterfly ... Stanford's Caroline Bruce was named swimmer of the meet at the Pacific-10 Conference championships. Bruce, a freshman, won three events to help the Cardinal win its third league title in the last four years.