Questions that need answering

Opening tip is still three hours away here in the Ford Center. Some questions need to be answered from teams competing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament:

- Who will score more points today, Brigham’s Young junior guard Jimmer Fredette or Lehigh freshman guard C.J. McCollum? Speaking of Fredette, the BYU record for most points in an NCAA game is 37 by Danny Ainge in 1981 against UCLA. 

- Exactly how good is Northern Iowa’s defense? Will the UNI-UNLV game be in the 40′s or 50′s?

- Who is keeping BYU’s stats? Can a team really shoot that well — 78.6 percent from the free-throw line (first nationally); 83.0 points (second); 17.8-point margin of victory (second); 41.9 percent from 3-point range (third); and 48.6 percent from the field (13th nationally)?

- How does today’s Florida team compare now its national championship teams in 2006 and 2007?

- North Texas has won 11 straight and Kansas State has lost three of its last five, yet no one gives the Mean Green a chance in blazes of winning.

- Why would the No. 15 seed (North Texas) have to travel only roughly half the distance (150 miles to 300 miles) as the No. 2 seed (Kansas State)? Isn’t there a rule a lower-seeded team should have such a travel advantage against the higher-seeded team? Actually, there is. From the NCAA’s own principles and procedures to bracketing:  “To recognize the demonstrated quality of such teams, the committee shall not place teams seeded on the first five lines at a potential ‘home-crowd disadvantage’ in the first round.”

- Kansas is No. 1 in all the important categories, but is this the week the Jayhawks finally reach their full potential? They’ve won 32 times, yet have played up to their capabilities an average of roughly 15 minutes per game. What’s that mean? That means KU has the greatest margin for error of any team in the country, a terrific recipe for success when you have to go on a six-game winning streak to win your second national title in three seasons.