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As the 52nd, 53rd and 54th teams were rattled off, junior guard Tony Stanley had a pillow in his face. He only knew Dayton was picked, as the 58th team listed in the 64-squad draw, when he heard teammates, coaches, friends and family cheering.

Two years ago, there was no such exuberance when the 21-12 Flyers were not selected.

"We were on the outside looking in, so we know how it feels to be on the outside," said senior guard Edwin Young. "Coach said then that we knocked on the door, but this year we walked through the door."

The Flyers sprinted out of the gate with eight consecutive victories, their best start in 34 seasons. In that streak, a win over then-No. 11 Kentucky in Cincinnati was Dayton's first on the road over an early-season, ranked opponent in 30 years.

And for the first time in 10 years, Dayton walked through the doors of the NCAA Tournament here at McKale Center early Tuesday afternoon. By contrast, Gene Keady, whose Purdue team plays Dayton in Thursday's first round, has played in 20 NCAA games over the past 10 years.

Keady discounted the theory that that experience gives him and his team an edge over the Flyers.

"When it's one and done," he said, "you just better be able to play the best basketball of your career."

In a 10-year stretch from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, the Flyers won the National Invitation Tournament and qualified for the NCAAs six times under coach Don Donoher.

In 1967, they lost to Lew Alcindor and the UCLA dynamo in the national championship game at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Don May paced that team with 22.2 points a game. Donald Smith, Johnny Davis, Henry Finkel and Jim Paxson are other distinguished alums.

"I've always admired their tradition," Keady said. "Don was always one guy we looked up to and respected. They're good for the game and have always been one of my favorites."

Sixth-year Dayton coach Oliver Purnell, who signed a 10-year contract extension in 1998, is gratified to have the program back on the national scene.

Purnell masterminded the biggest turnaround in NCAA history at Radford in 1990-91, when he guided the Highlanders to a 22-7 season after they had gone 7-22 the previous season. He has duplicated that touch at Dayton.

In 1994-95, the Flyers were 7-20 in Purnell's first year. They followed that with a 15-14 mark, the third-most improved team in Division I basketball that season. UD was 11-17 last season, and its 11-victory improvement this season is the best in school history.

"It's been a lot of fun, because the people want a winner so badly," Purnell said. "They remember. Our fans, the community and the students have all gotten excited about what's going on. It's off the charts. They believe we can come here and win, and that's a great thing."

Young said he and his teammates are "treated like stars" wherever they go in or around Dayton.

"We're happy to be in Arizona, but if we were in Cleveland or New York (Buffalo), we probably would have gotten seven or eight thousand fans to follow us," Young said. "But we'll just have to represent the best way we know how, and we know our fans will be behind us."

The West is hardly the best

In a mediocre West Region, 11th-seeded Dayton and 12th-seeded Indiana State stick out as the only teams that have not lost back-to-back games this season. The Midwest also has only two such teams (Iowa State and Michigan State), while the South and East have five apiece.

Cincinnati, Ohio State, Tennessee, Tulsa and Utah State are South teams that haven't lost back-to-backers this season, while Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida, Hofstra and Lafayette in the East have avoided losing two in a row.

A ranking of the 64 teams in six statistical categories also shows that the West, especially the eight teams in the sub-regional here in Tucson, pales in comparison to the other three regionals.

The Midwest, whose 16 teams are ranked 17 times in the top 10 in those categories, is the most solid regional. But the best sub-regional is in Nashville, Tenn., whose eight teams appear 11 times in the top 10s.

Tulsa and Nevada-Las Vegas could put on the best show of the first round, since that's the lone game that pits two of the tournament's top 10 scoring teams. The 10th-seeded Rebels average 82.8 points, fourth-highest among the NCAA's 64 teams, and the seventh-seeded Golden Hurricane a fifth-best 81.2.

And here in Tucson, the two top-10 stats are owned by the same team -- Northern Arizona. The 15th-seeded Lumberjacks, who open against second-seeded St. John's on Thursday, are sixth in 3-point shooting (39.3 percent) and first in free throws (75.4 percent).

Sooner compete than play hard

Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, whose third-seeded Sooners (26-6) open Thursday against 14th-seeded Winthrop (21-8), said his team plays a distinct style.

"There's a big difference between playing hard and competing," Sampson said. "A lot of teams that play hard will be watching us on television tomorrow. But I still didn't think we'd be this good. I didn't think we'd be 26-6. You could have made a lot of money betting me on that one."

Sampson had to replace four starters from last season's team that lost to Michigan State in the Sweet 16, but he had a jewel -- forward Eduardo Najera -- as a solid foundation.

"It was a bit of a rebuilding year," Sampson said. "But I don't know if you're allowed to rebuild, though. Expectations say differently."

Boilers' switch might benefit Dayton

Purdue coach Gene Keady said he might not decide until game time whether sophomore forward-center Rodney Smith or sophomore center John Allison will start in the post over Greg McQuay.

McQuay has played himself out of the lineup, having started 30 games last season and 20 in 1999-2000. But he only averaged 5.4 points in the Big Ten this season, and one scouting report said new contact lenses have helped McQuay expand his shooting range to 3 feet.

Smith averages 5.2 points but hits 45.7 percent of his 3-point attempts, while Allison scores only 3.3 points but nails 57.4 percent of his field goals. The Flyers might counter by running and gunning past a typical Big Ten beef team.

"I think we get up and down the floor real well," said Stanley, Dayton's All-Atlantic-10 guard. "I think that's what we have to use to our advantage. And if we win, I don't think it'll be considered an upset. We have nothing to lose, and a team with nothing to lose is dangerous."

Purnell said neither he nor his players feel like they're overmatched against Purdue, and games against Temple (a six-point loss) and Massachusetts (a five-point win) toughened the Flyers.

"We have a team that hasn't minded playing either tempo," Purnell said. "Obviously, either way, you have to get easy baskets. We'll look to run, and to stop them. Defense will dictate that."