This won’t be the year of Stephen Curry and Davidson in the NCAA Tournament, but it might be time the college basketball world gets a full taste of Robbie Hummel and surging Purdue We all know about the big, bad Big East, but there are some names to watch out there.

West Virginia

(No. 6 seed)

The trio ofDa’Sean Butler(17.3 points),Alex Ruoff(15.9) andDevin Ebanks(10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds) makes West Virginia a load.

Remember, this is a team that got overshadowed in the Big East, which most experts say put together the finest collection of teams from one league in a single season in college basketball history?

The Mountaineers were knocked out of the conference tournament by Syracuse. In overtime, appropriately.

Tennessee (No. 9 seed)

Every tourney needs a sleeper from an 8-9 game, and the Volunteers fit that category nicely.

They are athletic and have the chance to show that an SEC team can hang with a big boy from the Big East.

Beating Oklahoma State in the first round sets up an intriguing matchup with No. 1 Pittsburgh in the second. We’ll watch that one.

Ohio State (No. 8 seed)

A good matchup zone can be head-scratching to a team not accustomed to it. Look what happened to Michigan State, and the Spartans not only knew it was coming, they’d battled it before.

CoachThad Mattaalso has that game-sealer inEvan Turner. Once the Buckeyes get a lead late in a game, they put it in the hands of their silky sophomore, who is a 78 percent free throw shooter.Clark Kelloggkept coming up with descriptions of No. 21 in Sunday’s TV broadcast of the Big Ten championship game, and they all fit. The guy’s got major game.

Trouble is, after the first-round game with fast-playing Siena, the Buckeyes likely will have to face Louisville, the No. 1 seed in the tourney. But both games will be in Dayton, Ohio.

Western Kentucky (No. 12 seed)

The Hilltoppers, with four reliable scorers, have a seven-game winning streak, have lost only once since January and are one of the few teams to put a waxing on Louisville. Illinois beware.

The Big Ten

Seven teams drew invitations, tying the Big East and the ACC for national supremacy. But be honest: How many can reach the Sweet Sixteen? One? Two? None?

No. 5 seed Purdue appears on a roll, playing its best stretch of basketball of the season in beating Penn State, Illinois and Ohio State in succession, but that might be the kiss of tournament death. Michigan State isn’t playing like a No. 2 seed, but the Spartans seemingly have a nice launching pad (Robert Morris and then either Boston College or USC).

Louisville (No. 1 overall seed)

So the selection committee says this is the best team in college basketball. The one that lost at Notre Dame by 33 points Feb. 12? The one that won the Big East Conference without playing at Connecticut, at Pittsburgh or at Marquette?

This same overall No. 1 also lost to Minnesota, Western Kentucky and UNLV.

Mid-majors

San Diego State, Creighton and St. Mary’s all come to mind as interesting omissions, but none won its conference tourney, obviously. Strength of schedule ultimately became its downfall.

Of the 34 at-large bids, just four went to mid-majors. That number was down from 10 non-power spots in 2003, 12 in ’04, nine in ’05, eight in ’06 and six the past two years.

Penn State

Nittany Lions lost out to Minnesota for several reasons. Getting raked by Purdue in the conference’s quarterfinals didn’t help.