ANAHEIM, Calif. -- BYU Basketball Sports Information Director Brett Pyne needs to be good at storytelling.

It's his stories -- later told by some of the country's top college basketball personalities -- that give flavor to the NCAA Tournament and make those TV guys looks good.

During the Cougars' Wednesday practice at the Honda Center, Pyne and Assistant SID Jen Connery spent the 40 minutes talking to CBS announcers Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas and their producer, prepping them for today's BYU-Texas A&M matchup.

"Is Jimmer his real name?" "How many players are married?" "Where are they going on their mission?" Those are the questions Pyne and Connery answer.

"It's amazing how good these guys are at processing all the information," said Pyne, who noted Enberg and Bilas have to prep for eight different teams in the first round. "They're looking for interesting or unique stories, style of play, personnel ... everything."

Back in November, Pyne fed information to ESPN color man Dick Vitale for BYU's game in Las Vegas against nationally ranked Louisville. During the ESPN2 broadcast, Vitale mentioned Pyne's name several times and in the second half, pulled out a random bit of information they had discussed during an appropriate moment.

"I said it as an afterthought and I know he didn't write it down," Pyne said. "I couldn't believe he remembered it."

Vitale and Bilas were especially interested in BYU sophomore forward Jonathan Tavernari, who was coached from a young age by his mother.

One bit of information you can expect Enberg and Bilas to use today: A major TV network in Brazil has picked up the NCAA Tournament, which allows Tavernari's family to watch the games. They wanted to know how to say "hello" in Portugese.

• Those smart guys: While some are touting the Stanford-Cornell matchup as the "Battle of the Nerds," both teams are underplaying the academic aspect of the meeting.

"It's just basketball," Stanford guard Mitch Johnson said. "I think however people's schedules fall for academics and things like that are pretty minor. If you've been successful enough to get to the NCAA Tournament, all the outside factors are basically thrown out the window and it comes down to that 40 minutes of basketball."

Cornell guard Louis Dale, the Ivy League Player of the Year, agreed.

"We're going to play a basketball game, so we're going to focus on what they do and how we're going to try to beat them," he said.

• I'll have a side of that: Reporters asked Cornell's Louis Dale about what he planned to do with his Policy Analysis and Management degree.

"I want to go into investment banking," Dale said. "Policy Analysis and Management is sort of like a business major with, like, a little side of policy, I guess. So that's what I'm looking to do."

• A good education: Former Mountain View High standout Ryan Cheesman transfered from Utah Valley State to Cornell in 2000 and played in 14 games during the 2000-2001 season. Cheesman earned a B.S. in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell and currently works as an associate at Seare Marriott and Co., which specializes in middle-market investment banking with offices in Richmond, Va., and Salt Lake City.

• Learning from experience: BYU junior Lee Cummard remembers last year's first-round exit in a close loss to Xavier, and he doesn't want to repeat it.

"I think last year, going away from the game, I felt like I didn't play my best game and didn't contribute as much as I could," Cummard said. "And what I can take away from that is to play so you don't have to have that feeling again and contribute as much as you can.

"As far as the team, I thought we played collectively pretty well as far as effort. And we've got to do the same thing again this year. Hopefully, we can make more plays down the stretch."

• Telling them apart: Stanford's Mitch Johnson was asked the difference between teammates and 7-foot sophomore twins Brook and Robin Lopez.

"Robin is probably the more emotional one and Brook is probably the one that's more quiet. Although, you put a microphone in front of Brook on a good day, he'll talk to you, too."

• History repeats itself? Freshman All-American Kevin Love said he's well aware of the history of No. 1 seed UCLA and his team's responsibility to live up to the expectations.

"I think we've got to make the people that have come here before us proud. Mr. Alcindor, Mr. Walton, Mr. Hazzard, they won those national championships. ... and Coach John R. Wooden, the greatest coach in basketball history, we're trying to make those guys proud.

"We wear that UCLA symbol across our chest. We're just trying to hang another banner up there and go for No. 12."

The Bruins have won 11 national titles.

• What we're here for: Mississippi Valley State's Stanford Speech said when he and his teammates found out they were going to play in Anaheim, they laughed and said, "We're going to Disneyland!"

But he also said the Delta Devils are serious about their NCAA Tournament opportunity.

"We didn't come out here to go to Disneyland," Speech said. "We came out here to play a game. And we just want to be the best 16 seed in the tournament."

And what about the fact no 16 seed has ever won a tournament game?

"I just want to say, do you guys remember Appalachian State?" Speech said. "How many of you guys picked them to beat Michigan? They say in college basketball, the parity level is going up and we just want to go out and give ourselves a chance to win the game."

• Senior leaders: In the era of the good ones playing a year or two, then moving on, Kentucky is lucky to have a couple of valuable seniors.

Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley have carried the Wildcats into the postsason when a young team struggled early in the season with a new coach, then lost two promising younger players to injury.

"I think the biggest difference for me was a change," said the 6-foot-5 forward Crawford, referring to the removal of Tubby Smith as head coach in favor of Billy Gillispie. "Going through a certain thing for three years and to have a new philosophy to adapt to."

Crawford, at 17.3 points per game, is UK's leading scorer. Bradley (15.8) is third. It's the middle slot that is awfully hard to replace, and it remains to be seen whether the 11th-seeded Wildcats can muster enough against No. 6 Marquette.

• Making a name: It's been five years since Marquette played Kentucky, and that meeting sparked a resurgence of the Golden Eagles.

The young kids -- like recruits -- may not think much of the school's 1977 national championship. So it was the 2003 run to the Final Four, led by future NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, that helped build teams like the one getting ready to play in a third consecutive NCAA tournament.

"That's probably the first time I really heard of Marquette," Dominic James said. "I feel like that's the first time Marquette became a household name to the entire country. I know it's great to follow in the footsteps of guys like Dwyane Wade and Travis Diener and Steve Novak. I feel like those are names we all know, and reasons why we all came to Marquette."

Marquette, which is a No. 6 seed getting ready to play Kentucky, has been in the national landscape since that postseason run but has hardly reached the same level. Following Wade's graduation, the Eagles went to the NIT, and they've lost in three consecutive NCAA first-round games.

Coach Tom Crean points out this is the first time since 1978-80 the program has been this successful getting repeat NCAA bids.

• Getting a 'W': A team that has done well this year not looking ahead is trying to keep its minds from wandering to history.

BYU, you may have read or heard, hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 1993. How the Cougars respond to their sixth opportunity may shape the future of the program, and also the legacy of this year's squad.

"I think it would show the progress we've made from last year, that we've grown," Lee Cummard said. "You look at last season and this season, up to this point, and compare them -- it's very similar when you look at wins and losses. If we don't win, it would still be a successful year but it wouldn't show any of the growth and progress we've made. Also, it's a special group. To be remembered as one, we have to post a win here."

• The buzz of the tournament: No one has a better feel for this West Regional site than Marquette assistant coach Buzz Williams.

See if you can keep up: He used to be an assistant at Texas A&M, which is also in Anaheim this week.

He was a former aide of Billy Gillispie, who is finishing up his first year at Kentucky. The Wildcats are around, too -- and they're Marquette's first-round opponent.

Formerly an aide at Colorado State, he could also talk a little bit about the Mountain West Conference at BYU.

Williams had a hand in attracting to College Station a fair chunk of players that will go against BYU, including leading scorer Josh Carter and highly touted freshman center DeAndre Jordan.

• Story lines: The Texas A&M Aggies had a rough Tuesday getting to Anaheim. They went to Dallas for the funeral for the mother of sophomore Donald Sloan. Then issues with the plane didn't allow them to get into the hotel until about midnight pacific time (about 2 a.m. back home.)

Brutal, yes, but not embarrassing. Whoever says the NCAA selection committee doesn't like juicy story lines should check out this regional. A&M is here, and so is its coach from last year, Billy Gillispie, with his new team, Kentucky.

"That's something that came up," senior Joseph Jones said.

Coach Mark Turgeon was just glad that the teams aren't expected to face each other. He met with Gillispie during a coach's meeting, but that's as close as the teams will get. Kentucky funnels into the South Regional, A&M the West.

"I really thought -- and (the NCAA selection committee) says they don't do this -- but I really thought we were going to be playing Kentucky," Turgeon said. "Originally in an 8-9 game, then they lost to Georgia, so I thought maybe we moved up to a 7 and they'd be a 10 (seed). I was hoping they wouldn't do that to the players and coach Gillispie."

• Jet lag: Coaches whose teams made long trips from the east aren't complaining.

"I'm not into all that kind of stuff," UK's Billy Gillispie said. "I'm old school on a lot of things. We came out here to play basketball. ... Other than drinking a lot of water -- and I think water is a miracle drug -- but I think there's nothing different than if we were traveling a short distance."

Cornell traveled even further. Coach Steve Donahue thanked the NCAA for getting his team out as quickly as possible.

"The NCAA has been unbelievable," he said. "We were actually concerned getting out of Ithaca (New York). We don't have a real close airport that can usually handle bigger jets. So we were able to charter right out of cold weather and get into warm weather, direct flight. It's been a pleasure."

One coach who has to be thrilled with travel plans is Stanford's Trent Johnson. His squad was sent to Lexington, Ky., last year and played horrifically against Louisville in a 20-point loss.

The Cardinal traveled about 2,500 miles across the country and was playing at 9:30 a.m. PT. Now they're a short trip away from the Bay Area.

• More Kentucky: Patrick Patterson, the team's most talented player and only a freshman, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot at the end of February. The 6-foot-8 forward's team went 12-4 in the SEC East, trailing only Tennessee.

"You know, it's been hard the entire way," Patterson said. "And it gets harder as we go down the stretch. Looking at our two seniors, I really want to play with them."

Patterson averaged about 16 points. He watched the team's practice Wednesday appearing in good spirits, with a large protective boot.

Coach "G," as players call Billy Gillispie, said that Jodie Meeks is likely doubtful as well. The team's fourth-best scorer, a sophomore guard, hasn't played since Feb. 16 because of a stress fracture to the groin area.

UK, with all its privileges and prestige, isn't accustomed to big struggles. This year has been trying, as Gillispie couldn't work his program-building magic immediately. The Wildcats lost to Gardner-Webb in the preseason and San Diego at home.

"You're like, this is ridiculous," Kentucky's Ramel Bradley said.

Normalcy has returned -- somewhat. UK squeaked into the tournament as a No. 11 seed. Gillispie kept unwavering faith things would improve, and his players followed.

"Coach just continued to tell us, 'hey, around SEC time we're going to pick things up and be right where we want to be,' " Bradley said. "Surely enough, he was right. We just kept improving each and every day. And here we are."

• Cat got your tongues?: Trent Plaisted and Lee Cummard weren't in much mood for elaboration, at least when it came on questions that could spark their opponent.

Asked if he would follow up on Plaisted's remarks about BYU's past tournament failures, Cummard said, "No. What he said was great."

Plaisted vaguely commented about the mismatches the Cougars could create on A&M. Asked by the NCAA interview mediator to elaborate, he retorted: "No. I'm good where I'm at right now."

Both comments produced some of the bigger laughs heard in the media room during a six-hour period.