It may come from being snubbed by Illinois as a high school recruit, but former K-State star doesn't appear thrilled with Bruce Weber's hire at his alma mater. (AP)It won't steal much of the spotlight from the Final Four, but on Saturday morning, Kansas State made one of the more curious hires so far this spring.

Less than a week after Frank Martin left for a big payday at South Carolina, which also freed him from some of his struggles with the K-State administration, the Wildcats will give recently fired Illinois coach Bruce Weber a shot.

Weber's name sort of came out of nowhere for the Kansas State job, and early on, it doesn't appear to be the popular choice among Wildcat fans. A wide range of names had been thrown out for the vacancy, ranging from controversial former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl to Colorado coach/rising star Tad Boyle to former K-State stars Steven Henson (Oklahoma assistant) and Tim Jankovich (Illinois State head coach).

One prominent alum whose initial reaction was far from stellar is former star guard Jacob Pullen — the most successful player Martin had during his five-year tenure in Manhattan. He took his frustrations to Twitter.

Pullen helped lead K-State to three NCAA tournament appearances, 95 total wins and an Elite Eight appearance in 2010 in his four seasons — the program's first voyage that deep in the NCAA tourney since 1988.

His mini-rant began as follows:

(@jpullz0)

OK, this first bit clearly comes from a bit of deep-rooted bitterness.

Washington's Terrence Ross is the NIT's leading scorer through three games. Can he carry the Huskies to a title this week in New York City? (AP)No, not that Final Four.

This one tips off on Tuesday night, as two teams from the underachieving Pac-12, a surging middle-of-the-Big-Ten program and one completely unexpected participant vie for the NIT title at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

This one won't get even a 10th of the fanfare that this weekend's national semifinals in New Orleans will receive, which is a no-brainer. But Tuesday's action could be pretty entertaining, with both games being shown on ESPN2

The NIT title game will take place on Thursday night, but before it's determined who will advance, here's a quick primer on Tuesday's semifinal matchups.

No. 5 Massachusetts (25-11) vs. No. 3 Stanford (24-11) — 7 p.m. ET

Well, certainly don't expect UMass to be intimidated by the stage at MSG, as the Minutemen won high-scoring, intense games at Mississippi State, Seton Hall and Drexel to get this far. The latest was last Tuesday's 72-70 triumph at Drexel, in which UMass came back from a 17-point second-half deficit. They're pushing the pace successfully behind 5-foot-9 sophomore guard Chaz Williams, who is one of the tournament's hottest individual performers. Through three games, he's averaging 22.7 points and 5.3 assists per outing, and is 8 of 15 from 3-point range. That sets up a great individual matchup against Stanford sophomore Aaron Bright. Bright, also undersized at 5-foot-11 — a listing that might be a tad generous — is 9 of 12 from deep in the NIT so far, including a career night against Illinois State in the second round, when he hit 6 of 7 3-point attempts and scored a career-high 29 points. The hot shooting has been contagious for Stanford, which wasn't a consistently efficient offensive ball club in the regular season, but is 89 of 172 (51.7  percent) from the floor and 24 of 47 (51.1 percent) from the outside so far in the NIT. Some of that, too, could also be chalked up to having played each of its NIT games at home. That won't be the case here, and UMass comes in looking like it's a bit more battle-tested. Stanford knows the building a bit, having played in the preseason NIT back in November, but the Minutemen should also have a decent advantage in the stands. Projected Winner: UMass.

P.J. Hairston, right, will be one of several key pieces behind another potentially deep NCAA tournament run for the Tar Heels. (AP)From now until Saturday evening, the college basketball spotlight will glare almost entirely on four programs — Those fortunate enough to advance to the Final Four in New Orleans.

But there were four other programs which came so tantalizingly close, getting right to the doorstep of the game's biggest stage, but now have to live with that until the 2012-13 season tips off.

North Carolina. Baylor. Syracuse. Florida. They might have longer offseasons ahead than anyone.

Here's a look at how they might look a bit different come next October, and what they'll need to do to bust through the regional final door next March.

North Carolina

Would a healthy Kendall Marshall have gotten North Carolina over the hump against Kansas on Sunday in St. Louis? Maybe. We'll never know.

In the end, it was simply the last in a long line of brutal injuries that the Tar Heels had to absorb along the way, with this one being too big to overcome, despite freshman Stilman White playing decent ball in two games in Marshall's place.

Now, what happens with the UNC roster?

John Henson, Harrison Barnes and Marshall all have stay-or-go decisions to make over the next week, and losing Tyler Zeller to graduation is a huge blow to the frontcourt, but with mass defections, Roy Williams' club will still be set up for big success.

A strong recruiting class is led by Marcus Paige, who along with Dexter Strickland coming back from a torn ACL should keep UNC strong and deep at the point.

The biggest take here is that the Heels are not dropping off on the recruiting trail, which will keep the talent level strong. The key for Carolina next season might simply be avoiding the injury bug, which was unusually cruel to Roy Williams' program this season.

Had it not shown up, UNC is probably still playing. But that's basketball.

Related NCAA tournament video on Yahoo! Sports:

Can Doron Lamb keep up his hot shooting as Kentucky heads to New Orleans? (AP)Jared Sullinger. Anthony Davis. Thomas Robinson. Peyton Siva.

They're the star pieces at the helm of each of the four teams heading to New Orleans next weekend.

But it's been more than just those individuals who have gotten their teams to college basketball's biggest stage.

Here's a closer look at the most important "other guys" for Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State and Louisville.

Kentucky — Sophomore guard Doron Lamb

Kentucky's big. Kentucky's strong. Kentucky's deep. Kentucky's athletic. Kentucky is ridiculous in every way. We get it.

But adding a nice dose of finesse for the better part of the season has been sophomore sharpshooter Doron Lamb — a 47 percent shooter both from the floor and from long range.

And he's been as hot as any of the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament.

One of Lamb's worst shooting performances of the season came in UK's last loss, when he went 2 of 11 in the SEC title game loss to Vanderbilt. Since then, he's 21 of 37 (56.8 percent) in four tourney games and 9 of 15 from deep.

Against Louisville, that efficiency will be valuable, as the Cardinals have made their surprising Final Four run by mostly winning in grinding fashion. They've defended well and made good, uncontested looks from the perimeter tough to come by. Opponents are only shooting 38.1 percent against them over four games so far.

In the first meeting between the two, Louisville was able to keep Lamb quiet from the floor. He was just 1 of 7, but did damage at the free-throw line, going 8 of 9. He could factor in there again, as he's Kentucky's best free-throw shooter this season, firing at roughly an 85 percent clip.

Kansas — Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor

The Jayhawks' four-year starting point guard has cut down significantly on his signature questionable decisions with the ball as a senior, especially during a closing stretch to the season in which they've won 13 of 14 heading into the Final Four.

Can Taylor still get a little too sped up at times? Yes. He had one of those moments late in the team's Elite Eight victory over North Carolina, firing off a 3-pointer in transition when he was in a 1-on-4 situation.

[ Pat Forde: Bill Self outcoaches Roy Williams and lifts KU into Final Four ]

But in terms of point guards, he provides one of the toughest matchups in America, especially when he's locked in. He's an opportunistic, sticky defender, can score in just about any way and is tough to stay in front of. He had a strong outing against Ohio State's Aaron Craft back in December (nine points, 13 assists), and whoever gets the better of that individual showdown could go a long way in determining who advances to Monday night.

Kansas handled short-handed Ohio State in December. Vegas doesn't think they can do it again with Jared Sullinger in play this time around. (AP)It didn't take long for Las Vegas oddsmakers to make their predictions on who will meet in next Monday's national title game.

Within 30 minutes of the field being set with Kansas taking the last spot, they spoke: The odds are on an Ohio State-Kentucky championship tilt.

Around Vegas, according to VegasInsider.com, Kentucky is floating anywhere between being an 8.5- or 9-point favorite in next Saturday's first semifinal in New Orleans.

When the two first met in Lexington back on Dec. 31, Kentucky closed as a 10-point favorite, but Louisville covered that spread in a 69-62 loss. The over/under in that one was 138, and the number is right around there for the rematch. That non-cover for the Wildcats came during a 14-game stretch between Nov. 20 and Jan. 14 when they went 1-13 against the spread.

[Dan Wetzel: Coaches' stakes flip in Kentucky-Louisville Final Four showdown]

With a 13-point victory over Baylor in the Elite Eight on Sunday as an 8-point favorite, Kentucky covered the spread for the third straight game. It also marked its fifth straight game going over the total. As for Louisville, by coming from behind on Saturday to take down Florida, the Cards covered the spread for the eighth time in a row.

There was one notable similarity between Kentucky's first win of the season back on Nov. 11 over Marist and the Wildcats' resounding 82-70 victory over Baylor on Sunday in Atlanta, which sent them back to the Final Four.

It was the celebration. Or, rather, the lack of immediate jubilation.

After pushing Baylor aside with a commanding performance, Kentucky bucked the trend of teams erupting into hugs and fist pumps as the final buzzer sounded.

Instead, the most lasting image in the game's immediate aftermath? Reserve freshman wing Kyle Wiltjer gingerly walking towards his teammates approaching the handshake line with a thunderous … golf clap.

Sure, they ultimately rejoiced, wore the hats and T-shirts and cut down the nets, but they acted like a team with bigger achievements on its mind.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, though.

Can Cincinnati grind its way to its first Final Four since 1992? (AP)Of the 16 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, 11 were among the top 16 seeds in the field of 68, including all four No. 1 seeds advancing to the upcoming second weekend of the dance.

Here's a closer look at the other five, all seeded No. 6 or lower. Any of them moving on to the Final Four would be looked at as at least a moderate upset.

Cincinnati — No. 6 seed, East Region

Believe it or not, the Bearcats are sitting pretty heading into the program's first Sweet 16 appearance since 2001. With wins over Texas and Florida State last weekend, Cincy got by with defense, as Mick Cronin's club didn't do itself much of a favor with its inconsistent outside shooting. Big, physical and experienced, the Bearcats have shown that they can muddy up any game and be competitive. So why couldn't they do the same against a talented-yet-vulnerable Ohio State squad on Thursday night? If they can, there's the possibility of a third meeting Saturday with top-seed Syracuse, which the Bearcats have already beaten once (and almost twice). The key for Cincinnati this weekend? Dominant performances down low from senior Yancy Gates, who could prove to be trouble for Ohio State star Jared Sullinger.

Florida — No. 7 seed, West Region

The Gators played incredible ball last weekend, but were also the beneficiaries of some good fortune. First, they were matched up against Virginia, which hadn't played great ball over the season's last month, and was prime for a beating — which Florida handed to them in 71-45 fashion. Then, two days later, they thumped what looked like an emotionally drained Norfolk State squad that upset 2-seed Missouri 48 hours earlier. Florida's offense is absolutely clicking, as the undersized Gators have shot better than 50 percent from the floor so far in the tournament. Now we see how for real they are as Final Four contenders, drawing 3-seed Marquette on Thursday night in Phoenix — a team that will aggressively defend the perimeter and give Florida its toughest postseason test yet.

UConn's Alex Oriakhi could be eligible right away wherever he lands. (AP)Despite an underwhelming junior season that started with so much promise, Alex Oriakhi is about to be treated like a star once again on the recruiting trail.

The UConn senior-to-be will be transferring elsewhere for his senior season, according to the Hearst Connecticut Media Group. The confirmation came from his father, Alex Oriakhi Sr.

Not only is the potential rebounding prowess that the 6-foot-9 Oriakhi brings to the table going to be attractive to a wealth of suitors, but so will the fact that Oriakhi likely won't have to sit out a season before being allowed to compete.

UConn is currently banned from the 2013 NCAA tournament due to a subpar academic progress rating, and off that ban remains — UConn is appealing — Oriakhi will receive a waiver from the NCAA allowing him to be eligible elsewhere immediately.

If the ban sticks, it could also potentially mean the departure of others at UConn, but that's purely speculation at this point.

And if the ban is lifted, Oriakhi will indeed have to redshirt next season before playing as a senior in 2013-14. But his father has indicated that Oriakhi will still transfer regardless.

So, here's the question: Do you want Oriakhi on your team?