Tulsa came within five points of the Final Four in a breakout season for its program and its coach, Bill Self.

It turned out to be a breakout offseason for Self, who finally broke out of Tulsa to take over at Illinois.

The loss is profound, but just another day at the office for Tulsa, a school that also produced Tubby Smith and Nolan Richardson. Self guided the Golden Hurricane to a 32-5 record and a berth in the Elite Eight. Self's no-name lineup nearly upset North Carolina in the Elite Eight, losing 59-55.

What's even more astounding is three of Tulsa's losses were to Fresno State -- by a combined six points. Tulsa's other regular season loss, to lowly Oral Roberts, was by one point. So it's not a stretch to say the Hurricane flirted with an undefeated regular season.

Thanks in large part to its victories over Tulsa, Fresno State received its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 1984. After four consecutive 20-win seasons -- seasons that wound up with trips to the NIT -- Jerry Tarkanian's squad left nothing to chance as they beat Tulsa 75-72 to win the WAC tourney and earn an automatic bid to the Big Dance.

The Bulldogs' foray into the tourney was shortlived -- they were bounced by Wisconsin in the first round -- but it should serve as a motivator for the coming season.

Conference champion

The Golden Hurricane overcame their biggest weakness -- Fresno State -- to capture the WAC title.

The only two blemishes on their conference record were against the Bulldogs. Fortunately for Tulsa, Tark's troops stumbled on the road against an awful UTEP team, losing by 14, to give the Golden Hurricane the one-game cushion they needed.

Biggest disappointment

With 6-9 forward Marquise Gainous back for his senior year, Billy Tubbs' TCU squad appeared primed to make a run at the conference title. No such luck.

The Horned Frogs were crushed by conference champ Tulsa three times, including a season-ending 22-point loss in the conference tourney. They finished 18-14 and didn't receive a postseason bid for the first time since '96.

It was a frustrating season for Tubbs, who had two starters back from a team that finished 21-11 and made the quarterfinals of the NIT. Fortunately, Tubbs has a good recruiting class coming in, including UNLV transfer Greedy Daniels, who had to sit out last season.

Biggest surprise

It's hard to call Fresno State a surprise, because they had four returning starters and were a preseason favorite to win the conference. But talent has never been a question for Fresno. It's just been a matter of staying away from samurai swords, domestic violence and drugs. So to that degree, it was somewhat of a surprise that Tark's team was able to keep its nose clean.

Tark's hate-hate relationship with the NCAA has left him on the outside looking in after four consecutive 20-win seasons at Fresno. The thinking was that the Bulldogs either had to go 30-2 or win the WAC tourney to get into the Big Dance. Fortunately, they won the tourney.

To see Tark back on the sideline in an NCAA Tournament game -- chewing nervously on a white towel -- was good for college basketball. And surprising for those who thought his program would fall apart.

Player of the year

Courtney Alexander was far and away the best player in the WAC, and arguably the best guard in the country. Alexander, who has a prototypical NBA body, averaged 25.3 points and led the Bulldogs to a long-awaited NCAA Tournament bid.

Tulsa's Eric Coley and Brandon Kurtz also deserve recognition. SMU's Jeryl Sasser, who declared for the NBA Draft, had an impressive season as well.

Coach of the year

The latest in a long line of top-notch coaches to come through Tulsa, nobody expected Self to stick around for long.

Self's name belies his coaching style as his teams play an uptempo brand of unselfish basketball. The Hurricane carved up the likes of Cincinnati and Miami (Fla.) in the NCAA Tournament, establishing Tulsa as the real deal.

The future

The bad news for Tulsa is that they're losing three starters from a team that went 32-5. The good news is their leading scorer, sixth man David Shelton, is back.

Shelton, who averaged 13.5 points, will be joined by returning starters Marcus Hill (11.2 ppg) and Greg Harrington (10.8 ppg). Now if the Hurricane can only find a way to hang on to Self.

SMU rolled to a surprising 21-9 season, but might be losing junior guard Jeryl Sasser to the NBA Draft.

Fresno State loses three starters, including Alexander, but has Demetrius Porter and Melvin Ely returning. Tarkanian has always been able to recruit in a pinch, so the Bulldogs will likely be loaded for another run at the Big Dance.