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SALT LAKE CITY — Everyone loves a good NCAA Tournament upset, moments that often punctuate the magic of March Madness.

The Salt Lake City regional could have plenty of those with upstarts like 12th-seeded New Mexico State (30-4), which opens the session Thursday at 11:30 a.m. MDT against Auburn (TNT) and Fairleigh Dickinson (21-13), who had to come back from a halftime deficit and stun Prairie View A&M in Tuesday’s First Four just to make the field of 64.

But the allure of the tournament, its marketability, its selling point, isn’t often driven by the little guys.

For the next four days, Salt Lake City will be about the brand names of college basketball. Kansas is here, fresh off its first season without a Big XII title in 14 years, as is top-seeded Gonzaga, Auburn from the mighty SEC, and Syracuse, which will face Big XII foe Baylor.

Kansas coach Bill Self has been on both sides of the divide — the one separating college basketball “haves” from the “have-nots.” Before settling in Lawrence, the 56-year-old from Edmond, Oklahoma had stops at Tulsa and Oral Roberts — so he has some idea of what 13th-seeded Northeastern is feeling as they look up at the No. 4 seed in the Midwest at 2 p.m. MDT Thursday (TNT).

The Huskies are looking at a chance to make a little March magic.

Kansas' head coach Bill Self speaks to the media during practice at the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Wednesday, March 20, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP)

“Let’s just be totally candid and honest,” Self said. “When teams watch certain teams play on TV, I’m sure if you were at a school like we were at Tulsa, we got tired of seeing those schools. You could name every player one through eight, even their substitution patterns.

“So you come into a situation where obviously there’s mutual respect — but there may be a bit more of a chip on somebody else’s shoulder and that is what you have to negate. It can’t mean more to one than it does to the other. It certainly means a lot. We know that. It has to mean as much or more to us, but that is how upsets occur.”

Gonzaga knows what it’s like to be one of the top dogs in the NCAA Tournament. A school with an enrollment of 569 as late as 1998 has risen to become one of the top teams in the country year after year under head coach Mark Few.

The Zags will be the No. 1 seed in Salt Lake City, just as they were two years ago when they won the West regional in one of four-straight trips to the Sweet 16 or farther.

But even Gonzaga has pause in the first round of the tournament this year; no longer are No. 1 seeds the unbeaten goliaths of years past.

Now there’s a game plan to topple a top seed — thanks to UMBC and last year’s 74-54 wire-to-wire upset of No. 1 overall seed Virginia.

“I have watched enough over the years that I think probably reinforces the hope and the belief of the team that’s in that 16 slot,” said Few, whose team is most recently coming off a 60-47 loss to rival Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference tournament title game. “Those of us that have been in the 1 slot have fully understood that it could definitely happen, and obviously, it did happen.”

Back in the SLC

Former Runnin' Ute JoJo Zamora has New Mexico State in familiar territory at NCAA Tournament New Mexico State will open the NCAA Tournament at 11:30 a.m. Thursday against fifth-seeded Auburn (26-9). The Aggies are a trendy pick in a trend 12-5 upset in the tournament, with a 30-win team and a squad that rotates heavily to play as many as 13.

Fairleigh Dickinson will be one of four 1-0 teams in the tournament after Wednesday’s First Four finale, which could give the Knights a slight advantage.

They’ve played recently and had the chance to shake off rust against Prairie View in a game where the Knights committed nine turnovers in the first nine minutes and trailed 41-34 at halftime.

But the Zags will also have an advantage when they tip off Thursday at 5:27 p.m. MDT (TruTV): the crowd.

It’s not just proximity, either. With the ties of legendary Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton to Salt Lake City, many neutrals are naturally drawn to Gonzaga. Throw in the Zags’ annual trips to Utah since BYU joined the WCC in 2011, and Gonzaga can count on a bastion of fans on the Wasatch Front — both traveling and locally.

“Our fans do a great job of traveling with us wherever we go anyway,” Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins said. “In Utah, we have so many ties and being close to Washington in a way, it will feel like a home game.

“Two years ago, it felt like that. We fed off the crowd, and as basketball players, that is huge.”

Syracuse won’t be the only power-conference brand-name in its first-round matchup against Baylor (19-13) at 7:57 p.m. Thursday (TruTV).

Gonzaga players huddle following practice for the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Wednesday, March 20, 2019, in Salt Lake City. Gonzaga plays Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday. (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP)

But the Orange (20-13) will be playing without senior point guard Frank Howard, who was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules, the university announced Wednesday afternoon — right before Syracuse players headed to address the media prior to their open practice at Vivint Arena.

“We found out when you guys found out,” said Orange star Tyus Battle, a Jerry West Award finalist who averaged 17.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a junior. “We played without players before. Foul trouble, you have to play without players. Injuries, you have to play without players.

“If we play our game, we’ll be fine.”

Battle recently returned from an injury that kept him out of the ACC Tournament himself. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim didn’t elaborate with how long Howard, a senior who averaged 8.9 points and a team-best 2.89 assists per game, would be out for the Orange.

Baylor ended the season with four-straight losses, while Syracuse lost four of its final five regular-season contests.

But that won’t have any effect on Thursday, Boeheim said.

“I think you start out here and you’re ready to go,” he said. “We lost. They lost to really good teams. We lost to three No. 1 seeds in the tournament.

“So, I guess they’re pretty good. That has nothing to do with what’s going to happen here tomorrow.”

NCAA Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena

Thursday, March 21

New Mexico State vs. Auburn, 11:30 a.m. MDT (TNT)

Northeastern vs. Kansas, 2 p.m. MDT (TNT)

Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Gonzaga, 5:15 p.m. MDT (TruTV)

Baylor vs. Syracuse, 7:55 p.m. MDT (TruTV)

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