Bob Knight will pay his $10,000 fine, Princeton is finally a favorite and North Carolina is doing quite nicely without Dean Smith. And more plot lines are certain to emerge when the NCAA's 64-team showcase begins today.

A top seed has never lost to a 16th seed, but plenty have struggled in shaking the butterflies.

''We were riding high last year, and we were playing a team named Fairfield, and all of the sudden they were giving us a run for our money,'' Antawn Jamison of top-ranked North Carolina says of last year's opener, an 82-74 win. ''This time we sort of have a lot to prove.''

The Tar Heels (30-3) are now coached by Bill Guthridge, the retired Smith's longtime assistant.

They get to prove their point against Navy (19-10), which shocked Syracuse a decade ago when David Robinson was the team's centerpiece. There's no Robinson this time, only a hard-working team that won the Colonial Conference tournament.

The Middies and Tar Heels tip off the tournament at Hartford Conn., at 12:20 p.m. EST today, five minutes before Xavier (22-7) takes on the University of Washington (18-9) in Washington, D.C.

Knight and Indiana (19-11) will be in Washington to play Oklahoma (22-10) in an early evening game. Knight agreed Wednesday to pay a $10,000 fine levied by the Big Ten for his barbs at referee Ted Valentine.

For Princeton, it's a new feeling. The Tigers (26-1) used to be the low seed nobody wanted to play, losing by a point to Georgetown and knocking off UCLA in first-round games.

Now the Tigers are the fifth seed in the East, taking on Nevada-Las Vegas (20-12) in Hartford. Today's games are in the East and West. The South and Midwest regionals start Friday.

Eastern Michigan plays Michigan State today. Many of the players know each other from their playground days.

''The experience factor is going to help us a great deal,'' says Earl Boykins, the 5-foot-5 star of Eastern, the 13th seed in the regional.

''There isn't a player on our team who doesn't respect them,'' says coach Tom Izzo of the fourth-seeded Spartans.