Historically, one of the most intriguing matchups in the NCAA tournament bracket is the 8 versus 9 duel. Since the inception of the 64-team tournament, the underdog No. 9 seeds boast an enchanting 50-42 record against the great No. 8 seeds.

Already in this tournament we've seen 9-seed A&M defeat 8-seed BYU in the West and No. 8 LSU defeat No. 9 Butler in the South -- proving that the 8 versus 9 might not have the alluring upset iridescence of, say, a No. 12 Western Kentucky over No. 5 Illinois -- but just in case you needed another reason to recognize the shimmering sweepstakes upon us, examine what a difference one little seed can make.

Consider the Saints of Siena College -- your No. 9 seed in the Midwest Regional -- primed to take on the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday night in Dayton, Ohio. One little seed separates the MAAC champion from the Big 10 Tournament runner-up and odd makers have given OSU only a slim, three-point nod, so I wouldn't blame you if you glossed over this toss-up in favor of sexier bracket busters. But you would be remiss if you didn't appreciate the beauty of this bout.

The No. 9 seed is the highest in history for Siena, which holds the unique distinction as the smallest of the 64 schools in the tournament -- enrollment 3,222. Now consider that the Saints are going up against OSU, which boasts a total undergrad enrollment of 36,616.

How can you not love that? Seriously, is tournament basketball the great equalizer, or what?

When I graduated from Siena in 2002 (the year the Saints defeated Alcorn State -- in Dayton, Ohio -- in the opening round, then went on to lose to the national champion Maryland Terps) there were four dorms on campus. Today there are five. Just for comparison's sake, I logged onto OSU's Web site and into one of their Admissions Office on-call chat sessions to find out just how many dorms the Columbus campus offers these days.

"Over 40, I believe. Hold on, let me double-check," ghostwriter informed me.

"Yes, 40 is correct."

"And we currently have 22 libraries on campus."

Hmm, Siena had two my sophomore year when they were still bringing books from the old library over a few yards to the super chic new one.

One more thing: The Siena athletic department budget is $9 million -- OSU shells out $115 million for its programs.

Who says if some is good, more is better? So the Buckeyes have 35 dorms, 21 libraries and 106 million bucks on us. They've also got a football team -- we don't and that accounts for our huge, unadulterated hoops heart. We're a basketball school -- a sleeping giant in a snowy city, relying on RPI strength not BCS bucks. Guys like Greg Oden are in and out of Ohio State in one year. At Siena, athletes breeze in and out in about four (the NCAA reports the Graduation Success Rate in Loudonville to be 93% -- the sixth highest among Division I schools). If you're a Saint, you're in it for the long haul.

Siena also took the MAAC title in 2008 and as a No. 13 seed shocked Vanderbilt 83-62 in their first-round matchup before falling to Villanova. This time around, history is on the side of the seed, and a win over Goliath Ohio State would be worth its weight in mid-major mania.

So even though a 9-8 knockout hardly warrants a bat of the bracket eyelashes, take a closer look to reveal stakes sometimes much higher than the sum of its seeds.

Mary Buckheit is a Page 2 columnist. She can be reached at marybuckheit@hotmail.com.