Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

How it looks after the smoke clears from the two-night battles ahead Monday and Tuesday remains to be seen, but going into the fray, this is perhaps the greatest lineup of contenders at this stage in NCAA women's tournament history. That's especially true when you focus on just the talent level, which is almost like a USABasketball Olympic futures reunion.

Back in February at the NCAA mock bracket sessions as we assembled in Indianapolis, the Guru made a joke about how a lot of money could be saved by just holding an eight-team tournament with the seven top Associated Press teams and perhaps a play-in round or two for the last spot.

And that is eactly what happened. The entire top eight of the AP final poll has made it through. The 1-2 seeds have made it through. And while some bemoan the like of a deep parity in women's basketball, the next days are a far cry from the last part of the '90s and first part of this decade when everything was a dress rehearsal for UConn-Tennessee.

Having had Cinderella experience coaching Arkansas to a Final Four and the Tennessee FAB-Five coronation in 1998, Gary Blair is about to play the same role again with Texas A&M, which is the winner of that mythical play-in tournament.

In fact, his job to get to the South, but off the golf courses, is to find a way past the Vols in Oklahoma City, Tuesday night.

What's remarkable about the other seven is that however one would shuffle the deck, any matchup among them, besides the one ahead, is worthy of a title game. In fact, a large chunk of showdowns among the solid seven have already occurred during the regular season, notably by Rutgers, which faced five of the eight.

More story lines exist than one has room or time to write, except for my all-night pal out of Kansas City who can be found at ESPN.Com.

How would any of these confrontations fit with your desires if one could re-seed toward a title game.

Maryland-Stanford: Well, we're getting that one out West Monday night in Spokane. On one side for the Cardinal is Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel, while the Terrapins sport 2006 title vets Crystal Langhorne, Kristi Toliver, Laura Harper, Marissa Coleman. On the sidelines its the veteran Tara VanDerveer with Stanford against the newer generational Brenda Frese, who recently personality acquired two members of a brand new generation (her twins) being hatched this season.

Maryland-Connecticut: This could occur in the national semifinals and that group of media hounds north of here known as the Horde would be all over it, recalling the commit-nerver-mind decision by Harper as a high school senior to be reportedly declared for the Huskies on a Friday night, only to announce the Terrapins as her choice several days later.

Maryland-Tennesse: It's a game many thought would happen a second time in 2006 until North Carolina blocked the Vols' path. And that leads us to ...

Maryland-North Carolina: It happened already once in the regular season in Chapel Hill, with Erlana Larkins and LaToya Pringle carrying the the Tar Heels in overtime. The second ACC projected confrontation didn't happen in the conference tourney, thanks to Duke's upset of the Terrapins.

Maryland-Rutgers: It was a great game as the Jimmy V Classic at Rutgers in December when the Scarlet Knights rallied for a win.

Maryland-LSU: It was also a classic in the WNIT won by the Terrapins in a closely-fought battle.

Maryland-Texas A&M: Not quite the matchup any would have predicted, but it certainly would be interesting.

Rutgers-Connecticut: It's the didn't-happen Big East title tilt brought to Tobacco Road in the rubber match Tuesday night in Greensboro, N.C. Both sides and the conference office would have loved this to occur in Tampa, where, actually Big East member South Florida is the host school. Rutgers won the nail-biter, Connecticut won the quick TKO in the regular season. Does the Maya Moore sensational rookie story continue or will Scarlet Knights seniors Essence Carson, Matee Ajavon and Katie Adams be forced to say farewell. If the latter happens, the tears of Rutgers fandom will begin to dry after the postseason dinner as they eagerly await the solid gold recruiting class that will arrive in September.
And Kia Vaughn, Heather Zurich, and Epiphanny Prince will still be around.

Rutgers-LSU: Another encore classic from the regular season won by the Scarlet Knights in a physically-played game in Piscataway.

Rutgers-North Carolina: If this occurs, someone, somewhere will remember out of all the hubris since selection Monday, the Tar Heels were the team Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer had designated as the best of all of the poisons that potentially could have been dealt to her group by the selection committee.

Rutgers-Tennessee: A second-straight NCAA title showdown. And then there's the matter of a February game won by the Vols in Knoxville - tick,tick, tick ..., ..., tick.

Rutgers-Texas A&M: Blair and Stringer have a million stories they could tell trying to capture the nation's fancy.

Rutgers-Stanford: This went to the Cardinal on a controversial foul call at Rutgers in the season opener in New Jersey. It would be a great test to determine who went on to have the greatest endurance, especially the Scarlet Knights on their rugged schedule.

Connecticut-North Carolina: The Huskies shook off a first-half battery in Storrs in early February to create a Tar Heel meltdown the rest of the way. Yet another on this list that has classic written all over it.

Connecticut-LSU: It seems like only yesterday that Huskies coach Geno Auriemma was having makeup applied by the TV folks in the summer of 1997 in Houston so he could interview then-Comets coach Van Chancellor before the first WNBA title game. It was longer than that when both once hitched a ride to dinner in the back seat of the Guru's car so they could feel important during Olympic tryouts in Colorado Springs.
It seems like only last month, and it was, that the Huskies edged the Tigers in Baton Rouge, showing they had begun to shake off the effects of the season-ending knee injuries to Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene.

Connecticut-Stanford: The Cardinal caused a close encounter in the Caribbean in November when the then-totally Huskies were beating up on the rest of the world. Time heels all wounds, so Rebecca Lobo, the former UConn star who was "reluctantly" accepted by VanDerveer on the '96 Olympians, will be on the sidelines for this one with the ESPN crew.

Connecticut-Texas A&M: Blair and Geno in as surprise matchup, which would mean you-know-who wouldn't be participating in Tampa. It's the two former victims of the mythical "men's" bracket in the women's tournament -- notice how that doesn't come up anymore on Selection Monday. These two teams would be strangers, but Auriemma commented last week that at this time of year, the Huskies spend more time worrying about their own game plans, rather than reacting to one by the opposition.

Stanford-Tennessee: It's the overtime upset in Palo Alto, Calif., at home against the Vols that put the Cardinal on a road to a No. 1 seed that they plunged off of a week or so later with back-to-back losses to Southern Cal and UCLA. Potential foes in this one and this summer in the WNBA, Wiggins and Candice Parker are likely to be Olympic teammates in China.

Stanford-LSU: Same storyline as above except substitute Tigers senior Sylvia Fowles for Tennessee's Parker in the matchup with Wiggins.

Stanford-North Carolina: A great post-play war and a battle of wits on the sidelines in two Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coaches in the Tar Heels' Sylvia Hatchell and VanDerveer.

Stanford-Texas A&M: Researchers would spent overtime coming up with storylines for this one. But they would break tradition in being opponents who don't normally play each other out of conference. Of course, there's a matter of the Aggies carrying the honor of the Big 12 against the perennial Pac-10 rulers.

North Carolina-LSU: We're getting that one Monday night as the Tar Heels try to continue their streak of Final Four appearances and try to stop the Tigers at four. For LSU's Chancellor, it would mean completing some unfinished collegiate business that didn't occur in his former SEC days at Mississippi. Again, another great one worthy of the NCAA championship showdown, itself.

Tennessee-Texas A&M: A two-game streak over the Vols and, potentially, LSU, would be a feat Blair couldn't pull in the SEC back in his days at Arkansas.

LSU-Texas A&M: It would be a sideline matchup of country boys in Blair and Chancellor. The Tigers would be a heavy favorite.

North Carolina-Texas A&M: Another one for conference pride as the best of the Big 12 goes against the champion of the ACC.

North Carolina-Tennessee: Since beating the Vols in the 2006 Cleveland regional final, the Tar Heels have had close losses to Pat Summitt and company, including last season's Cleveland disaster in the second half of the national semifinals. After a narrow setback earlier this season at the hands of the Vols, perhaps UNC wants to show things are a little different now.

LSU-Tennessee: This could be the Southeastern Conference rubber match in the national semifinals after the Tigers won in Knoxville and the Vols took the conference championship. Bring plenty of towels because the WNBA folks, especially Los Angeles and Chicago, will be drooling over the matchup of No. 1 draft pick Parker and No. 2 draft pick Fowles in the Draft Camp special without draft camp.
Chancellor, incidentally, is on a potential track to be the first coach of women to pull a trifecta with WNBA titles, an Olympic gold medal and a potential NCAA crown. Sounds like he'd make great Hall of Famer material. Never mind, Chancellor's been there and done that in both Knoxville and Springfield, Mass.

Tennessee-Connecticut: This is No. 28 on this list of real and potential matchups at the hour this is being posted. It didn't happen for the first time in the regular season since the former rivalry began in 1995. We'll save all words on the topic until late Sunday night when the flow will begin to gush if this becomes the championship pairing.
But at least through this list, the Guru has made the point of what a tantalizing week is about to unfold.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

As the season went along, by mid-Decenber it had become apparent that there were seven teams in the national hunt, a few others that might be close, and then there's the rest of the country,

With one exception that form held Saturday in the New Orleans and Spookane Regionals.

Out West, Maryland certainly looked like the Terrapins NCAA title bunch of two years ago with an 80-66 viictory over Vanderbilt, while Stanford ended Pittsburgh's Cinderella run with a 72-53 win.

That set the stage for Monday night's regional showdown between the Maryland, the top seed, and Stanford, the No. 2 seed.

Down in Bayou Country, LSU handled Oklahoma State, 67-52, but North Carolina had to rally from an 18-point deficit to beat Louisville, 78-74.

The fact that North Carolina, after its second-half collapse at Connecticut at mid-season, held on for a girtty regular season win over Maryland in overtime and rallied Saturday, might mean that the days of ugly Tar Heel el foldo performances might be a thing of the past.

Louisville, off its upset of Rutgers and showing against UConn in the Big East tournament, along with its NCAA charge to Saturday's contest showed itself as a team that moved closer toward the elite crowd in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, if form holds, the Sunday afternoon bill in Greensboro, N.C., appears to be heading for more of the same where Rutgers is a strong favorite to beat George Washington in a rematch from earlier in the season, while Connecticut is expected to do likewise against Old Dominion, a team the Huskies beat several years ago in a regional final in Milwaukee.

Those outcomes would set up the "delayed" orginally projected Big East title tilt Tuesday night in the rubber match between No. 1 UConn and No. 2 Rutgers.

In the Midwest, No. 1 Tennessee will be a strong favorite in Oklahoma City over Cinderella-Notre Dame, while the No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 3 Duke contest could be competitive in that the duo probably were the real 8-9 teams on the "S" curve.

And that's it for now until Sunday's games are over.

-- Mel

(Guru's note. A small technical issue and being out from the home office caused a brief delay in this post, but, as always, Stephen has a worthy viewpoint.)
By Stephen K. Lee

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – For the second straight year, the Rutgers women’s basketball team finds its road to the Final Four running through Greensboro, N.C.

“I would call it a second home,” junior center Kia Vaughn said jokingly after practice on Thursday.

Last year, the Scarlet Knights (26-6) caught fire defensively in the NCAA tournament and opened the nation’s eyes by knocking off then top-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16.

This year, with key defensive cog Myia McCurdy lost to a knee injury, Rutgers is dominating in different ways. In addition to sophomore guard Epiphanny Prince’s season-long consistency and continued improvement, the Scarlet Knights’ edge over their opponents has stemmed Vaughn’s resurgence in the post.

“I don’t think anyone could stop Kia Vaughn in the last couple of games,” Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said after practice on Thursday. “Like they say, no time like the present.”

After averaging just 9.2 points per contest prior to the NCAA tourney, Vaughn exploded to a 22 and 23 points in the first two rounds. She attributes her recent success to opportunities in the paint presenting themselves.

“It was just there,” Vaughn said. “Some games it’s not going to be there. It was just there, and if that’s the winning way that we’re going to get out of it, then that’s where it’s going to go. Until they stop it, we’re going to keep going to it.”

Stringer believes that Vaughn has become more relaxed and breaking out of her yearlong funk.

“I think that she’s embodied the tune that it’s now or never and I think she’s determined that she’s going to play,” Stringer said.

In some ways it is now or never for the Scarlet Knights. Unlike last season, this year Rutgers will inevitably have to say goodbye to seniors Katie Adams, Matee Ajavon, and Essence Carson.

“Everything is for (the seniors) and I think that I would do anything in my power to prolong it because it’s great,” Vaughn said. “And it’s the greatest feeling to have them by my side.”

Carson detects that feeling among her teammates but she also knows that that’s not the only thing inspiring the Scarlet Knights.

“You can sense that – that they value this time that we have left,” she said. “Everyone’s playing their heart out right now. It’s just that sense of urgency.

“It would be our last game of our career here at Rutgers, but it would also be their last game this season. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to go home. We all want the same thing and that’s a national championship, so we’ll just have to take it a step at a time.”

Looking ahead to their Sweet-16 matchup with George Washington (27-6), the Scarlet Knights know not to expect a repeat of their 67-42 pounding of the Colonials way back in November.

“It’s like facing a brand-new team,” says Carson. “They’ve made many improvements since that time.”

Carson pointed to the improved play of GW center Jessica Adair, who managed just nine points on 2-of-16 shooting from the field. Through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, Adair is averaging 14 points and 10.5 through the first two rounds of the tournament. Vaughn thinks that the entire Colonials team has gotten better.

“Their whole team – it’s just a different atmosphere, so it’s actually more like pumped, a little bit fast-paced,” Vaughn said.

Still, when the Scarlet Knights and the Colonials tipoff at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, keep an eye on the battle between Vaughn and Adair down low as both attempt to lead their teams to the Elite Eight.

By Mel Greenberg

Everything that was Villanova's roller coaster season became a one-game highlight/horror film in Bouler, Colo., Thursday night when the Wildcats were knocked out of the Women's National Invitation Tournament by a 16-1 closing run by host Colorado for a 64-58 defeat.

For most of the game, which the Guru tracked back here in Philadelphia, Villanova held a lead and appeared poised to join St. Joseph's as the only two Big Five teams to advance to the WNIT quarterfinals. The Wildcats also are the only Big Five team to advance to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament and in 1982, the last year of the AIAW tournament, coach Harry Perretta's teams advanced with Rutgers, the ultimate winner, Texas and Wayland Baptist to the Final Four at the Palestra.

Then, as has been the case of Villanova dry spells, it all fell apart in the high altitude and Colorado moved on to host TCU on Sunday.

Stacie Witman closed out her career with 20 points and Maria Getty had 15.

In the past, the Guru has found Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller, the older sister of Duquesne coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, amusing as a former Virginia teammate of Dawn Staley, and later as an assistant to Theresa Grentz before moving on to her first head coaching job at Tulsa.

Well, as it turns out, Colorado also has some interest names on its roster, such as Whitney Houston and Brittany Spears, who played roles in the rally that produced the victory.

Guru's Ears Weren't Burning

Not really, but Stephen checked in from Rutgers after the team's pre-Greensboro press briefing to report he would be filing out of the interview session and noted that coach C. Vivian Stringer invoked the Guru's name and more ancient history involving Cheyney and the formative years of the poll.

We'll wait for the email before making any kind of rebuttal.

Waner's Latest AP Blog

The Associated Press is using blogging reports from Rutgers' Essence Carson, North Carolina's Erlana Larkins, Duke's Abby Waner, and Maryland's Crystal Langhorne, all of whom are still alive in the tournament regional semifinals.

Here's the most recent report, which comes from Waner.

THURSDAY, March, 27:

DURHAM, N.C. - Well, we finally made it home - but not for long! Last night was a great game versus Arizona State, and despite the not so friendly support from the Terrapins fans, we were able to pull out the win.

In case you didn't catch the game, Chante Black was a minor 26-point, 13-rebound reason for our success. It's pretty safe to say that this game was largely dependent on the post play seeing as ASU has Lauren Lacey and Sybil Dosty on the inside - which would explain why I avoided the paint for the entire game! Other than our 8-0 start from the tip, it was a tight game until we closed the game with free throws at the end.

So about 10 minutes to go in the first half, I had a literal run-in with Charli Turner Thorne. Quick rewind: Charli was my assistant coach this summer while I played with the U21 USA World Championship team, and it was so great to see her again before we played. Charli could be the all-time most fashionable coach, and last night was no exception.

Unfortunately, her stylish heels were a detriment to us both. I shot a three in the corner (and no, it was not my one make of the night ... that would be the wide open layup in the first three minutes!) and as I ran back, it clearly was not in a straight line because I managed to step out of bounds and directly on Charli's foot.

Seeing as how I am:

A. Not so coordinated/graceful in the least bit

B. Have zero elasticity in my ankles, my right ankle turned and I found myself on the ground like I too often do. I'm pretty sure Charli also took a spill, but I had to watch as my team attempted to guard 5 on 4. A quick tape job and re-lacing later, everything was fine. I'm not sure if I can say the same about Charli's heels.

So here is what's on tap for the next few days in Durham:

1. Laundry is a must; unfortunately, I can't talk Dave, our equipment guy, into throwing my personal laundry in with my practice gear.

2. Catching up on classes (Hear that, Coach P?). Coach P is always sure to send us friendly reminders/threats to get to class once we get back ... not saying that it would take a threat for us to go to class, of course!

3. Briefly scanning the 594 packet that will be waiting on my locker from Coach Brown regarding everything one might need to know about Texas A&M - favorite colors, shoe sizes and siblings' ages included.

Can't wait to tell more from Oklahoma City, Go Duke!

- Duke junior Abby Waner

WBCA Gives Less to UConn's Moore

Unless there is a freshman rule blocking eligibility under the WBCA guidelines, the Guru finds it quite remarkable that Connecticut freshman Maya Moore did not make the final 12 for the organization's player of the year.

Huskies teammates Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery made the cut, but since the finalists,we believe, are picked off the 40 finalists for the WBCA's All-America team, we find it interesting that the other two, talented that they are, were picked by a coaches' panel ahead of Moore.

Philly Roots in the Sweet 16

Still alive from the City of Brotherly Love are former University City star Marcedes Walker with Pittsburgh, the first men's or women's Panthers squad to advance this far, The team is coached by South Jersey's Angus Berenato.

George Washington's coach Joe McKeown is a Father Judge graduate and redshirt junior Lisa Steele is from South Jersey, as is Ivy Abiona, and former Colonial star Lisa Cermingnano, who is now an assistant with Vanderbilt. Connecticut's Meghan Gardler is from Springfield, while Huskies coach Geno Auriemma grew up in Norristown.

And Rutgers coach C.Vivian Stringer's Cheyney background has already been noted.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

Hello, all.

This will be short because the Guru is busy at an offsite location in the Philadelphia-area counting United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) all-American, coach, player, and freshman ballots, although two of those categories, as one might guess, don't require a lot of counting.

There didn't appear to be any new player-blogging at the AP site in the last 24 hours. We did deliver AP Doug back to his Manhattan residence on what was a rather quick trip South on the way back to here.

One record clear from a previous post -- Doug's train time spent on trips to Connecticut games is on Metro North mostly and not Amtrak.

Looking at the Sweet 16 field, in terms of AP Final poll teams, the first nine all survived. Cal was upset, but No. 11 Old Dominion, No. 13 Oklahoma State, and No. 15 Notre Dame, making it 12 of the AP's Sweet 16. The other AP teams still alive are No. 19 Louisville, No. 20 George Washington, No. 21 Vanderbilt, and unranked Pittsburgh, although it would be hard to make the Panthers a 100 percent Cinderella, considering they had been ranked during the season.

On the other hand, beating Baylor was still worth something. There was an oppportunity for all but one of the top 16 to make the field. The only intra-16 game was No. 15 Notre Dame's win over No. 14 Oklahoma.

No. 10 Cal lost to George Washington, No. 12 Baylor lost to unranked Pitt, as mentioned, and No. 16 Kansas State lost to No. 19 Louisville.

For those counting conference success, the Big East has already been addressed and has five of the Sweet 16, followed by three from the Atlantic Coast, three from the Southeastern, two from the Big 12, and one each from the Pacific-10, Colonial Athletic Association, and Atlantic Ten.

Officially Speaking

During the immediate fallout after the "Clockgate," episode involving Rutgers' last "extra" second loss at Tennessee, it was noted that if any of the officials who worked the game and didn't follow procedure and had been reprimanded in any meaningful way, perhaps their names wouldn't appear in NCAA tournament boxscores, namely because they might be suspended from the tournament.

Well, a glance at every boxscore in the first two rounds yielded this find:

Bob Trammell worked the Pittsburgh-Wyoming game in the first round and the West Virginia-Vanderbilt game in the second round; Tina Napier worked the Western Kentucky-UTEP game in the first round and the George Washington-California game in the second round, while Bonita Spence worked the Illinois State-Oklahoma game in the first round and the Oklahoma-Notre Dame game in the second round.

On another note, Dawn Marsh, who has played in the tournament for Tennessee, officiated one of the games. We caught her working some CAA games involving Drexel this season. Also working one of the games was Wanda Szeremeta, a former teammate of scoring sensation and now New York Liberty executive Carol Blazejowski when the two starred for Montclair State, which advanced to the first Women's Final Four format in 1978 under the AIAW.

Villanova Travels Memory Lane in the WNIT

The Wildcats will be in Boulder, Colo., to play the University of Colorado in a third-round contest. In 2003, coach Harry Perretta's squad upset a very good Ceal Barry-coached Buffs squad in Colorado's holiday tournament and the two later met again in an NCAA regional semifinal game in Tennessee, won by Villanova. The magic for the Wildcats ended the next game against the Vols, but that win made Perretta's group the only Big Five team to advance that far in NCAA history.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The Guru made the ride up here to take in a couple of games and provide chauffeur services to AP national women's swriter Doug Feinberg back to New York so he wouldn't be stranded.

While we watch the games unfold, here's some more AP player blogging, of which part of the headline was APs.

Those of you who saw a triple post earlier, was because the Guru hit the save button three times on the home office system in the middle of the night, which was slow at the time.

Erin and Jonathan took care of the cleanup. And now, until the games are over, here's Tuesday's player report as of halftime of the Louisville-Kansas State game here where the P.A. system actually played the Kansas fight song.

Carson, Rutgers Pumped Up for Greensboro

Let the Madness begin! College stars Essence Carson of Rutgers, Abby Waner of Duke, Crystal Langhorne of Maryland, and Erlana Larkins of North Carolina will provide a snapshot of their tournament experiences right up to the championship game in Tampa, Fla. on April 8:---

TUESDAY, March 25:

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDWEST . - I am writing just prior to the take-off back to the East Coast and New Jersey. It's always nice to board a plane after a win - and, of course - get some zzz's. We are still alive and Sweet Sixteen bound, I was told by the media - for the fourth straight year.

It was a tough game and Iowa State gave its best fight. The fans really turned out for the game and it was a great atmosphere for college basketball.

Although our defense has held us together all year long, our offense has really started to come around as of late and is clicking on all cylinders. Tonight, Kia Vaughn - again - played well (23 points). It seemed like she owned the paint. And the three guards on our side - myself, Mat (Matee Ajavon) and Piph (Epiphanny Prince) - put in double figures and it seemed like everything was rolling.

Iowa State really tested our defense and more so, our communication. We communicated very well (on the switches) and we elevated our game that much more. When it came down to it, we did the most important thing we could do tonight - and that was win. And earn another 40 minutes.

My teammates and I look forward to Greensboro. They treated us very well last year. We are hoping to go in there and play our game - once again, Scarlet Knight basketball.

I'm out!

- Rutgers senior Essence Carson

Waner's Blog

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - And it's onto round two!

Yesterday was a hectic day preparing for Arizona State seeing as how we only get one day in between each game. The morning started with breakfast at 10:30 a.m. - it really felt like we had eaten about two hours before that. One thing about being on the road is you can always count on being well fed - or overfed!

Meals come in abundance, along with snacks, cookies, post game sandwiches; baked goods from relatives, and well, you get the idea. Freshman 15 has turned into Road Trip 15! After a not-so-quick breakfast, we watched film and went over our scouting reports.

As with meals, there is never a lack of stats to go over with Al Brown as your assistant coach. I'm pretty sure if I were to ask him how many dribbles #22 takes before every jump shot she takes going left, he could give it to me down to the hundredth decimal point.

Luckily, we are positively well informed on the scouting end. After film and scout we went on to media at the Comcast Center, followed by a closed hour and a half practice, and finally we were back at the hotel.

So I have this thing with scary movies - well, I don't have a thing with scary movies, actually. I avoid them entirely. When we are on the road for an extended period of time, we tend to rent a few movies here and there, and it never seems like my vote counts.

What happened to women and the stereotypical chick flicks?? Scary movie after scary movie is rented, and yet again I find myself alone in my own hotel room watching anything that doesn't have ghosts, murders, or kidnappings.

Well, last night I decided I could grow up and attempt a semi-intense movie, Rendition. Turns out torture and bomb movies are not for me either. Needless to say, I had my own bed at the beginning of the movie, and at the end I had moved to the bed Krystal and Jas were on, leaving mine entirely empty. Luckily, second round games were on TV directly following the movie so I didn't have time to over analyze and scare myself even more.

There were some great games on if you didn't happen to catch them, Florida State and Oklahoma State as well as Cal and GW both went down to the wire. I think it was a great thing for our team to see how even second round games can be a toss up any given night.

Like I said before, funny things can happen in the tournament - whether it is a foul called with 0.1 seconds, or a missed box out that can cost you the game.

That being said, Duke is well prepared for a battle tonight - and when I say battle, that has nothing to do with actual blood, gore, or anything remotely frightening, because to be honest, I wouldn't show up!

More coming after the game ...

- Duke junior Abby Waner

---

By Mel Greenberg

Maybe Temple and coach Dawn Staley took the floor one night too early in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

A day after the Owls lost to Arizona State in an Oklahoma City Regional first-round game at College Park, Md., teams and coaches with Philadelpia-area connections were winners in second-round games that also featured some victimized "three" seeds.

The Greensboro regional finals are on target to become the Cheesesteak Classic in terms of the four potential coaches, two of which have been determined.

Rutgers, located within 65 miles of the home office and headed by former Cheyney coach C. Vivian Stringer, made her "adopted" homecoming visit one of smiles by the second-seeded Scarlet Knights' 69-58 victory over No. 7 Iowa State, whose campus is not far from the venue in Des Moines in which the game was played is within an hour's drive.

Stringer, of course, was once celebrated in the Hawkeye State as the coach of Iowa in the Big Ten.

The win advanced Rutgers to North Carolina and the Sweet 16 and the Scarlet Knights are suddenly on the same path as a year ago.

That was when Rutgers prevailed in the second round over Michigan State in the Spartans home gym, advanced to North Carolina and upset overall No. 1 seed Duke in the regional semifinals.

The overall No. 1 seed, however, potentially is one win away, not next up, if Big East rival Connecticut prevails over No. 8 Texas in Bridgeport, Conn.

The Guru will be on the scene for that one and if the Huskies beat the Longhorns, that will put UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown, closer to the Final Four.

On Monday, Auriemma was named the Division I coach of the year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

Stringer will be across from a Philly guy in the next round, facing Father Judge graduate Joe McKeown, whose No. 6 George Washington Colonials upset No. 3 California, 55-53, on a last-second basket by Sarah-Jo Lawrence at Stanford.

It's the second straight season that GWU is advancing to the Sweet 16 and while McKeown called the triumph one of the greatest in Colonials history, his team is about to face an opponent that gave the team one of its worst beatings ever back in December in the nation's capital.

The other looming Philly connection in Greensboro will become a reality of Virginia, coached by Trenton-area native Debbie Ryan, beats state rival Old Dominion Tuesday night in the Monarchs' arena in Norfolk, Va.

Meanwhile, after several frustrating losses against "next level" teams during the season, No. 6 Pittsburgh, coached by South Jersey's Agnus Berenato and featuring University City's Marcedes Walker, upset No.3 Baylor, 67-59, in Albuquerque, N.M., to advance to the Spokane Regional semifinals.

It's the first-ever Sweet 16 appearance for Pittsburgh, which will meet No.2 Stanford. The Cardinal advanced with an easy win over No. 7 Texas-El Paso.

Also in Albuquerque, No. 4 Vanderbilt advanced to the Spokane Regonal with a 64-46 win over No. 5 West Virginia. The Commodores are coached by Trenton native Melanie Balcomb,who is assisted by South Jersey's Lisa Cermingnano, a former GWU star.

Elswhere, No. 3 Oklahoma State needed a foul shot at the finish in overtime to survive No. 11 Florida State, whose pick by the tournament committee as an at-large team was widely criticized, although not by the Guru.

In Baton Rouge, La., No. 2 LSU enjoyed the comforts of home in easily beating No. 7 Marist to deprive the Red Foxes of another Sweet 16 Cinderella appearance.

Oklahoma State and LSU will meet in the New Orleans Regional semifinals.

No. 2 Texas A&M advanced to the Oklahoma City Regional semifinals with a one-sided 63-39 win over No. 10 Hartford. The winner awaits Tuesday night's winner between No. 3 Duke and No. 6 Arizona State.

The other Oklahoma City regional semifinalsts will be determined Tuesday night. No. 5 Notre Dame, coached by St. Joseph's graduate Muffet McGraw, will meet No. 4 Oklahoma,which is trying to return near home as a participant. No. 1 Tennessee will meet No.9 Purdue on the Boilermakers' court in West Lafayette, Ind.

Up in Bridgeport, Conn., now that the Big East tournament runnerup Louisville won't be playing the "home" team this time around, Huskies fans awaiting the start of UConn's game might adopt the No.4 Cardinals against No. 5 Kansas State.

The winner advances to the New Orleans against either No. 1 North Carolina or No. 8 Georgia, who play Tuesday night in Norfolk, Va.

The remaining game of note on Tuesday night's card has No. 1 Maryland at home against No. 8 Nebraska in College Park., Md. Of course, the host Terrapins feature, among others, Willingboro's Crystal Langhorne and Cheltenham's Laura Harper.

The winner advances to the Spokane Regional semifinal against Vanderbilt.

-- Mel

(Updating to include Essence Carson's blog transmitted later in the day)

By Mel Greenberg

Since a certain 13-0 run Sunday night by Arizona State over Temple Sunday night has caused us to break down the hotel room two days ahead of schedule to return to the home office, here are some more AP blogging player reports.

Wel'll be back later Monday night after the games are concluded, but first for you WNBA Chicago controvery fans.

We ran into former Temple star Candice Dupree, who made a quick trip to watch her alma mater, and she acknowledged the Chicago Sky might be trying to deal here, but felt she would ultimately remain in the Windy City this summer.

-- Mel
AP Player Blogs

Let the Madness begin! College stars Essence Carson of Rutgers, Abby Waner of Duke, Crystal Langhorne of Maryland, and Erlana Larkins of North Carolina will provide a snapshot of their tournament experiences right up to the championship game in Tampa, Fla. on April 8:

---
SUNDAY, March 23:

Langhorne's Report

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It was the first game of the NCAA Tournament for us and we had a very tough game against Coppin State today.

I knew it would be a battle, but during the first half we just weren't playing our game. They were being very aggressive and we were playing pretty soft. At halftime, we were only up five and Coach B told us we needed to step it up on defense.

I knew we could step it up as a team because none of us wanted to go home. We were lucky that we were even up at half anyway. Another motivation was our great crowd that we had supporting us today. We didn't want to disappoint our home crowd by losing in the first round.

But in the second half, we played much better, but we still need to step it up if we want to go far in this tournament. Nebraska is our next opponent and they play hard. I think we match up better with them than Coppin State but they are still a very good team and we can't take anyone lightly.

There's a lot at stake for every team. From now on, we have to play like our lives depend on it - because now, it's win or go home.

- Maryland senior Crystal Langhorne

Larkins' Report

NORFOLK, Va. - It's just good to be playing again. We finished our conference tournament two weeks ago and then we had a few days off for Spring Break, so it's nice to be back on the court.

On Monday, the team gathered with friends and family at Tyler's, a restaurant in town, to watch the Selection Show. We were excited to see where we would be placed, and probably a little shocked to be in the New Orleans region with LSU as the No. 2, but I suspect other people probably were a little shocked too.

After that, though, the week went really quick. Coach Calder and the rest of the staff were already preparing for Bucknell Monday night, and then we practiced Tuesday and Thursday before leaving Friday.

We took a charter bus up to Virginia from Chapel Hill, and I was surprised when I woke up at the end of the trip to see that we were in Virginia Beach instead of Norfolk. I found out recently that the NCAA places teams in hotels based on seeding, and our hotel is definitely nice. We are right on the ocean and I may take a walk on the beach later if I'm not too tired after this afternoon's game.

So now we are moving on to round two to face a very talented Georgia team who pulled out a tough win over Iowa today. The competition just gets better and better from here. We will play again Tuesday night, hopefully in the early game so we can get home at a reasonable time.

And if we can pull out a win on Tuesday, we will travel home and turnaround and do it all again before heading to New Orleans for the Sweet 16.

That's where the real fun begins.

- North Carolina senior Erlana Larkins

---
Waner's Report

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - I am really excited about speaking for our team as we begin what we hope is a long run through March. And that being said ... March - the month that those in the basketball realm live and breathe for.

Well, technically the first weekend in April as well, but until there is a clever alliteration established for "Half of March and the First Weekend in April" then we are just going to stick with March Madness.

As you can imagine, a good majority of my friends are people that also have an infatuation with this most wonderful time of the year. I am starting to see a trend of our actions as of late, and am glad to know that I am not the only one who shows signs of otherwise abnormal behaviors. Therefore, here is my version of, "You Know You Love March When..."

- When your living room has been rearranged to accommodate 3 TV's, a minimum of 2 laptops, stadium seating, and a Double Shot.

- When your notes from Shakespeare class are composed of the strengths and weaknesses of each 5 and 12 seed so you can correctly pick which region will have the unavoidable upset.

- When you take on the slogan, "There are no Cinderella's," as your own.

- When your friendships become unstable due to differences in brackets, and ultimately, relentless and ruthless taunting on a game by game basis.

- When you feel like you have more of a relationship with Digger, Bob, Hubert, Reece, Trey, Stacey and Kara than you do your own parents.

- When you woke up on Thursday, March 20 more excited than you ever did as a kid on Christmas morning.

- When there is always a reason to go out at night - to celebrate victories or to distract from defeat.

- When you decide Georgia is suddenly "your team" as if the rest of the nation didn't jump on the bandwagon.

- When you don't eat breakfast or lunch for the sake of saving money to take that road trip to San Antonio/Tampa.

All of the above plus much more are indicators that it is March. March is a time for teams to thrive, despite what they have faced October through February. So many enthralling, inspiring, tragic, and thrilling stories have come through those months. Teams suffer and teams thrive. Players overlook injuries, coaching changes, exhaustion, and pressure in the face and push forward.

Ups and downs, wins and losses, successes and failures follow teams through the roller coaster ride of exhibition games to tournament championships.

But March - March is where all that is left behind.

March is to survive and move forward, or fail and think, "I should have, I could have, and I would have." To me, no time is truer in sports than March. Character, will, passion, and drive are revealed.

In the words of Pat Summitt, "There are many good teams. But there are not a lot of great teams."

The great teams are those that can endure the madness - and no one wants to be known as only one of the good.

- Duke junior Abby Waner

Carson's Report

DES MOINES, Iowa — So, I just looked in the mirror and my lip looks a lot better. The swelling is down so I am happy. On Sunday, we practiced. And practiced some more. Coach Stringer is very much about preparation.

After our many hours of practice, I was finally able to relax and catch a few games on ESPN2. My roommate Rah (Rashidat Junaid) and I watched Connecticut and Purdue earn first round victories. We have a very close-knit basketball family which helps during the season and especially when you are away from family and friends on holidays like Easter.

Tonight, we have our hands full playing Iowa State at the Wells Fargo Arena in their home state.

It is a tough task.

With their ability to knock down the three-point shot, it will really test our skill to defend the perimeter. It will actually be very exciting to play in front of 10,000 fans even if they are not our own.

LOL.

In other words, let’s play ball.

— Rutgers senior Essence Carson

And another Waner Report

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Win and advance. That is the only way to approach the NCAA tournament, and we were successful in the first round. However, Murray State didn’t go down without a fight. It was a close game the entire first half and opening the second half, Murray came out with a run that had the game within five.

At that point, we really stressed something that has become almost like a team word for us — poise. Coach P has really emphasized the use of poise and how losing it can cost a game and how retaining it can win a game.

Luckily, we retained!

Nish, Jas, and Te led our team in the second half and we never looked back. I really think this game is a great example of what has happened to women’s college basketball.

As recently as a few years ago, the first round games were generally blowouts from the opening tip for the one through four seed games. But women’s basketball has come so far from those days when UConn, Tennessee, and, well, UConn and Tennessee were the power houses. There is so much more parity and balance — and the next thing you know, you are in a tight five-point game in the first round.

For those of you that were not at the game, let me remind you that we are playing in College Park — the home court for the Maryland Terrapins. If you follow college athletics, I am pretty sure you can imagine the “warm” welcoming that we got as we stepped on the court.

Needless to say, there was not a lack of boos, name calling, and “Beat Dook” signs. Wait — am I confused or weren’t we playing Murray State? Who knew that every person in the state of Maryland is an adamant Murray State fan as well! Luckily, hostile environments are nothing new to anyone with the name “Duke” across their jersey.

So I’m going to wrap up the Murray State game seeing as how we have film on Arizona State in about 20 minutes. That’s the great thing about the tournament, there is never time to dwell — the only thing you have to worry about is win and advance!

On to Arizona State.

— Duke junior Abby Waner

By Mel Greenberg

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - We're on the scene down here primarily for Temple's game against Arizona State at the end of another marathon day in the 9:30 p.m. start at Maryland's Comcast Center.

Besides advancing the contest, which can be found in the print section of Philly.com, the Guru had a chance to keep an eye on everything else and it was certainly a day of mixed bag results in the Big East.

Rutgers, having a chance to take out its displeasure over its No. 2 seed by the NCAA tournament committee, took it out on No. 15 Robert Morris in Des Moines, Ia., with the rout of the day by the numbers -- 85-42.

While everyone was quick to think all is well again in Scarlet Knights land and it certainly looked that way, let's see if Rutgers can pass the next test of continuity when it meets No. 7 Iowa State (21-12) Monday night.

The Wildcats, who will play in their home state, advanced with a 58-55 win over No. 10 Georgia Tech.

Des Moines later in the night was also the scene of the upset special of the first round: No. 11 Florida State's 60-49 win over No. 6 Ohio State, marking not only another quick NCAA exit for the Buckeyes, but a second rapid departure in two weeks after their dispatch by Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.

A lot of voices knocking the NCAA committee for picking the Seminoles as an at-large are probably a little quieter at the moment.

In another upset, the Big East took it on the chin when No. 10 Hartford beat No. 7 Syracuse, 59-55, marking the second time coach Jen Rizzotti's Hawks, champions of the America East, have felled an opponent from a higher-regarded contest.

The next opponent might be a bit tougher after No. 2 Texas A&M's 91-52 blowout of No. 15 Texas-San Antonio. One has to go back all the way to Mexico's romp at the Alamo to find the last time San Antonio took such a drubbing.

Meanwhile, another Big East setback occurred at the behest of last year's NCAA Cinderella Marist. The No. 7 Red Foxes, who wouldn't be considered the underdog by seed, overcame and 11-point deficit to dispatch No. 10 DePaul, 76-57, marking another impressive win for a mid-major.

On the other hand, the Big East could smile over No. 5 West Virginia's gritty last-minute, 62-60 over No. 12 New Mexico in the Lobos' tough arena in Albuquerque. No. 6 Pittsburgh was also on the on the winning side, producing a 63-58 win over No. 11 Wyoming, giving credence that perhaps the Panthers would have been a better No. 25 in the final AP poll than the regular season Big Ten champion.

Out West, No. 6 George Washington, which shared the regular-season Atlantic Ten title with Temple, made it two straight over No. 11 Auiburn this season with a 66-56 win over the Tigers in Palo Alto, Calif. In the other game in the doubleheader, No. 32 California had little difficulty beating No. 14 San Dego, 77-60. The ensuing next matchup of California and George Washington will be the first sideline competiton between the Colonials' Joe McKeown and Bears' Joanne Boyle since Boyle used to coach against him at Richmond in the Atlantic Ten.

On the social scene down here, the Guru arrived at the Marriott-Maryland Conference Center on Campus Friday night to be greeted by the young woman at the check-in desk who recognized the Guru because of her former role as an intern in the media room of the WNBA's Washington Mystics.

Needless to say, between that acknowledgement and our Marriott membership, we are in good surroundings.

Soon afer, the Guru was invited to Duke's team meal at a nearby hotel where he regalled Blue Devils' coach Joanne McCallie's husband about tales of how she landed the Auburn graduate assistant job back in 1989 under former coach Joe Ciampi when she found the restaurant by the lake in Tacoma where the Tigers were preparing for a Final Four appearance.

"I forgot you were there," McCallie noted to the Guru who told Mr. McCallie that she had the job wrapped up before she arrived but Ciampi wanted to put her through the paces.

After Saturday's media interviews, Maryland SID Natalia Ciccone and Duke SID Lindy Brown led a delegation to a spot in nearby Hyattsville where we were able to dine and watch some of the other games.

The best quote of the day down here belonged to Murray State coach Jody Adams, a former Tennessee player -- they're everywhere -- who in reacting to a question about Duke's high profile, said, "We're famous, too. They just forgot to put us on TV."

Click here on the "jump" to keep reading.

By Mel Greenberg

A note from a Rutgers fan to the Guru on Thursday suggested the NCAA web site still has the old principles and procedures that would not allow two conference teams meeting each other until the Final Four if they were placed in the top four lines.

That jagged the Guru's memory of what he reported at the time of the change last summer along with first-round/second-round sites expanded back to 16 locations. And, believe it or not, as challenging as the Inquirer's archive system is, the story was found.

The only mistake the Guru made was in perceiving ALL the changes were effective next year. But the flex change actually went in play now, as we all have seen.

So here's "Exhibit A" reported on Sept. 22 for your entertainment from a print story that was not also reported on the blog. And the example used will have two all-caps deignation in the paragraph.

NCAA announces changes for tournament in 2009
By Mel Greenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The NCAA women's basketball tournament is going back to the future in a move that may ultimately be seen as trading newer controversies for older ones.

The organization announced yesterday that, beginning with the 2009 tournament, the first two rounds will be played at 16 predetermined sites, instead of the eight-team pod system that's been in place since 2005.

The tournament committee also added some flex to its bracket placement procedures so that higher seeds from the same conference could meet each other in a geographic-friendly regional final. For example, Big East rivals RUTGERS and CONNECTICUT could meet in the 2009 regional final in Trenton. The change could also allow more teams in earlier rounds to play at sites closer to their fan bases.

Attendance and television ratings are the prime components driving the latest revisions. Last season, many teams that had no local interest at pod sites caused a TV eyesore, with vacant seats in large arenas in the early rounds.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

VILLANOVA - The clock was winding down. A chunk of Big East pride was hanging on the ledge. And one of the officials on the floor was Bonita Spence, a member of the gang-of-three innvolved in the Rutgers-Tennessee clockgate scandal in Knoxville.

Not to worry.

Laua Kurz kept Villanova's season alive for one more night when she scored inside off a missed shot by teammate Stacie Witman with 0.6 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 53-52 victory over American Wednesday night in a Women's National Invitation Tournament first-round game at the Pavilion.

The win advanced the Wildcats against Wisconsin (16-13), which had a bye, in Madison, Saturday night.

American (18-14) was the regular-season champion of the Patriot League, while Villanova stumbled into the Big East tournament after a marathon series of tiebreakers and had lost five straight before Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (16-15) were the walking wounded going into the contest. Lisa Karcic was off the active roster after the Big East first-round loss to Pitt because of a season-ending knee injury. Siobhan O'Connor has a stress facture on her foot and is only available on game day. Witman suffered a fracutred pinkie finger on her shooting hand recently during practice. And Kurz sprained an ankle in the opening minutes.

“I was concerned because we were so banged up going into the game,” Villanova coach Harry Perretta said. “I knew for us to win, (the score) had to be in the 40s or 50s.”

American, which was trying to become the first Patriot team to win a WNIT game in for the first time in three tries, extended the Wildcats most of the night.

When Liz Hayes scored with eight seconds left after Kurz had missed a half-baked shot at the other end, it appeared American would become the second Patriot team to win in the postseason. (Holy Cross has a win in the NCAA).

But Nova, in uncharacteristic fashion for Perretta's normal patient attack on offense, tore down the floor and Witman put up an air ball that landed in Kurz's hands. She quickly heaved the ball toward the basket and it dropped in.

The winning score gave Kurz, a transfer from Duke, a total of 13 points, all secured in the second half. Witman grabbed 12 rebounds.

“I tried to do whatever I could because I knew there was little time remaning,” Kurz said of her game-winner. “I didn’t even think it was going in. I awkwardly shot it with my left hand. I guess it was my lucky day. I breathed a sigh of relief because you don’t want your season to end like that.”

American's Liz Hayes had a game-high 14 points.

Additionally, O'Connor's three-pointer early in the second half gave Villanova the NCAA record for treys made in a season with 306. The previous mark of 305 was held by Missouri State in 2005.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

Much of the reaction on the situation involved with Rutgers and UConn being 1-2 in the Greensboro regional has been the claim that the Scarlet Knights didn't get much respect.

The problem, based on Tuesday's explanation by the Guru involving geographical preference along with a side chat Tuesday night with someone familiar with the deliberations is that Rutgers got to too much respect.

That's not what the Guru was told in so many words, but in studying the methods of bracket placement and his own experience in the mock bracket deliberations, Rutgers was doomed in any event.

And again, the last two games were killers and the committee had nothing to do with that, only the factoring of the results.

If Rutgers was the top No. 2, then geography placed the Scarlet Knights in Greensboro.

If the Scarlet Knights were the second No. 2 behind LSU, then LSU's geographical proximity put the Tigers in New Orleans and if Rutgers was next, then once again Greensboro loomed.

It is hard to believe that Rutgers was anything lower, but even so, if Texas A&M was next, then Oklahoma City beckoned, and because Stanford was on the line, no matter where the Scarlet Knights stood, Spokane was closest for the Cardinal.

It appears the only thing that would have helped is if Duke had been a No. 2, which was on the Guru's private projection. That would have given the Blue Devils a shot at Greensboro, perhaps bumping Rutgers.

Off the Guru's projection, Duke and Texas A&M were close for the last No. 2 so the fact they could meet makes it appear that off the S curve they are the 8-9 on the overall chart.

Now, going to the third line, where Duke actuially was, let's look at the teams that landed as No. 3s: Duke, Baylor, California, and Oklahoma State.

Neither Oklahoma State nor Baylor could be placed in Oklahoma City because No. 2 Texas A&M was in place and the other two are Big 12 teams and would be targeted to meet in semifinals, which is prohibited by the aforemention principles, etc.

So however those two got the first shots, one was going to New Orleans and the other was going to Spokane off the computer mileage readout on the bracket.

Now as for Duke and California, some movement may have been made for balance in the same way we did in our mock bracket exericse a month ago based on data at the time when we moved North Carolina as a No. 2 away from Tennessee and made them a No. 1 in the West because we felt the matchup was too strong.

If you think about it, Rutgers, who played both schools, was spared playing Duke in Greensboro, and got California as a pontential semifinal opponent.

As for all these perceptions about what the committee says and does and conspires, they do not operate on the same mentality as we in the media -- they were probably entertained listening to us when we did the bracket exercise -- or as folks on the message board.

This is not a defense of the committee, only an explanation of the reality.

As for ganging up on the esteemed Rutgers coach, C. Vivian Stringer, and holding things from two decades ago against her, anyone around at the time is long gone. She and her success has been the constant. The committee is an ongoing evolvement of rotating members, and there has been mega change at NCAA staff levels also. Every committee member brings his or her own individual ideas to the table.

Over the years, Rutgers losing at ordinate times late in the season combined with whatever committee guidelines existed has been a contributor to the Scarlet Knights' placement and site, especially in earlier years when higher seed projections had existed before the upsets.

And considering the team was at a lower threshhold, nationally, during Stringer's third successful building process, or more acurately in the case of program, rebuilding process, they were at the same mercy other teams have had to deal over the years.

In 2000, Rutgers was sent West in the 2000 Final Four year with the awful late night East Coast start, that also caused the Guru of the host Final Four city on the scene to write 11 inches of Rutgers winning an hour before the opening tip -- yeah we also had one written the other way, in both cases to make deadline.

After that experience, changes were made to the tournament to avoid a repeat of such occurrence when an East coast team is involved.

Villanova's season still lives

The Guru will make the 35-minute trip from home Wednesday night to the land of the WNIT at Villanova where the Wildcats will host American in a first-round WNIT team game.

It must be nice to be a member of the Big East -- all 12 conference tournament teams are in the postseason.

In the case of revival, it's been an interesting few weeks for coach Harry Perretta's group.

After losing at Louisville, they went through a four-hour roller coaster until learning they had made the field of the Big East.

They lost a competitive contest to Pittsburgh in the first round. After again thinking they might be done, the Wildcats will take the floor with a win guaranteeing a non-losing seasons a year after the 8-21 debacle.

ESPN's Team?

OK, the Guru has seen the reference to Connecticut over the years because of the location of the mega-sports TV giant in proximity to the home(s) of the Huskies.

The Guru, because of print responsibilities involving two stories on deadline, could not get on the conference call with committee chair Judy Southard.

However, in studying the transcript a little while ago, the Guru noticed this unintented slip in answering a question involving Connecticut's geographical placement in terms of allowing more fans to follow the team.

"And when you look at the opportunity that they (the fans) have to go to Greensboro, that is probably about maybe a 525 mile trip from Bristol, which means a lot of their fans can pile in their cars and go down there and see them play."

Storrs is actually where the school is located. Bristol is the studio headquarters of you know who.

Going West to go East

That would be George Washington, which will open against Auburn as a No. 6 seed at Stanford against Auburn. If the Colonials prevail against the Tigers and potentially No. 3 California, coach Joe McKeown will hit a regional back near home in Greensboro in which the opponent won't be a No. 1.

Guru site record

Must be some interest in the tournament. On Tuesday, this site set a one day record with over a 1,000 hits, many of which came from links off message boards and women's hoops.

A year ago, a high of around 600 hits occurred several times because of the Imus controversy and the Penn State coaching changes.

And thanks to Stephen, who helped draw traffic with his Rutgers reaction piece, even though he was home on spring break near New Orleans.

And if he is reading this, the Guru was wrong about a question asked Tuesday night.

Apparently, based on the Southard transcript, there was a thought process involving Stringer's Iowa past and connections in dropping the Scarlet Knights into Des Moines.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

In the last week as the Guru studied pontetial seeds, but never got around to saying some things aloud in this space, the Rutgers-Connecticut regional thing was looming as a potential happening.

The Guru was also quickly discounted on the topic by some friends when he ventured to the Big East title game in Hartford last week and noted that it would not be surprising to see Rutgers and Connecticut end up in the same draw.

So how could the Guru envision such an occurrence?

First, many discussions speculating the draw were obvlious of the fine print in the rules changes last summer that focused on a return to the 16-site format in the early rounds as compared to the present eight that has been used the last several years.

One changed allowed for two conference teams to meet in a regional final.

Secondly, when the Guru participated in last month's NCAA mock committee meeting in Indianapolis, we were told by staffers in establishing our guidelines that the WBCA told the NCAA its members preferred geography over seed and as such that request was given a top priority in the principles and procedures for establishing the draw.

We were also told that balance does not mean equal.

This meant that the overall No. 1 seed by virtue of all those parameters could end up seeing a No. 2 from its own conference in the regional final. Remember, we were still four weeks away from ther actual selections and a bunch of important games were still to be played.

However, the way the dynamic was playing out, a 1-2 potential of Connecticut-Rutgers, North Carolina-Maryland, or Tennessee-LSU existed out of the Big East, ACC, and SEC, respectively.

To review the season, LSU had fought back from some early losses against top teams, but the Tigers still needed to beat Tennessee in the SEC title game to be a No. 1.

Maryland fell in the Atlantic Coast semifinals to Duke but had enough in its body of work to still remain in contention for a No. 1. Incidentally, we liked Duke as a No. 2, but it's potential matchup as a No. 3 with Texas A&M makes it the same game.

When many rushed to give Stanford a No. 1 in the West because it won its conference, whereas other contenders didn't get to their conference title games, several past committee chairs all noted, as did the Guru agree, that Rutgers, Maryland, and LSU were still worth considering ahead of Stanford for the top line.

And as for Rutgers perceived as the lowest No. 2 because of the matchup with overall No. 1 UConn, that is not necessarily true.

Off the Cleveland regional placement controversy of several years, which also involved Rutgers, we were later told that "seed" is not the same as "bracket" and that Tennessee matched against North Carolina, which was the overall No. 1, did not mean the Vols were the true No. 8.

But Rutgers, as it did losing to West Virginia in 2005, contributed to its own situation by losing in the Big East tournament quarterfinals to Louisville, which, if this was a tight competition in figure skating, would be considered to have slipped on the ice worse than the other contenders.

Had the Scarlet Knights gotten to the title game against Connecticut, their perceived No. 1 seed would have been protected and they would have remained on the top line.

Also, by Rutgers not meeting Connecticut for a third time, which would have happened in the Big East title game, the committee was given a license, in what loomed as a tough deliberation to say, as the 1-2 matchup came on the scene, "But, hey, they didn't meet in the Big East, and they'd have to play each other at some point, so this will make everything else work."

Had the projected Big East matchup occurred, Rutgers would have been out of harm's way.

But the Scarlet Knights, as the Guru warned several weeks ago, would have still run into tough draws as a No. 1. A matchup with LSU in New Orleans loomed, which is what North Carolina drew. A potential matchup with Oklahoma somewhere in Oklahoma City loomed, as is what Tennessee drew. And a long trip to Spokane, Wash., also loomed, with Stanford as the potential No. 2.

By the way, if it means anything to the Rutgers fan base ego, it does not appear that everyone in UConn country began dancing in the streets when the Scarlet Knights loomed as the Huskies' barrier to a Final Four.

In this particular year, while parity from the top does not drop too far downwards, it is still deeper than the past and everyone has hurdles to surmount to win a national title.

Since winning the NCAA title was a goal for the Scarlet Knights beyond the past of just getting to a Final Four, a back-to-back UConn-Tennessee, in whatever order, combo loomed for Rutgers in Tampa at one point.

And to be blunt, if the Scarlet Knights play like they did at times, such as against Louisville, all of this reaction will have been just another exercise in frustration. On the other hand, if they play inspired and sharp, this journey may still have a happy ending in the season's final chapter.

Guru bats 63-for-63.

If there is noise all over the place at the top of the bracket, the reaction to the draw is the quietest in years elsewhere. There didn't seem to be much angst from teams that were omitted.

TCU needed to win the Mountain West, the way it played out in that conference tournament, or not have an un-projected team, as New Mexico was, gain the the automatic bid.

And, as the Guru checked his declared field in this space 24 hours ago, against the real team draw, the only school not on the Guru's final cut was Florida State and that was because of a miscount by the Guru when he was subtracting teams from the bubble. But the other 63 all made it, including all the declared locks.

NCAA Committee's Justice?

In awarding Connecticut ahead of Tennessee with the overall No. 1, it appears the committee went with the "basketball" argument ahead of the RPI mathematics. But in giving The Vols the third No. 1 behind North Carolina, the Guru wonders whether Tennessee was tagged with a virtual loss to Rutgers, which would have been reality, had "clockgate" not been allowed to happen by the game officials.

Incidentally, keep an eye on the early boxscores, because if any of the three that worked the game in Knoxville fail to appear, then their omission might be a result of an unannounced punishment for failing to use a stop watch against the monitor to verify the clock freeze that that was apparent to the rest of the world.

Close Call for Temple?

At Temple's selection party, coach Dawn Staley privately wondered whether her Owls were one of the last teams given an at-large, because of their 11th seed, which she had no complaints about.

Even if true, the Owls never appeared to be placed in real jeopardy by either conference "wrong losers" or other at-large contenders for the last spots because of their regular season Atlantic Ten co-championship with George Washington and their rugged out-of-conference schedule.

Been there and done that.

First-time Ivy champion Cornell drew Connecticut in the first round in Bridgeport.

That experience will be nothing new to Cornell coach Dayna Smith, who was involved in the same draw and location several years ago as an assistant to former Penn coach Kelly Greenberg, who is now with Boston U.

NCAA Rookies

East Tennessee St. -- Atlantic Sun champion
Cleveland St. -- Horizon champion
Cornell -- Ivy champion
Miami of Ohio -- Mid-American champion
Murray St. -- Ohio Valley champion
Texas-San Antonio -- Southland champion
Fresno State -- Western Athletic champion
UTEP -- At-large from C-USA
Wyoming -- At-large from Mountain West

Summitt milestone

If Tennessee surives the Purdue sub-regional, coach Pat Summitt will have reached her 100th NCAA triumph for herself and the Vols.

Big East power

All 12 Big East teams that played in the conference tournament went to the postseason. Eight are in the NCAA, tying last year's record for the conference and the NCAA, and four went to the WNIT.

Final Poll Data

This week's final Associated Press poll announced on Monday was the 20th of the season, the most ever in the 32-year history of the rankings.

Connecticut leads Tennessee, 7-5, in all-time finishes at the top.

UTEP, Marist, and California made their first-ever appearance in the final poll, while West Virginia made its second, and Oklahoma State its third.

California and Texas A&M made their first-ever top 10 appearances in the final.

Tennessee is the only school to place in all 32 final polls, with five No. 1 finishes, 29 in the top 10 and 24 in the top five.

In overall Top 10 appearances, the Top 10-Top 10 is:
Tennessee 494
Louisiana Tech 373
Connecticut 261
Stanford 259
Georgia 249
Texas 217
Rutgers 185
Old Dominion 180
Maryland 175
Long Beach St. 166
We'll have more data in the next several days

-- Mel