Vols and Tigers Might Be on a Collision Course

ACC Lands Seven Invites, as Selection Committee Crafts Several Intriguing First-Round Matchups

The Southeastern Conference boasted two of the No. 1 seeds, but the ACC had the most depth.

Rated as the strongest conference in the Ratings Percentage Index rankings, the ACC sent seven teams to the NCAA women's basketball tournament yesterday -- the most of any conference.

"Seven teams is the most I think we've ever had," Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan said. "I don't remember us ever having seven before. We should have nine or ten teams in postseason play this year which is absolutely outstanding."

LSU, which spent most of the season as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press top 25 poll, received the overall No. 1 seed despite losing in the SEC tournament final to Tennessee. The other No. 1 seeds were Tennessee, North Carolina and Michigan State.

The Lady Vols, who have won six national championships, are a No. 1 seed for the 17th time. Michigan State earned a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history. The Spartans' previous best seed was No. 4 in 1991.

Although LSU and Tennessee appeared to be clear-cut top seeds, Michigan State and North Carolina were not. Baylor and Stanford also seemed to have made strong cases for No. 1 seeds. Baylor won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, and Stanford won the Pac-10 regular season and tournament titles, and was ranked No. 1 in the latest AP poll. The Spartans and the Tar Heels got the nod over those two teams because the Lady Bears and the Cardinal each had a loss to a team with a poor RPI rating.

"We spent a great deal of time talking about those particular four teams, and they're really very similar in many ways," Lynn Parkes, chair of the Division I women's basketball selection committee, said. "When we finally came to a decision, there was just not much that really separated them, other than the fact that Stanford and Baylor both had losses outside of the top 50."

The committee made some interesting choices when it paired the teams and where it sent them. Tennessee plays Western Carolina in the first round. The Lady Catamounts, who are making their first NCAA tournament appearance, are coached by Kellie Jolly Harper, the former Lady Vols point guard who led Tennessee to three consecutive national titles.

Rutgers is going to Storrs, Conn., for its first round game. It was only a week ago that Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma had a verbal altercation with Scarlet Knights guard Cappie Pondexter in the Big East tournament final. Now, Rutgers must go to U-Conn.'s home court to face Hartford, led by former Huskies point guard Jen Rizzotti.

Virginia, which beat Old Dominion, 72-64, on Dec. 10, will play the Lady Monarchs in a first-round game in Minnesota.

"I think it's interesting that we're going to go halfway across the country to play Old Dominion," Ryan said. "Old Dominion is a different team than when we played them, but we're a different team too."

Several teams were denied bids despite strong seasons. Gonzaga (27-3) had a 23-game winning streak before Santa Clara upset the Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference final. Delaware (25-5) beat Old Dominion twice during the regular season, but lost in overtime to the Lady Monarchs in the Colonial Athletic Assocation tournament championship. The CAA has a history of sending only one team to the NCAA tournament. Only twice has more than one CAA team been selected to the field.

Iowa didn't make it even though it was the last unbeaten team in Division I this year, starting the season 13-0. Instead, another Big Ten team, Purdue, made the field with a 16-12 record.

Four of the five Big Ten teams received seeds among the top 16. The Big East, which sent eight teams last year, has only four teams in the field this year. The Big 12 had the second-most teams in the field with six.

This is the first year the tournament scrapped the East, Mideast, Midwest and West designations. Instead, the teams were put into regions: Chattanooga, Philadelphia, Tempe and Kansas City. The first and second rounds will be played at eight sites: Dallas, Fresno, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chapel Hill, N.C., College Park, Knoxville and Storrs.

In the Chattanooga regional, LSU is favored to return to the Final Four. Duke presents a challenge with 6-foot-7 center Alison Bales. The Blue Devils, who have gone to the Final Four two of the last three years, are a No. 2 seed after four straight years as a No. 1 seed. Third-seeded Texas is a dangerous team. The Lady Longhorns have been a disappointment this season, but are still capable of making a run.

There are plenty of story lines in the Philadelphia regional. If Rutgers can overcome its trip to Storrs, the Scarlet Knights face a potential matchup with Temple in the second round. The Owls have the longest winning streak in Division I at 24 games and also beat Rutgers, 71-60, on Dec. 13. Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt needs only two wins to surpass former North Carolina coach Dean Smith for the most career wins in Division I. The Lady Vols will play either New Mexico or Purdue in the second round. Louisiana Tech (20-9) and Tennessee are the only teams to make every NCAA tournament, but the Lady Techsters didn't get much respect from the committee. They received their worst seed, a No. 11. Second-seeded Ohio State could pull the upset in this region.

The Kansas City regional might be the most difficult. Michigan State and Stanford are the top two seeds. Connecticut, the three-time defending national champion, is the third seed. It is the Huskies' worst seed since 1993, when the field was not seeded outside the top four seeds. Nine of the last 11 years U-Conn. has been a No. 1 seed. No. 4 Kansas State was the Big 12 tournament runner-up. Michigan State has the edge, but Stanford has plenty of motivation.

As talented as North Carolina is, the Tar Heels are inconsistent and can be beaten. With that in mind, the Tempe regional could be wide open. Baylor, smarting from not receiving a No. 1 seed, could make a run. The Lady Bears play Illinois State in the first round, only the third team to make the field with a losing record, but are likely to face shot-blocker Sandora Irvin's TCU team in the second round. Third-seeded Minnesota went to the Final Four last year. No. 4 Notre Dame, which had its best season since it won the national championship in 2001, knocked off seven ranked teams. Any of these top seeds could emerge from this region.