So the brackets are out and no real surprises. Certainly the biggest storylines might revolve around off-the-court drama involving the Pokey Chatman/LSU scandal that gets more interesting by the day involving sex, lies, cover-ups, power, betrayal and more! Also, the announcement that the game will lose a legend in Jody Conradt after she failed to get Texas into the NCAA again will be a headline, as well as coaching change speculation with numerous BCS conference schools having openings (three in the SEC, two in the Big 12 and one in the Big Ten, so far). Here are storylines, headlines and things to look forward to as the madness begins this weekend!
The What-the-F*%K Award: La-Lafayette? Who? Why? Two bids from the awful Sun Belt conference while South Florida, Montana, Ball State, and many others are left out. Did the committee make a mistake and fail to proofread the final bracket?
Most Difficult Region: Dayton. With Tennessee, Maryland and Oklahoma all vying to get to Cleveland, it is definitely the marquee region.
Easiest Region: Greensboro. Duke has a cakewalk. Arizona State is the next toughest team in that bracket and the Sun Devils, as deep as they are, have no size to combat Bales. Welcome to Cleveland, Blue Devils.
The I-Got-Hosed Award: Rutgers. So you just won the Big East conference tournament and along the way upset #1 seed UConn by 8. The Big East sends 8 teams to the NCAA pool, while the Big Ten sends just three, but yet you get rewarded by having to play on Michigan State's home floor. The committee sure got that one right!?
Best First Round Matchup: Bowling Green vs. Oklahoma State. A team that is completely underrated due to the fact that they play in a mid-major versus a team that did not deserve in the tourney. It's the best because it gives the chance for the BGSU women to live up to the hype and make a statement. Runner-up: Iowa State vs. Washington
Biggest Snub: South Florida. I know it was going to be hard to put 9 Big East teams in, but why did you choose DePaul over South Florida. Awful, awful, awful. Others: Montana gets snubbed in favor of a team like La-Lafayette?
Undeserving of their Bid: La-Lafayette, DePaul, Oklahoma State
Cinderella Teams: Bowling Green, Iowa State, Middle Tennessee
Best Potential Second Round Matchup: Georgia Tech vs. Purdue, with Versyp and Joseph each with Purdue lineage; Michigan State vs. Rutgers, as this is a rematch of an earlier season meeting where Rutgers survived on their home floor. Now, MSU gets a home game vs. the Scarlet Knight.
Best Potential Regional Final: Tennessee vs. Maryland or Tennessee vs. Oklahoma. Either way, it should be a battle featuring some of the nation's best players.
Tourney Coach on the Hot Seat: Pat Summitt. Sure, she is a legend with six titles, but none since 1998. A decade drought will make people start questioning her foothold. Others: Gail Goestenkors is the coach with the most to prove. How many of these great teams can she not have win a national title? Tara Vanderveer is another legend with two national titles, but none since 1992. She hasn't even been to the Final Four since 1997 and she has lost in each of the last three Elite 8's. While most would love to be in that position, for Vanderveer and Stanford, it is unacceptable.
Rising Coaching Stars in the Tourney: Curt Miller, BGSU, should find himself in a high profile job after the tourney ends. Look for Miller to be Michigan's top choice and an excellent fit there in that conference. Joanne Boyle's Cal team would be seeded much higher and have higher expectations, but lost their starting PG to an injury. Watch for Cal to be in those top 16 seeds from now on year after year if Boyle stays put.
Players to Watch: Can Candace Parker finally live up to the hype? Will Courtney Paris dominate her opponents or fall on her face again in this tourney? Will Lindsey Harding play like she is the best in the nation by leading the Blue Devils to that elusive first title?
Best Players You Haven't Heard Of: Chrissy Given, Middle Tennessee; Amber Flynn, BGSU; Jazz Covington, Louisville; Amber Harris, Xavier.
Better Than Seed Reflects: Bowling Green, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Florida State
Worse Than Seed Reflects: Old Dominion, Xavier, Purdue, Ohio State
Weakest #1 Seed: UConn
Strongest #1 Seed: Duke or UNC, equal in my mind.
#2 Seed with Best Chance at Final Four: Stanford
Probable Final Four: UNC, Duke, Stanford, Maryland
Probable National Champion: North Carolina (Duke falls on its face once again, while there rival Tar Heels and Ivory Latta shine leaving Coach G to wait another year for her national title.)
Storylines:
*LSU will be bombarded with media attention. Assistant Coach Carla Berry will be the subject of much scrutiny as she is the one who turned Pokey in and no one knows her intentions. Bob Starkey, a respected but unknown quantity will have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Still, with all that said, many are forgetting this is an LSU team that beat Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Ole Miss, West Virginia and barely lost games to UConn, Tennessee and Baylor. Their bracket is pretty favorable with UConn, Stanford and Rutgers, but it has yet to be seen if they can recover without their leader.
*Will this tourney be the last at Baylor for Coach Mulkey, as she will be offered one of the major jobs either at LSU or Florida?
*Will this tourney be that last at BGSU for Curt Miller? How about the last for Coach McCallie at MSU? The coaching change banter will be in full force.
*Last year Maryland came in as a two seed and shocked everyone by winning the national tournament. Now, flying under the radar again, Maryland won't have the benefit of having a weak one seed in their bracket this year. Last year it was Ohio State, who was ousted in the second round. This year, it is Pat and Tennessee. But even before then, Frese faces the daunting task of playing the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma Sooners and the dominant Courtney Paris.
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