Related Links: Clay Kallam column archive Brackets East regional dates and times Mideast regional dates and times Midwest regional dates and times West regional dates and times Top teams earn top seeds Forum: Who will make it to Philly?
	T O P   N E W S

The East

Only a fool would pick against UConn, but the top overall seed doesn't always win -- and in fact, most often stumbles before cutting down the nets. But these are the almost invincible Huskies, and after coasting through two games at Storrs (though Drake and Clemson should put up a fight ... for about 20 minutes), UConn will advance to the Stuart Siegel Center in Richmond, Va., to face -- well, the seeding says the first Regional opponent will be Purdue.

The Boilermakers are definitely playing well right now, but they are paper-thin. And will somebody please tell the world that Katie Douglas can't go right? How anybody can let the left-handed Douglas continue to penetrate to her left, and shoot moving to her left, is a mystery. Look, play her two steps over -- she can't do any more damage going completely unguarded to her right than she's already doing.

Of course, Purdue will have to get by Oklahoma or BYU, two surprise teams this season. Whoever wins that first game in West Lafayette, Ind., has the capability of cooling the Boilermakers down a few degrees. The home court is so crucial, though, that an early upset in a fan-friendly city takes some special circumstances.

So we'll say Purdue moves on to face Connecticut, and is quickly dispatched. The other half of the bracket is supposed to deliver Duke, but don't be surprised if the Huskies run into last year's nemesis, sixth-seeded Xavier. Duke without Peppi Browne is a good team but not an outstanding one, and even though Gail Goestenkors has proved herself a genius, a veteran team like Marquette might be able to take advantage of the Blue Devils' weaknesses.

As for LSU, the third seed, the Tigers are small and prone to lapses of concentration, which will prove fatal against the Musketeers, who have played a tough schedule and survived several pressure games down the stretch. We give the nod to Xavier over LSU (which doesn't draw well) in Baton Rouge, and then the Muskies do in Duke.

Connecticut, though, remembers, and Xavier's run ends in the championship game of the East Regional.

The Midwest

LaTech and Penn State were fourth and fifth in the committee's eyes, which is why they are paired off in this bracket. The difference between the first seed (LaTech) and the second seed (Penn State), though, is significant. Old Dominion is limping coming into the tourney, despite that fourth seed, and there's no doubt third seed Iowa State, in the familiar confines of Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, will be a much tougher draw.

In addition, Louisiana Tech has one of two shaky clubs, Kansas and Vanderbilt, in the second round, so the Lady Techsters should be well rested by the time they get to Kansas City. There, the form chart says they'll play ODU, but if Summer Erb can play with any effectiveness at all, North Carolina State is the more likely opponent. Then again, SMU might just knock off the Wolfpack in the first game, even though the Mustangs are seeded 12th. They're a good team, with enough athleticism to bother the N.C. State youngsters who must perform in the Big Polka for the first time.

It says here that Monica Huelman and Iowa State aren't done hoisting trophies this season.(AP)

But LaTech will be too much for whoever emerges, though the same certainly can't be said for Penn State if Iowa State advances. The Cyclones won the Big 12 tournament in Municipal Auditorium the other day, while the Lady Lions have never played there. Of course, Big Ten adherents claim Illinois might stop Iowa State in round two, but the Illini are overrated -- and in fact, could be upset by Utah, the best defensive team in the country.

We'll put Iowa State and LaTech in the final, and here's our upset special: The Cyclones shoot the lights out, Angie Welle dominates inside and LaTech's pressure doesn't wear down Iowa State's veteran guards. Send the Cyclones to Philly.

The West

Watch out for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels have started to play like the Top 10 team everyone thought they were back in November, and even though they have to beat UC Santa Barbara in the Thunderdome in round two, the Gauchos have lost starting center Kayte Christensen to a broken wrist. Maine, North Carolina's first-round opponent, will enjoy the weather, but only for a day or two, because the Black Bears are in this tournament only because someone had to fill out the bracket.

Georgia, the top seed, should coast through the first two games unless Stanford has one of those 3-point nights when everybody, including Tara VanDerveer, starts raining in shots from 23 feet. Otherwise, though, the Bulldogs are just too athletic for either Michigan or Stanford. Just a note, however: Montana won't go quietly.

The bottom half of this bracket includes the committee's gift to the Pac-10. Hoping to improve attendance at the Portland Regional, the NCAA decided to give Oregon the subregional that would have gone to Mississippi State had there not been a convention using up all the hotel rooms in Starkville. So the sixth-seeded Ducks will play host while Mississippi State, the third seed, has to travel across the country.

It won't matter. LaToya Thomas is far too tough, and Oregon has stumbled at home against lesser lights in the Pac-10 in recent weeks. The Bulldogs are definitely not lesser lights.

Meanwhile, in the New Jersey portion of the West bracket (this is the NFL version of geography), Rutgers will grind Holy Cross, St. Joseph's and Texas to dust with great defense. The matchup between the Scarlet Knights and Mississippi State should be a great one, but defense will be the difference -- just as it will in the final, when Rutgers sends Georgia back home, and moves on to Philly.

The Mideast

Let's see, Tennessee is the top seed, and the Regional is in Memphis, which just happens to be in Tennessee. OK, maybe Knoxville isn't the favorite city of Memphis fans, but if it comes down to rooting for the home state Lady Vols or Notre Dame, whom do you think the fans will cheer for?

Sure, the Kent-Arizona first-round game will be fun, and Boston College and Virginia should be a great second-round matchup in Charlottesville (keep an eye on Schuye LaRue -- she's going to be a great one). But it doesn't really matter if Texas Tech finally makes a jumper and upsets Notre Dame, or if UCLA suddenly remembers how to play. This bracket belongs to Tennessee, and the Knoxville faithful can start searching the Web for the best deals in Philly right now.

Naturally, this column was written with a confidence bordering on stupidity, but we do draw the line somewhere: No predictions for the Final Four quite yet, just in case a mistake or two somehow crept into these early calculations. Besides, if we told you who was going to win right now, it would only spoil the fun.