on to the Regionals

So, I haven't blogged about the NCAA tournament yet - early days and all. I didn't even post when they beat Purdue Tuesday for Pat Summit's 100th tournament win and - more importantly - keeping the streak of round-of-sixteen appearances (blame fev for that awkard phrasing: he says I can't say "elite" or "sweet"... oops. Does that count?) alive. They've never not made it that far. And I don't just mean "never when they were in the tournament" either. Or maybe I do; they've never not been in the tournament, after all. But I can't hold back any longer.

We don't mind seeing Notre Dame in the bracket. Sure, they won the championship in 2001, but Muffet McGraw is 0-15 against UT. Make that 0-16 after last night.

Candace Parker matched her career best with 34 points and 13 rebounds, leading UT to the regional finals for the eighth straight year. Shannon Bobbitt (Go, 00!) added a pair of treys and finished with 11; Nicky Anosike had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Back in January - a game I got to see live - the Lady Vols shot 55 percent from 3-point range in scorching Notre Dame 87-63. Last night the Irish guarded the 3-point line and guarded it hard, but the Vols stepped up the inside game and won 74-64. So props to the Irish for getting it so close, seriously. It was a good game.

But now it's on to the Regional Finals. Looks like the seeders did a good job; the Regionals will be pitting Number 1 against Number 2 across the board. Maybe I can't say the E-word - but I can say the Vols are trying for their 17th Final Four when they play Texas A&M tomorrow night. The Aggies, by the way, are hoping for their first.

Me? I'm hoping for a final four of UT, Rutgers, Maryland, and LSU. But I won't be surprised to see UConn or Stanford or North Carolina there...