THE ROCKIES WILL TUMBLE, GIBRALTAR WILL CRUMBLE. The women's basketball tournament isn't quite the "them that has gets" show I feared at the announcement of the field. In the round of 2⁴, for the first time, none of the regionals will be {1,2,3,4}. Despite the practice of using the home courts of the higher-ranked teams (if it really has nothing to do with money, is it necessary to get more fans in the seats?) in the first two rounds, the visiting teams had their moments, with Notre Dame holding a lead most of the way against [North] Carolina, and Wisconsin-Green Bay playing well at Storrs, Connecticut for 22 minutes. In East Lansing, just off the Midwestern Axis of Evil^(TM) [U.S. Highway 23 - ed], Bowling Green became the first Mid-American team to get out of the first weeked alive, excusing Vanderbilt (better known as the home of the American Economic Association).

The home court advantage again eludes Stanford. (Truly truly, I say unto you, a No. 16 seed can defeat a No. 1 seed if the former is Harvard and the latter is Stanford, and this isn't a "Clue" tournament either. See also "Hockey, Minnesota.") The honor this time goes to Florida State, where onetime Northern Illinois and Wisconsin assistant Sue Semrau gets a postgame rinse.

Tallahassee Democrat photo by Glen Beil.

Florida State were in a tough neighborhood during 1996-1997.

It takes a lot of courage to come in here and win. I had a lot of players that believed we could turn this program around. 11 years ago this program was 0-16 in the ACC and it took a lot of players to believe the Florida State could be a basketball school and not just a football school.

The perspective from Palo Alto, is, well, glum.