Story lines abound in Sweet 16

So far, the NCAA women's basketball tournament has produced buzzer beaters and broken bones, upsets and upstarts.

And, of course, the usual victories by Connecticut and Tennessee.

Now it really gets interesting -- 16 teams playing in the regional semifinals, each just two victories from a berth in the Final Four in Atlanta.

Every region has at least one former national champion and one underdog. There are established stars and stars on the rise, coaches who have been here so often it's habit, others enjoying the ride for the first time.

Story lines -- and questions -- abound.

Can someone accomplish what never has been done: Beat Tennessee in an NCAA tournament game in Knoxville and keep the Lady Vols from a 14th Final Four trip.

Does Amber Jacobs of Boston College have another game-winning shot in her repertoire?

How long can Diana Taurasi keep carrying Connecticut and its hopes for a second straight title?

Will two broken bones in her face hinder LSU's quick, spunky point guard, Temeka Johnson?

Can New Mexico, winless in its only previous NCAA tournament appearance, draw enough energy from its large home crowd to win two more games?

The answers start coming today in the Mideast and Midwest. In the Mideast at Knoxville, Tennessee (30-4) plays Penn State (26-8) and Villanova (27-5) meets Colorado (24-7). The Midwest games at Albuquerque, N.M., have Duke (33-1) facing Georgia (21-9), and New Mexico (24-8) meeting Texas Tech (28-5).

On Sunday, Connecticut (33-1) plays Boston College (22-8), and Purdue (28-5) takes on Notre Dame (21-10) in the East Regional at Dayton, Ohio. And in the West at Stanford, it's LSU (29-3) vs. Louisiana Tech (31-2) and Minnesota (25-5), in the round of 16 for the first time, playing Texas (27-5).

East

Call this the region of champions. Or the familiar four.

The last four national champions are here: Purdue (1999), Connecticut (2000 and 2002) and Notre Dame (2001). Boston College has never been this far before, but the Eagles play in the Big East with UConn and Notre Dame. Notre Dame and Purdue play each other in the regular season and met in that 2001 title game, the Irish winning 68-66.

Connecticut seems to have regrouped after having its 70-game winning streak stopped by Villanova, winning by margins of 47 and 15 points. Taurasi has been sensational, averaging 28 points in the first two rounds and showing no signs of the back and ankle problems that nagged her the final month of the season.

Mideast

Penn State, Colorado and Villanova will be ready for a color other than orange and a song other than "Rocky Top" by the time this regional ends.

Tennessee, a six-time national champion, is 42-0 in NCAA tournament games at home. To stay perfect, the Lady Vols will have to slow Penn State's Kelly Mazzante, who has scored 27 points in each of the first two games.

Villanova, in the round of 16 for the first time, wins with tough defense and methodical offense. The defense will try to contain 6-foot-5 Tera Bjorklund, who scored 34 points in sixth-seeded Colorado's upset of No. 3 seed North Carolina in the second round.

Midwest

Get ready for a big crowd. Sixth-seeded New Mexico drew more than 16,000 for each of its first two games and fans will pack The Pit again for Texas Tech.

Tech, the 1993 national champion, has more to worry about than the fans. New Mexico's Jordan Adams scored 27 points in a first-round win over Miami and had 19 points and 10 rebounds in an upset of third-seeded Mississippi State.

Duke's Alana Beard is still scoring -- 46 points in the first two games -- but the Blue Devils have put up only 66 and 65 as a team. They averaged 81.6 during the season.

West

Though they are established powers in the same state, LSU and Louisiana Tech are meeting for only the second time in 12 years. Tech has the nation's longest winning streak at 29 games. LSU is counting on Johnson being back after she was elbowed in a second-round win over Wisconsin-Green Bay, breaking two bones in her face.

Sixth-seeded Minnesota, under-first year coach Pam Borton, returns to Stanford's court after ending the Cardinal's 26-game home winning streak in the second round. The Gophers face another streak now: Texas has won 15 in a row and has a strong inside game with Stacy Stephens and Heather Schreiber.