Top-ranked Stanford gets a No. 2 seed

Southeastern Conference powers LSU and Tennessee received No. 1 seeds in the NCAA women's basketball tournament on Sunday, joined by ACC tournament champ North Carolina and a team that reached that level for the first time in program history: Michigan State.

The Big Ten tournament champions edged Stanford -- which just last week climbed atop The Associated Press poll for the first time this year -- to take the No. 1 spot in a bracket that's sure to be tough.

That's because the Kansas City Regional includes the top-ranked Cardinal as the No. 2 seed; Connecticut, winner of the last three national championships, gets the No. 3 spot; and Kansas State, runner-up in the Big 12 tournament, was No. 4.

"We're just kind of ready to play a game, to be honest," said Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie, wearing a wide grin with her jubilant team behind her. "We've had a week off and these girls are getting grumpy."

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer looked defiant when she learned her top-ranked Cardinal would be a No. 2 -- the first No. 1 ranked team not to earn a top tournament seed in since Texas in 1984.

"I have no reaction to that," VanDerveer said. "We're really excited to be in the tournament. I love coaching this team."

LSU (29-2) landed in the Chattanooga Regional, the closest site to its campus. Tennessee was No. 1 in Philadelphia and North Carolina topped the Tempe bracket.

The women's tournament scrapped the East, Mideast, Midwest and West designations for regionals this year and replaced them with the name of the city hosting the regional semifinals and finals.

The other No. 2 seeds were ACC co-champion Duke (Chattanooga), Big 12 champion Baylor (Tempe) and Big Ten co-champion Ohio State (Philadelphia).

LSU, which was ranked No. 1 much of the season, won the SEC regular-season championship, then dropped a two-point game to Tennessee in the finals of the conference tournament. Tennessee (26-4) was the regular-season runner-up, losing only to LSU in league play.

It's the 17th time in the 24 years of the NCAA women's tournament that Tennessee has been a No. 1 seed. The Lady Vols have won six national championships, more than any other program, and have been in the NCAA tournament every year.

Two teams from the same conference have been No. 1 seeds 10 times previously, most recently in 2003. Tennessee and LSU also were the two that year.

Interestingly, LSU and Tennessee both will start the tournament in Knoxville. There are eight teams at the first- and second-round sites, twice as many as before. Each site has four teams from one regional and four from another.

Michigan State's No. 1 seed caps a resurgence for that program under McCallie, who's in her fifth season with the Spartans after a successful run at Maine.

The Spartans (27-3) shared the Big Ten regular-season title with Ohio State, then won the conference tournament and will take a 12-game winning streak into their first-round NCAA matchup with Alcorn State in Minneapolis next Saturday. Their highest seed previously was No. 4 in 1991.

The Spartans went 10-2 on the road this year, with victories at Notre Dame and Connecticut. Their schedule was also considered stronger than Stanford's, with eight victories over teams now ranked in the Top 25.

Among teams thought to be sitting on the "bubble" -- Virginia Tech, Purdue, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Houston, Arizona, Oregon and Richmond -- all got in. Iowa, Villanova and Xavier did not.

Three teams with glossy records that won regular-season conference titles but lost in their league tournaments also weren't among the select 64 -- Delaware (25-5), Gonzaga (27-3) and Chattanooga (24-4).

Delaware lost to Old Dominion in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Gonzaga, which made the Top 25 for two weeks this season, lost to Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference finals, while Chattanooga was upset by East Tennessee State in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament after going 19-1 in the league and winning the title by five games.

Western Carolina won the Southern tournament to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAAs. Its reward: A No. 16 seed and a first-round game against Tennessee next Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

That game will send Tennessee coach Pat Summitt against one of her former point guards, Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper, who helped the Lady Vols win three straight NCAA titles from 1996-98.

Tennessee's expected victory in that game would be No. 879 for Summitt, tying her with Dean Smith for the most wins in NCAA history.

LSU plays Stetson in Knoxville on Sunday, while North Carolina hosts Coppin State on Sunday.

Louisiana Tech is the only other school that has been in all 24 NCAA tournaments. The Lady Techsters, whose 20-9 record is well below their usual standard, made it this year as an at-large entry after losing to Rice in the finals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

For just the third time, a team with a losing overall record got in. Illinois State (13-17) earned an automatic bid by winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The 15th-seeded Redbirds play Baylor in Seattle on Saturday.

The ACC led all leagues with seven selections -- North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Big 12 had six, while the Pac-10, in a bit of surprise, matched the SEC and Big Ten with five teams. The Big East had only four after getting eight last year.

The Final Four begins April 3 in Indianapolis.