College basketball

Double dribble: Women

By GREG AUMAN
Published February 18, 2006

LARRY WHO?

It's still a long way from the 33-game winning streak Larry Bird led Indiana State to in 1979, but the Sycamores women's team had won 18 in a row entering Friday night's game against Missouri State.

One big reason is Terre Haute's own Melanie Boeglin, a 5-foot-6 senior guard who ranks second nationally in assists and eighth in scoring. Boeglin has a tie to Bird in that her mother, Joyce, was a cheerleader at ISU when Bird played there.

The only team with a longer winning streak is Chattanooga, which has won 20 straight. The squads met in the preseason NIT, with Indiana State getting a 74-53 win. How well can Indiana State fare in the NCAA Tournament? The Sycamores have struggled in their two games against ranked teams, losing by 43 at Connecticut and 10 against Kentucky.

All four state schools we mentioned last week as being on the NCAA Tournament bubble are part of the field of 64 in the latest "Bracketology" update at ESPN.com.

Florida State was curiously a No. 6 seed, but that was before the Seminoles lost to a Virginia Tech team that came in 3-6 in the ACC and before Friday night's game with Miami. The Gators were tagged a No. 7 seed, and that was before they knocked off No. 2 LSU in overtime, a win that all but locks up an NCAA berth.

The Hurricanes are projected a No. 11 seed, just ahead of USF (12th), which got a boost with Thursday's 66-57 win at home against Marquette.

Barring an amazing finish, Texas (12-11) is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998 and only the third time since 1983. Jody Conradt's young team, one year removed from a 22-9 record and No. 3 seed, has dropped three straight and has only four regular-season games remaining.

Texas is 31st in the RPI ratings, thanks to an ambitious schedule, with losses to Duke, Tennessee, Rutgers and Connecticut. Add two losses to Oklahoma and six of Texas' setbacks are against teams in the RPI's top eight. But the Longhorns' best quality win was in overtime against Kansas State, which has an RPI of 48. That means Texas needs to close with wins against Texas A&M (34th), Texas Tech (61st) and Baylor (11th) and a strong Big 12 Tournament to have reasonable expectations of making the NCAA field.

Don't feel too sorry for Texas, which has five freshmen among its top seven scorers; that also explains why the Longhorns have 237 assists against 408 turnovers. But top scorer Tiffany Jackson is only a junior, so expect the Longhorns to be back as a force next season.

How many Big East teams can make the NCAA field? Count Rutgers, Connecticut, St. John's and DePaul as locks, and then you have seven other league teams with between 14 and 17 wins. If you put Louisville, USF and Marquette as likely NCAA teams, that leaves Villanova, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Cincinnati all within range of landing an eighth NCAA spot with a strong conference tournament.

What's crazier? If the Big East doesn't get eight in, that means the ACC likely will. Duke, North Carolina and Maryland will be No. 1 or 2 seeds, Boston College and Virginia Tech are safe bets and that leaves FSU, Miami and Virginia all in the RPI top 50 and on the bubble.

NO. 8 CONNECTICUT AT NOTRE DAME, 7 P.M. SUNDAY, ESPN2: Can the Irish make the NCAA cut with a sub-.500 Big East record? Notre Dame is 5-7 in league play, but with a 14-9 record and an RPI of 42, an upset like this could help get it in. The Irish finish the season against two Big East bubble teams in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and they need a sweep there, for sure.

CALIFORNIA AT NO. 15 ARIZONA STATE, 6 P.M. TODAY, FSN: The Sun Devils have won seven straight, including an upset of No. 11 Stanford on Thursday that puts them within a game of the Cardinal in the Pac-10 standings. Arizona State has five players with 60 or more assists, with 6-3 senior forward Kristen Kovesdy leading the scoring at 12.2 per game.

[Last modified February 18, 2006, 02:15:16]