Women need to level field

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By DARRELL FRY

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001

We're two rounds into the NCAA women's tournament, and if you were hoping to find Cinderella, I've got bad news. She ain't coming.

I know. I know. We have come to expect she'll be here this time of year. But if you haven't noticed by now, she typically makes it to only one of these big dances each year, and usually it's the men's tournament, not the women's.

The women's Sweet 16 bracket is pretty much according to form. There were only three sizeable upsets in the first round (by TCU, Missouri and Stanford), and only two in the second round (by Washington and Missouri).

The lowest seeded team to win a game was No. 11 TCU, which stunned No. 6 Penn State. And there is only one double-digit seed (No. 10 Missouri) in the Sweet 16.

Last year was the same thing. We had six sizeable upsets in the first round and only one in the second. The Sweet 16 again had just one double-digit seed (No. 11 UAB).

By comparison, we had nine sizeable upsets this year in the first round of the men's tournament and three in the second round. The lowest seed that won a game was No. 15 Hampton, which shocked No. 2 Iowa State. Three double-digit seeds (No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 11 Temple and No. 10 Georgetown) are in the Sweet.

So, what's the deal?

For starters, the women's tournament is set up so Cinderella teams don't have a prayer.

How can Howard expect anything other than getting blown out 100-61 against Iowa State when the game is played in Ames, Iowa?

And forget about Austin Peay or St. Mary's staying anywhere close to Tennessee when the game is played in Knoxville. You might as well make the visiting teams play on roller skates. They aren't going to have much of a chance either way.

Look, if it's Cinderella you want, the women's tourney needs to go with neutral sites throughout the tournament just as the guys do.

Even things up a bit. Put the early-round games in traditional basketball-friendly towns like Indianapolis and Raleigh and Albuquerque and promote the heck out of them.

Then, invite the Alcorn States and the Libertys and dangle that glass slipper in front of their noses. Granted, you still might end up with Duke playing its first two games in Greensboro or Raleigh, but for the most part you'll give everybody a better chance at creating memories.

Isn't that what the big dance is all about?

"That home court is huge," LSU women's coach Sue Gunter said. "I think we have to go to neutral sites, and we have to do it as soon as possible. I bet you won't talk to five coaches who don't want to go to neutral sites. I just don't see why we can't do it."

Granted, neutral sites won't completely solve the Cinderella problem. The gap between the elite teams and the rest remains.

Frankly, no 14th or 13th seed has any real shot at getting past a Louisiana Tech or a Purdue. It just isn't going to happen more than once in a blue moon.

Women's coaches such as UConn's Geno Auriemma will tell you the gap in talent in many cases is just too great. Alcorn State could play Notre Dame on the backyard court of Alcorn State's best player and Notre Dame would still win.

"It's bigger than the gap between a 16 seed and, say, a No. 1 seed with the guys," Auriemma said during an ESPN radio interview Tuesday.

Have you seen some of the scores from the first two rounds? No. 1 UConn destroyed No. 16 Long Island 101-29. No. 2 Texas Tech hammered No. 15 Penn 100-57. No. 1 Tennessee clobbered No. 16 Austin Peay 80-38.

UConn won its two games by a total of 117 points despite being without two of its best players.

Nothing can be done about that except to be patient. Cutting the tournament to 32 teams would do wonders, but how many coaches would go along with that? Probably none.

Eventually, things will get better. The talent level has risen considerably in recent years. As it is, UConn, Tennessee and Louisiana Tech aren't the locks they used to be. You've got six or seven teams with decent title shots this year.

In the meantime, let's go with neutral sites and give Cinderella a chance to hang around beyond the first dance. Come on. What would it hurt?

I mean, wouldn't you love to just once see Pat Summitt or Geno Auriemma get clunked on the head with a glass slipper?

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