Fresno has juicy story lines; Dayton loaded

The Fresno regional is loaded with juicy story lines. The Dayton regional is just loaded.

Tennessee – a No. 1 seed along with Duke, North Carolina and Connecticut – headlines an NCAA women’s tournament regional stuffed with defending champion Maryland and two conference winners.

The Terrapins are No. 2 in Dayton, while Big 12 champ Oklahoma is No. 3 and Big Ten power Ohio State is the fourth seed.

“This region is very, very stacked, but am I surprised? Absolutely not,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.

Now, the four teams, all national title contenders, are competing for one Final Four spot.

Although all rank in the top 10 in the RPI standings, committee chair Judy Southard defended putting them in the same region.

“One of the things we have to remind everyone of is that the RPI is just one of the tools we use,” she said. “The RPI is a quantitative measure that doesn’t reflect the quality of a team.”

While competitive balance is the hot topic in Dayton, the Fresno region is bursting with subplots off the court.

LSU, the No. 3 seed, is without coach Pokey Chatman, who abruptly resigned last week.

A school official with direct knowledge of the matter told the Associated Press on Monday that Chatman was not allowed to be alone with her players after assistant Carla Berry reported alleged improper conduct to the university in February.

Chatman told her team Thursday she would not coach them in the NCAA tournament. She’s not been available for comment.

“The kids have done a wonderful job,” said acting head coach Bob Starkey. “They are a very resilient bunch. They have been through difficult times with Sue Gunter’s death and Hurricane Katrina.”

The Tigers face UNC Asheville on Friday in Austin, Texas.

“Our mission will never change,” said LSU center Sylvia Fowles. “We know what we’re here for. We know where we’re trying to get and what we’re trying to prove so our mission stays the same.”

But the sentimental choice in Fresno might be North Carolina State and coach Kay Yow. The Wolfpack, who have won 11 of 13 games since Yow returned from breast cancer treatments, are the No. 4 seed. They will play Robert Morris on Sunday in the first round in the Raleigh subregional.

“The team was just really excited to have me back. I was excited to come back,” Yow said.

Waiting for them in the regionals likely will be No. 1 seed Connecticut (29-3), which opens against No. 16 UMBC on Sunday in Hartford and eventually could face No. 2 Stanford, which plays No. 15 Idaho State at home.

Travel won’t be a problem for Duke during the tournament.

The Blue Devils, 29-0 in the regular season who lost to N.C. State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals, play Sunday against No. 16 Holy Cross in Raleigh. With a regional in Greensboro, Duke would stay in North Carolina until the Final Four in Cleveland.

Duke, ranked atop the AP poll for the final nine weeks, hopes for better results than the last time the Blue Devils finished No. 1 – the 2003-04 final poll. They lost to Minnesota in the regional finals that season.

Tennessee is the only team that has competed in every NCAA tournament after Louisiana Tech didn’t make the field this year. The Lady Vols, a No. 1 seed for the 17th time in 20 years, play No. 16 Drake on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Holy Cross and Drake became the fifth and sixth teams with losing records to make the tournament. The Crusaders won the Patriot League, and the Bulldogs were victorious in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The 64-team tournament begins Saturday.

The women’s Final Four is April 1-3 in Cleveland.