All-star power

Sweet. The four teams at Spokane Arena for the Sweet 16 represent four of the six major conferences: Vanderbilt from the Southeastern, Maryland from the Atlantic Coast, Stanford from the Pacific-10 and Pittsburgh from the Big East. They have combined for 113 wins, and the team that gets two more represents the Spokane Region at the Final Four in Tampa, Fla., next weekend. Fourth-seeded Vanderbilt, making its ninth straight NCAA appearance and 21st overall, takes on top-seeded Maryland, which won the national title in 2006, at 6 p.m. Upstart Pittsburgh, the sixth seed, in its second NCAA tournament and first Sweet 16, has the daunting task of trying to stop second-seeded Stanford, which is trying to capture its third national title in its 21st straight tournament.