There won’t be any big upsets here
The four No. 1 seeds are playing for the national title in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio — There are no bracket-busters here. Instead, the No. 1 seeds from each region, UConn, Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State, advanced to the Final Four, only the fourth time in NCAA tournament women's basketball history that has happened. So, is having the four No. 1s perfect symmetry? Not exciting enough without an underdog? Pick one, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said in a conference call Tuesday.
“So you're watching teams that upset other people,” Auriemma said, using the men's tournament as an example. “Then you're watching (No. 9) Kansas State play (No. 11) Loyola and people are saying, 'Wow, you know there's a lot better teams out there and that's what people want to watch.'
“You can't have it both ways. You can't have the excitement of the upsets and the excitement of Cinderella and then say we only want the best teams.”
Louisville (36-2) and Mississippi State (36-1), each seeking their first national championship, play the first game of a women's semifinal doubleheader beginning at 7 p.m. Friday at Nationwide Arena. Eleven-time national champion UConn (360) faces Notre Dame (33-3) in the 9:30 p.m. game.
Auriemma called it the best Final Four field “maybe ever,” one of those occasions where his team could possibly play its best and still lose, as the Huskies did in the 1996 national semifinals against Tennessee, falling 88-83 in overtime.
“It's easier (to prepare) because you know you're playing a great team and you better be ready,” Auriemma said of the strength of the field. “There better not be any stones left unturned. Every kid better be on their best behavior. Whatever they've been doing all year long, they better do it that well and better.
“The harder part is you can do all that and still get your ass beat. We could do everything right this week. We had everything taken care of, every contingency, we've got everything. We're ready to go. And then go out and still get smacked."
The four top seeds also reached the Final Four in 1989 in Tacoma, Wash. (Auburn, Louisiana Tech, Tennessee and Maryland), 2012 in Denver (Baylor, Stanford, Notre Dame and UConn) and 2015 in Tampa (UConn, Maryland, Notre Dame and South Carolina).
Said Auriemma: “There are some other years where you you go, 'OK, look, if we do A, B, C and D, there is no way we can lose. Well, that's not happening this week.”
Catholic school memories
The very last question Auriemma was asked on the podium at the Albany Regional on Monday night was this one: “Are you getting a nun?” The reference, of course, was to the 98-year-old Loyola-Chicago chaplain known simply as Sister Jean, now along for the ride to the No. 11-seeded Ramblers first men's basketball Final Four since 1963. Loyola will play Michigan at 6:09 p.m. Saturday in San Antonio.
“There were a couple that liked me, too. I was a good Catholic boy,” said Auriemma, who graduated from the former Bishop Kenrick High School in Norristown, Pa.
“… Every time I see Loyola play and I watch (Sister Jean), I go, 'Man, I knew a lot of women just like her.' And God bless them because they teach you the right thing at the right age. They are worth their weight in gold, those women. I might try to find one. That would be pretty cool.”
v.fulkerson@theday.com