Pac-10 Women Get 6 Bids

The Pacific 10 Conference can retire the “no respect” card it has been waving at the NCAA women’s tournament selection committee the last few years.

Or it can pass it to Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt.

When the tournament field was unveiled Monday, there were six Pac-10 teams among the 64, the most bids the conference has received since the NCAA began sponsoring the event in 1982.

Tournament play begins Saturday.

UCLA (20-10), which earned the Pac-10’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, was seeded fifth in the Cleveland Regional. The Bruins travel to West Lafayette, Ind., and face 12th-seeded Bowling Green (28-2) Sunday.

“What we did at the end of the year” -- winning five straight games and 10 of the last 12 -- “was a plus and a five seed is a reward,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said. “At first I didn’t quite understand why we were being sent to West Lafayette. But then I thought there might be a lot of Pac-10 teams going.”

She was right.

USC (18-11) was assigned the No. 8 seeding in the Bridgeport Regional and will meet No. 9-seeded South Florida (19-11) Sunday in Norfolk, Va.

“I would have taken an 11 or 12 seed,” said USC Coach Mark Trakh, whose team has been reduced to seven injury-free scholarship players because of injuries. “I thought we had a good year, we had some wins against top 50. Now we have to go out and play.”

Other Pac-10 selections were Stanford, Arizona State, Washington and California. The Bears were the surprise. Cal finished sixth in the regular season and lost to UCLA in the tournament quarterfinals. Its selection helped doom other potential mid-major choices such as Western Kentucky, Indiana State and Wyoming.

Joni Comstock, chairwoman of the selection committee, said, “There were a number of [Pac-10] teams the committee felt had a great year. As the committee evaluates the teams, we don’t think of the number of teams getting in from one conference. As it turned out, we felt six teams from the Pac-10 deserved to be in.”

UCLA and USC weren’t the only Southland teams celebrating Monday. UC Riverside (16-14) earned its bid by winning the Big West tournament, and Pepperdine (14-16) got its invite with the West Coast Conference tournament title.

Beyond that, neither team earned much respect from the committee.

Riverside was seeded 16th in the Cleveland Regional and will play top-seeded North Carolina (29-1) on Saturday. The Tar Heels are also the No. 1 team in the nation.

Still, Riverside Coach John Margaritis maintained his enthusiasm.

“I thought, ‘Wow it’s great.’ We have an opportunity to go the NCAA tournament and to play a name school people will recognize. That’s good for our program, the Inland Empire and the university,” Margaritis said.

“We’ll compete one way or the other -- poorly or well. If we’re in the right frame of mind, we’ll compete as well as we can and what happens, happens.”

Pepperdine was seeded 15th in the San Antonio Regional and drew second-seeded Oklahoma (29-4) in Denver.

“I’m pleased with the seed,” Pepperdine Coach Julie Rousseau said. “Oklahoma is a handful, but we’re willing to be David to their Goliath. I want the kids to enjoy the experience but to also be inspired to achieve the greatness I think is in them, whether it’s revealed this year or not.”

But it wouldn’t be an NCAA tournament field without controversy, and most of it centered on Tennessee.

The Lady Vols (28-4), who were ranked No. 1 for part of the season and won the Southeastern Conference tournament, were confident they would receive a top seeding with Duke, North Carolina and Louisiana State. Instead the last No. 1 seeding went to Ohio State.

Tennessee was given a No. 2 seeding, and put in North Carolina’s bracket.

Summitt did not hide her anger.

“It’s a slap in our program’s face,” Summitt said. “I guess it’s my fault for putting together the toughest schedule in the country year in and year out. But as far as I’m concerned we got no respect and I don’t understand it.”

Along with its strength of schedule, Tennessee could also point to 20 wins against other teams in the field and a 16-4 record against teams seeded first through 12th. The Lady Vols also ranked second in RPI, one of the factors used to determine bids and seedings.

Comstock said that Tennessee’s four losses (two of them to unranked teams) hurt its chances for a No. 1 seeding. Summitt, whose teams have won six national championships and been to 17 Final Fours -- including the last four -- disagreed.

“As I look at [Tennessee’s] bracket I thought they must want new teams at the Final Four,” Summitt said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

NCAA women

Southland teams playing in the Division I tournament:

CLEVELAND REGIONAL

* No. 5 UCLA (20-10): vs. No. 12 Bowling Green (28-2), Sunday, 11:30 a.m. PST, at West Lafayette, Ind.

* No. 16 UC Riverside (16-14): vs. No. 1 North Carolina (29-1), Saturday, 5 p.m. PST, at Nashville.

BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL

* No. 8 USC (18-11): vs. No. 9 South Florida (19-11), Sunday, 6:30 p.m. PST, at Norfolk, Va.

SAN ANTONIO REGIONAL

* No. 15 Pepperdine (14-16): vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (29-4), Saturday, 10 a.m. PST, at Denver.

*

NCAA women’s basketball tournament

First-round games on Saturday and Sunday (* 30 minutes after first game):

CLEVELAND REGIONAL

Saturday

At Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville

* UC Riverside (16-14) vs. North Carolina (29-1), 5 p.m.

* Louisville (19-9) vs. Vanderbilt (20-10)*

Sunday

At Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Ind.

* Missouri State (17-14) vs. Purdue (24-6), 9 a.m.

* Bowling Green (28-2) vs. UCLA (20-10)*

At Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, N.J.

* Dartmouth (23-6) vs. Rutgers (25-4), 4 p.m.

* Texas Christian (18-11) vs. Texas A&M; (23-8)*

At Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Va.

* Army (20-10) vs. Tennessee (28-4), 9 a.m.

* Old Dominion (22-8) vs. George Washington (22-8)*

ALBUQUERQUE REGIONAL

Saturday

At McKale Center, Tucson

* Middle Tennessee (20-10) vs. Utah (24-6), 10 a.m.

* Stephen F. Austin (23-7) vs. Arizona State (24-6)*

* Northern Arizona (22-10) vs. Baylor (24-6), 5 p.m.

* New Mexico (21-9) vs. Florida (21-8)*

Sunday

At Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Ind.

* Notre Dame (18-11) vs. Boston College (19-11), 4 p.m.

* Oakland, Mich. (15-15) vs. Ohio State (28-2)*

At Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pa.

* California (18-11) vs. St. John’s (21-7), 9 a.m.

* Sacred Heart (26-4) vs. Maryland (28-4)*

BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL

Saturday

At Allstate Arena, Chicago

* Wis. Milwaukee (22-8) vs. Michigan State (22-9), 9 a.m.

* Chattanooga (27-3) vs. Kentucky (21-8)*

Sunday

At Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Va.

* Southern (20-10) vs. Duke (26-3), 4 p.m.

* South Florida (19-11) vs. USC (18-11)*

At Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, N.J.

* Hartford (26-3) vs. Temple (24-7), 9 a.m.

* Marist (23-6) vs. Georgia (21-8)*

At Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pa.

* Missouri (21-9) vs. Virginia Tech (20-9), 4 p.m.

* Coppin State (22-8) vs. Connecticut (29-4)*

SAN ANTONIO REGIONAL

Saturday

At Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville

* Washington (18-10) vs. Minnesota (19-9), 9 a.m.

* Florida Atlantic (20-10) vs. LSU (27-3)*

At Allstate Arena, Chicago

* Liberty (25-5) vs. DePaul (25-6), 5 p.m.

* Tulsa (25-5) VS. North Carolina State (19-11)*

At Pepsi Center, Denver

* Pepperdine (14-16) vs. Oklahoma (29-4), 10 a.m.

* Iowa (17-11) vs. BYU (25-5)*

* Louisiana Tech (26-4) vs. Florida State (19-9), 5 p.m.

* Southeast Missouri State (22-8) vs. Stanford (23-7)*

All times Pacific