As for the women ... Lady (Gaucho) Marmalade time
An astute reader wondered why, if I took the time to handicap the entire men's NCAA Tournament bracket in Monday's paper, I failed to do the same for the women's field of 64 in today's edition.
Because ....
There's no logical explanation, so don't read between the bracket lines.
For those who need it, here we go, with a little less science and a lot more guesswork:
The first round:
Top-seed UConn clobbers Cornell, Minnesota tramples Texas, Old Dominion takes liberties with Liberty, UC Santa Barbara sails past Virginia, George Washington chops down Auburn, Cal subdues San Diego, Georgia Tech makes a wreck of Iowa State, Rutgers riddles Robert Morris.
Top-seed Maryland is upset on its home floor by No. 16 Coppin State, Nebraska nukes Xavier, West Virginia nudges out New Mexico, Vanderbilt vaults past Montana, Wyoming corrals Pittsburgh, Baylor bullies Fresno State, UTEP steps on Western Kentucky and Stanford clowns Cleveland State.
Top-seed North Carolina bucks Buckness, Iowa grinds up Georgia, Kansas State derails Chattanooga, Louisville loosens up Miami (Ohio), Ohio State fries Florida State, Oklahoma Sate has no patience for East Tennessee State, DePaul pushes away Marist and LSU louses up Jackson State's day.
Top-seed Tennessee shuts up Oral Roberts, Utah unhitches Purdue, Notre Dame knocks off Southern Methodist, Oklahoma is OK with pushing out Illinois State, Arizona State tramples Temple, Duke denies Murray State, Syracuse cashes in on Hartford and Texas A&M exercises its right of way against Texas-Arlington.
In the second round:
UConn minimizes Minnesota, 13-seed UC Santa Barbara topples 5-seed Old Dominion, Cal buries George Washington, Rutgers rejects Georgia Tech.
Nebraska trips up Coppin State, Vanderbilt bolts past West Virginia, Wyoming handles Baylor and Stanford finishes off UTEP.
North Carolina pigs out on Iowa, Kansas State lowers the boom on Louisville, OSU (Oklahoma State) ousts OSU (Ohio State) and LSU dumps DePaul.
Tennessee upends Utah, Notre Dame dams up Oklahoma, Duke escorts ASU out and Texas A&M prances past Syracuse.
In the Sweet 16:
UC Santa Barbara stuns UConn, Cal fights off Rutgers, Vanderbilt vaults Nebraska, Stanford stiffles Wyoming, Kansas States sticks it to North Carolina, LSU slaps Oklahoma State, Tennessee rocks Notre Dame and Texas A&M dukes Duke.
In the Elite Eight:
UC Santa Barbara schools Cal, Stanford is handy against Vanderbilt, LSU clobbert Kansas State and Tennessee torments Texas A&M
In the Final Four:
UC Santa Barbara -- yes, can you believe it -- outguesses Stanford and Tennessee is not about to lose to LSU.
In the final:
Tennessee gets its best game from Candice Parker and finally ends the Lady Gauchos' run to a Cinderella story.
You read it here first.