Big East women sweep Big 12, 5-0

Again, there isn't a huge connection to USF, but bear with me. I'll be writing a lot about women's basketball in the next two weeks, and some of it will spill over to the blog.

The Big East and Big 12 tied for the biggest contingent in the NCAA women's tournament with eight teams each. And the draw somehow lined up five second-round meetings between the two leagues: the Big East swept all five, an impressive statement that solidifies the Big East's status as the deepest league in college basketball.

Two of the five wins were upsets, with fifth-seeded Notre Dame eking past Oklahoma in overtime and sixth-seeded Pittsburgh knocking off Baylor. Connecticut and Rutgers were supposed to beat Texas and Iowa State, and Louisville had a convincing win against Kansas State.

So the Big East leads the way with five teams in the Sweet 16, with the ACC and SEC each getting three teams in, the Big 12 getting two and the Pac-10 mustering one, along with midmajors Old Dominion and George Washington.

Three of those Big East teams will be heavy underdogs in the next round, with Notre Dame and Louisville drawing No. 1 seeds in Tennessee and North Carolina, and Pitt facing No. 2 seed Stanford. Connecticut and Rutgers will be the only teams favored to win, and they'll then face each other in the Greensboro region final.

We now resume the USF blog already in progress ...