LSU is ready to home in on championship

LSU is in familiar territory - its home court, hometown crowd, and its 10th straight NCAA Tournament includes four consecutive trips to the Final Four.

This year they're hoping to do more than stretch that record - they want to cap it.

But getting there will require negotiating the New Orleans regional, which will be anything but the Big Easy.

Second-seed LSU (27-5) begins the quest against 15th seed Jackson State (18-13) tonight in Baton Rouge, La., and despite the old coaching mantra of "one game at a time," the Tigers have been thinking championship all season long.

When Van Chancellor was hired to coach the team, one of his first orders of business was to gather his players in the gym and have them practice cutting down the nets.

"He wanted us focused on winning," guard Erica White said. "He told us the only way we'd cut down another one was when we won the national title."

LSU has been close, losing in a semifinal game four straight times.

Jackson State, winner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship for the first time in school history, is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995. It takes a three-game winning streak into tonight's game.

"No one expected us to win," coach Denise Taylor said. "So we've been an underdog all season."

Seventh-seeded Marist (31-2) squares off against 10th-seeded DePaul (20-11) in the first New Orleans regional game.

Opening the day will be Texas A&M (26-7), the No. 2 seed, against No. 15 Texas-San Antonio (23-9) at noon in the Oklahoma City regional that's also being held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Seventh-seeded Syracuse (22-8) meets No. 10 Hartford (27-5) at 2:30 in region's next game.

Tough crowd

After a solid season, West Virginia received a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Any additional perks are on hold.

Despite a third-place Big East finish, the Mountaineers (24-7) got a long flight, a streaking opponent in New Mexico (20-12) and the bad guy's role at one of the nation's toughest arenas for visitors to Albuquerque.

"I've heard they have a good crowd," West Virginia's Olayinka Sanni said. "They're always very excited for their team. It's going to be a great atmosphere."

The other first-round matchups in Albuquerque are No. 3 seeded Baylor (24-6) against No. 14 Fresno State (22-10), No. 6 Pittsburgh (22-10) vs. No. 11 Wyoming (24-6) and No. 4 Vanderbilt (23-8) against No. 13 Montana (25-6).

New Mexico is playing at home for a reason, and the Lobos earned the right because they sell tickets. They're no different from Stanford, Maryland and LSU in hosting NCAA regionals on campus.

New Mexico averaged 8,584 fans for 18 home games to rank seventh nationally in attendance.

Tough Knights

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer wanted to challenge the Scarlet Knights by playing one of the nation's toughest schedules.

She vowed never to do it again.

No. 7 Rutgers (24-6) took on all comers this season, going up against the likes of Stanford, LSU, Maryland, Duke, and Tennessee in nonconference play.

The strategy backfired, as season-ending knee injuries to guard Khadijah Rushdan and forward Myia McCurdy left the Scarlet Knights - who only have 10 players to begin with - worn out as the season wore on.

Rutgers dropped its last two games and fell out of the running for a No. 1 seed. The Scarlet Knights, who lost to Tennessee in the 2007 national title game, earned the No. 2 seed in the Greensboro Regional and will face 15th-seeded Robert Morris (23-9) in today's first round in Des Moines.

"It served no purpose, other than to get people hurt," said Stringer, who also lost guard Brittany Ray for eight games midway through the year. "Pretty soon it's one injury after another, and the next thing you know we have more kids on crutches than we do playing."

But Rutgers sees a silver lining in losing to No. 1 Connecticut by 20 and falling to Louisville in the Big East tournament. It gave the Scarlet Knights a week and a half to get back to the basics in practice, and Stringer believes her team is more focused than it has been all year.

Should Rutgers get past Robert Morris, it could be looking at a virtual road game against seventh-seeded Iowa State in the second round. Iowa State (20-12) ranked fifth in the nation in home attendance at 9,388 per game, and its campus is just 35 miles from Des Moines.

The Cyclones will face 10th-seeded Georgia Tech (22-9) in the opening round.

Better luck out West?

Candice Wiggins is fully aware of the West Coast's futility in the NCAA Tournament. The Stanford star grew up in San Diego closely following the Cardinal and college basketball as a kid. She is all for changing that this year as she ends her remarkable run on The Farm.

No school west of the Rockies has won a national title since Stanford in 1992 and none has even advanced to the Final Four since the Cardinal's trip in '97. If that drought is going to be snapped this year, Stanford and Bay Area rival California have the best chance of doing it.

"We're usually underrepresented in the first place. It's important we all are successful," Wiggins, the three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year said. "It's amazing. It's kind of hard to believe this is my last one."

No. 2 seed Stanford (30-3) faces NCAA first-timer and No. 15 Cleveland State (19-13) in a first-round game on its home floor in the Spokane Regional. Cal (26-6), the third seed in the Greensboro Regional, takes on No. 14 San Diego (19-12) earlier in the day at Maples Pavilion.

The Golden Bears, who only had to drive about an hour from nearby Berkeley, are seeking their first NCAA victory since 1993 and just the second in school history.