Who? The Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.  Sometimes called the Jacks, but if you refer to the school as SDSU, don't confuse them with San Diego State; that tends to irk their fans.

Where? Brookings, SD, in the eastern part of the state.

When? Tuesday the 9th, in Sioux Falls, SD.

How? It took overtime after giving up a seven-point halftime lead, but the Jackrabbits clamped down on D to hold on, 79-75.

Upset? Yes. Oral Roberts had won the conference regular season by one game over SDSU and Oakland.

RPI: 111

SOS: 198

It might have been a less than stellar season by South Dakota State standards, due to the graduation of a great senior class, but in the clutch, never count out Aaron Johnston's team. For their second year in a row, they'll be representing the Summit League (formerly known as the Mid-Continent Conference, if you were wondering).

Senior forward Maria Boever, a first-team selection in the Summit League, leads her team in scoring and rebounding, putting up 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She gets help from senior forward Ketty Cornemann, who does a bit of everything, and junior guard Kristin Rotert, who does a bit more of everything. Ten players average double-digit minutes for SDSU.

Out-of-conference, their worst loss is to Illinois State. They have good wins against Gonzaga and Middle Tennessee in a couple of mid-major deathmatches. They stayed close against Arizona, Virginia, and Iowa. Turnovers nearly came back to haunt them against Oral Roberts, and those could be their Achilles heel in the tournament.

Who? The Tigers of Princeton.

Where? Princeton, New Jersey, a picturesque town on its own branch of NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor line.

When? About 8PM on Saturday the 6th.

How? By beating Harvard for a season sweep of the second-place team in the conference.

Upset? By definition, no; the Ivy League is the last conference to resist the lure of a conference tournament, giving its auto-bid to the regular-season champion.

RPI: 46

SOS: 219

As any diligent student of the women's game knows, the most remarkable win in tournament history belongs to the Ivy League, when Allison Feaster's Harvard Crimson took advantage of a depleted Stanford Cardinal to notch a 71-67 victory in 1998, marking the only time a #16 seed has ever defeated a #1 seed in either the men's or the women's tournament.

Princeton will almost certainly not have an opportunity to repeat the feat... because the Tigers, with a stronger-than-normal out-of-conference schedule and an unblemished record in league play, have earned consideration for a higher seed than Harvard garnered in 1998. This will be their first trip to the NCAA tournament, and they have the tools to make their stay more than just forty minutes.

What has the difference been for the Tigers this season? Why have they gone from 14-14 with five conference losses last season to 21-2 and a run down the table this year? Coach Courtney Banghart has brought in two freshmen who play critical roles for this team. Point guard Lauren Polansky runs the team with a steady hand, averaging 2.5 assists per game and boasting an A/TO better than 2:1.

The buzz, however, has been around first-year forward Niveen Rasheed- and for good reason. She leads the team in scoring (15.2), rebounding (8.7), assists (2.9), and steals (2.4). She gets to the line almost three times more often than anyone else on the Tigers and shoots better than 50% from the field. She's not afraid to mix it up inside, and she's smart enough to know when not to force it. (Makes sense for an Ivy League kid.)

But this isn't a one-woman show. Center Devona Allgood hits 58.4% of her shots and pulls down a touch under eight rebounds per game, while guards Lauren Edwards and Addie Micir both drain the long ball more than forty percent of the time. Allgood, Edwards, and Micir all average in double figures.

They only have two losses, against UCLA and Rutgers. Solid out-of-conference wins include Delaware, Drexel, and Houston.

Have you seen this Princeton team live and in person? Let us know what you thought of them!

Who? The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State. Sometimes also known as the Lady Raiders.

Where? Murfreesboro, TN, just about smack-dab in the middle of the state, which I guess is why they called the university Middle Tennessee State.

When? Tuesday the 9th, in Hot Springs, AR.

How? It took overtime and a transcendent 48-point, 16-rebound performance from Alysha Clark to beat top-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock 70-68.

Upset? Technically, yes. The Sun Belt's Eastern Division champions were the second seed thanks to a loss in head-to-head play against the Trojans.

RPI: 23

SOS: 84

There's a lot of tournament-making, nationally ranked basketball played in the state of Tennessee, and not all of it is housed in Knoxville or Nashville. Middle Tennessee State is a perennial tournament team with a lot of offense, strong defense, and the willingness to play anyone.

It all starts with the amazing senior Alysha Clark, two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year and the nation's leading scorer. Her numbers before today were 28 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, and those will go up after the performance mentioned above. As dominant a scorer she is, she also averages over three assists, passing out of the double and-triple teams sent her way. All-Sun Belt First Teamer Brandi Brown and Second-Teamer Jackie Pickel also average double figures for an offense that averages 81.8 points a game. Pickel was the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year as well. I would hate to be a conference foe coming in against them- "wait, we have to guard the top player in the conference AND they have the top defensive player in the conference?!" Pleasingly geeky statistical note: all five of their starters have A/TO ratios better than 1:1.

A home win against Kentucky is their best out-of-conference win. In battles with other mid-majors, they came out at the short end of the stick against Xavier and South Dakota State.·

Who? The Musketeers of Xavier.

Where? Cincinnati, OH, the city that once had Jerry Springer as its mayor.

When? Monday the 8th, in Upper Marlboro, MD.

How? Up 12 at the half, Xavier was taken to overtime by a determined Temple team, but held the Owls scoreless for the last 3:55 to take the game 57-55.

Upset? Nope. Xavier ran the table in conference, finishing three games ahead of Dayton and Temple.

RPI: 11

SOS: 60

In the poll era, the recipe for success is simple: don't lose. Xavier hasn't lost in this calendar year, playing in a tough, competitive conference. They play hard, they play tough, and they're not afraid of anyone.

Their attack is led by the imposing post tandem of juniors Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips. Harris is the team's leading scorer with 15.4 per game and second-leading rebounder at a tiny smidge under nine per game, while Phillips averages a double-double with 13.7 points and 11.3 rebounds (almost half of which are offensive, a stat that boggles my mind). Behind them is a balanced scoring attack, with four players averaging 8.4 points or better... but when your posts shoot 55.8% and 62.1% from the field, who needs other scorers?

The most puzzling losses are the two to the Michigan schools- on the road at Michigan State and at home against Michigan. They beat Mississippi State by 21 and Arizona State by 13. If they can cut down their turnovers I think it'll be very interesting to see what they do in the tournament.

Who? The Lady Mocs of Chattanooga. (It's short for Mockingbird, but I haven't seen any Chattanooga teams use the long form.)

Where? Chattanooga, TN, on the Tennessee River and near the Georgia border.

When? Monday the 8th, in Charlotte, NC.

How? Down eight at the half to second-seeded Samford, the Lady Mocs rallied back and won 72-67 behind a double-double from Shanara Hollinquest.

Upset? No. Chattanooga ended the regular season two games ahead of Samford and Appalachian State, at 16-4.

RPI: 67

SOS: 156

A traditional power in the Southern Conference, Chattanooga's been here before. They're led by senior forward Shanara Hollinquest, the SoCon's Player of the Year, who averages 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. She gets help from senior guard, and fellow Southern Conference First-Teamer Jenaya Wade-Fray, the other double-figure scorer for the Lady Mocs with 13.2 per game; Wade-Fray is also the team's second-leading rebounder with 6.1. From the numbers, it's hard to tell who the primary playmaker is for this team, or if Hollinquest has to make her own shots, so if anyone's seen this team, please let me know. I'm curious.

Chattanooga picked up a very good overtime win over Richmond at St. Peter's holiday tournament, and beat a better-than-usual Clemson team as well. A 24-point loss at East Tennessee is not good, and a neutral site loss to Villanova isn't much better.

Who? The Bulldogs of Gonzaga.

Where? Spokane, WA, pronounced "Spo-CAN", not Spo-CANE.

When? Monday the 8th, in Las Vegas, NV.

How? While upstart Pepperdine gave the Bulldogs a fight in the first half, Gonzaga answered with a 42-point second half to run away 76-48.

Upset? Nope. Gonzaga ran the table in conference play, finishing two games ahead of St. Mary's.

RPI: 27

SOS: 113

The strength of the men's program in Gonzaga is the stuff of busted brackets- but it has overshadowed the successful program that Kelly Graves has built on the women's side. Spokane is where West Coast Conference Players of the Year are churned out on a regular basis, as junior point guard Courtney Vandersloot claimed the honor this year and last, with forward Heather Bowman taking the crown before her.

Vandersloot leads the nation in assists with 9.3 a game, powering an offense that averages over 80 points per game. She also chips in 14.6 points, second to senior forward Heather Bowman's 15.6. Senior forward Vivian Frieson helps with the heavy work inside, averaging 7.3 rebounds to lead the team, and adding 12.2 points. WCC Newcomer of the Year Katelan Redmon is the fourth in double figures in scoring, putting in 10.8 per game.

The knock on the Bulldogs is their schedule; while they've piled up wins, and played major competition, the two don't overlap. Out of conference tests at Stanford and at home against Baylor resulted in substantial losses. Their best win is a 70-58 victory over USC. I still wouldn't want to be a BCS team seeing them across the bracket.

The amazing thing about basketball is that watching it reduces one's time to write about it.

Who? The Lady Volunteers of Tennessee, Vols for short.

Where? Knoxville, TN, where the area code spells out VOL on a telephone keypad.

When? Sunday the 7th, in Duluth, GA.

How? They beat #18 Kentucky 70-62, outrebounding the Wildcats 47-28.

Upset? Not remotely. Tennessee finished four games ahead of Kentucky in the regular season.

RPI: 3

SOS: 8

If you're reading this blog, you've probably heard of Tennessee. But maybe you haven't. Maybe you're so devoted to your own team that you don't pay attention to other teams. These things are possible.

The Lady Vols put five players into double figures on a nightly basis, led by the 14.1 ppg of sharpshooting junior guard Angie Bjorklund (42.9% from beyond the arc, a tick above her overall field goal percentage). Trying to zone Tennessee's shooters is probably not a good idea, though, because they will destroy you inside with sophomore posts Kelley Cain and Glory Johnson, who both average over seven boards a game, with Cain shooting an unreal 60.3% from the field. And we haven't even discussed sophomore forward Shekinna Stricklen, who does a lot of everything, or the emergence of sophomore post Alyssia Brewer in the last few weeks- or, for that matter, the factor on the bench, the woman of a thousand (and more) wins, Pat Summitt.

The high RPI and SOS show that the Lady Vols shy away from playing few teams (for the love of all that is sweet and holy, please don't bring up the UConn thing). Their only losses are to Stanford and Georgia, both on the road. They've beaten Baylor, Virginia, UCLA, Texas, and Oklahoma, and that's just out of conference. Tennessee is a perennial favorite, and this season promises to be no different.

Who? The Blue Devils of Duke.

Where? Durham, North Carolina; if you throw a rock, you'll probably hit a Division I school, which will then promptly have you arrested for throwing a rock at it, because that's just tacky.

When? Sunday the 7th, in Greensboro, NC.

How? The Blue Devils held off an upset-minded sixth seed to claim their first ACC title in six years, beating NC State 70-60.

Upset? No. Duke split the regular season title with Florida State; by beating the Seminoles head to head, they were given the first seed.

RPI: 5

SOS: 7

There are few brands as familiar in college basketball as Duke. While more famous on the men's side, it's not like Duke has neglected its women's program.

Junior guard Jasmine Thomas, a member of the All-ACC first team, averages 15.8 points per game to go with 4.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and over two steals a game. She gets strong help inside from senior forward Joy Cheek and junior center Krystal Thomas, who both average over six rebounds per game. Duke's defense holds opponents to about 55 points per game. Offensively, they can struggle against good teams; their points per game average is inflated by a couple of beatings administered to Houston Baptist and North Carolina Central.

As the numbers indicate, they've played a strong, competitive schedule, though looking at it shows a lot of teams that were probably expected to be better than they are. Duke's best win out of conference is most likely Ohio State. The loss to Texas A&M early in the season hurts, and getting smacked around at Cameron by UConn probably smarts, though everyone loses to UConn.