Before we dig deeper into the 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, we check in with blogs from around SB Nation to get their takes.
- David Hooper of Rocky Top Talk took a first look at the bracket with a focus on a few of the "more interesting turns in the bracket", which ended up being somewhat SEC-centric. Looking ahead to a potential Elite Eight matchup between the top-seeded Baylor Lady Bears and his second-seeded Tennessee Lady Vols in the Elite Eight, he wonders if the committee cares about repeat matches and, especially after last year, the answer is increasingly "no": Baylor had to face Big 12 rival Texas A&M Aggies for the fourth time in the 2011 Elite Eight and making the Duke Blue Devils face the Connecticut Huskies again was just cruel for everyone (including fans). Read more >>>
- Greg Alan Edwards of A Sea of Blue was relieved that the Kentucky Wildcats held on to their projected #2 seed after a difficult loss to the LSU Tigers in the SEC tournament...and is just trying to avoid thinking about having to face a team that has already beat Kentucky twice this season in the Elite Eight. He likes the Wildcats' chances of making the Elite Eight, despite some potentially difficult matchups along the way. Read more >>>
- norcalnick of California Golden Blogs writes that the Cal Golden Bears' eighth seed "wasn't exactly what we were hoping for, but boy does it feel good to see Cal pop up in the right tournament." Cal will match up against a ninth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes team, which might be a favorable matchup for the Golden Bears if common opponents mean anything. Read more >>>
- RossWB of Black Heart Gold Pants notes that the Hawkeyes' ninth seed wasn't ideal for them either, but considering that any tournament bid seemed like a long shot after guard Jamie Printy suffered a season-ending ACL injury in January he calls this one of coach Lisa Bluder's finest coaching efforts. Read more >>>
- Billgrip of Corn Nation hopes that the sixth-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers can surprise everyone in March Madness and make it to the program's second Sweet Sixteen in three years. The Cornhuskers will face the 11-seeded Kansas Jayhawks, which he thinks makes for a favorable matchup against a former conference foe. Read more >>>
- BoilerTMill of Hammer and Rails thinks the Purdue Boilermakers have "an excellent chance of advancing to the Fresno regional", with home court advantage probably being no small part of that equation. Read more >>>
- AndyPanda of Building the Dam was just hoping that the Oregon State Beavers had done enough to make a case for the WNIT after being upset in the Pac-12 conference tournament by the Washington State Cougars. Oregon St. was one of five Pac-12 teams to make WNIT and will face the UC-Davis Aggies on Thursday. Read more >>>
- One Foot Down has posted a couple of videos with reaction from Notre Dame coach Muffett McGraw and star guard Skylar Diggins. Read more >>>
For more on the brackets, see our summaries here: Des Moines | Fresno | Kingston | Raleigh.
Click here for a printable version of the bracket. For more on the women's basketball tournament in general, see our "NCAA Tournament 2012" section. For more on the teams above in general, you can check out their sites from our "SBN Women's College Basketball Blogroll" on the left side of our home page.