Lower seeds should not receive home court advantage

And you thought higher-seeded Pitt had it bad last weekend, having to play against Wisconsin,… And you thought higher-seeded Pitt had it bad last weekend, having to play against Wisconsin, in Wisconsin.

In the women’s NCAA Tournament that started last weekend, there were numerous unfair home court advantages handed out to lower seeds.

For the first time in a long time, the Connecticut Huskies were not a No. 1 seed in the tournament, because of a loss in the Big East semi-finals and a few bad losses down the stretch. Instead, Penn State was given the nod for its terrific season.

So what was Penn State’s reward for receiving the No. 1 seed? It was a trip to Blacksburg, VA, to play Virginia Tech in the Hokies’ home arena. The Hokies were given a No. 8 seed, yet they somehow received home-court advantage. Just like Pitt, Penn State overcame this hurdle and cruised into the Sweet 16 a few nights ago. You’d think that Penn State wouldsurely have it easier on their road to the Final Four now, right?

Wrong.

Penn State’s reward for winning on its opponent’s court in the round of 32 is a trip to Hartford, Conn., where UConn is the No. 2 seed in the Lady Lions’ bracket. Barring a monster upset the size of Joe Paterno’s ego, Penn State will have to play the Huskies at UConn. Even though we saw Duke upset UConn in Hartford earlier this year, don’t expect Penn State to be in the Final Four with this roadblock in its way.

But Penn State wasn’t the only school that got screwed No. 2 seed Kansas St. is in a state of denial this week after losing to No. 7 seed Minnesota in the round of 32. They aren’t in denial because they lost. Rather, they are in denial because the loss came on the Gophers’ home court in Minnesota. Meanwhile, No. 6 seed Ohio State got home court advantage, but No. 3 seed Boston College prevailed and advanced to the Sweet 16.

So now I’ve told you about a No. 6, No. 7 and a No. 8 seed receiving home court advantage in the first round, but it gets even better.

For some reason, not known to man or woman in this case, No. 11 seeded California-Santa Barbara received home court advantage in the first two rounds. And, would you believe it, the Banana Slugs — yes, that’s their mascot — after pulling an upset in round one, moved on to upset No. 3 seed Houston to advance to the Sweet 16 as No. 11.

But wait, I’ve got one more involving the site for the Sweet 16. The Midwest bracket’s site is in Norman, Okla., home of the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners, a No. 3 seed in the tournament, would receive home court advantage in the Sweet 16. But that’s not the shocking part. What is shocking is that the No. 1 seed in this bracket is Tennessee. The Volunteers got dissed by the tournament committee.

Why is this shocking?

For years, it has been Tennessee vs. UConn to see who is the best in women’s basketball. You’d think Pat Summit and the rest of the Volunteer nation deserve a little more respect than to be put in a situation like this one.

Luckily for Tennessee, however, the No. 6 seed Stanford took out Oklahoma in the round of 32 before the Sooners could even get to their home court.

Here’s a little message to the NCAA women’s Tournament Committee: Your sport is growing in interest and the competition is beginning to even out. Try some neutral sites for next year’s tournament. No one wants to watch a home team win, it’s just not exciting.

As for Penn State, sorry, you’ll have to wait until next year.

Brian Goldman is a columnist for The Pitt News and has Tennessee, UConn, Duke and LSU in the Final Four.