Finally have a chance to unwind after a long evening at Gampel Pavilion and a long season pondering what the NCAA tournament brackets might look like.

On the surface, it seems as if the selection committee did a pretty solid job. There don't seem to be any shenanigans like in past years (UConn and Rutgers in the same bracket a year ago comes to mind). I never bought into the hype that UConn and Tennessee would be paired in the same region. When the rivals finally meet again, something tells me that a regional semifinal in Trenton, N.J. isn't exactly the big stage ESPN is looking for.

Rutgers being sent out of the Trenton Regional has to be the biggest surprise of the bracket. Perhaps the committee felt the backlash from the decision to put UConn and Rutgers together last year or maybe somebody came to their senses and realized that a No. 7 seed doesn't deserve to play a regional in its home state. Whatever the reasons, I applaud the move. Maybe we are reaching a time in the sport where competitive balance rather than potential drawing power is viewed as being of paramount importance.

The second biggest surprise is that Louisville wasn't a No. 2 seed. My belief was the loser of the Big 12 final would drop to a No. 3 seed but instead it was Louisville which was bumped down to a No. 3 seed. In my opinion, the Raleigh bracket appears to be the toughest. Maryland earned the top seed followed by Big 12 tournament champion Baylor, a very dangerous Louisville squad followed by SEC tournament winner Vanderbilt.

The wild card in the Trenton Region could be California. It wasn't too long ago that the Bears were being touted as a potential No. 2 seed and perhaps even a No. 1 seed if they ended the season strong. Instead, Cal limped down the strength and are a No. 4 seed. On paper Cal could be an intriguing matchup for UConn because of its inside tandem of seniors Ashley Walker and Devanei Hampton and junior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson.

I had a few teams I thought UConn might see in the first round (Dartmouth, Evansville, Austin Peay come to mind) but did not have Vermont in the mix. Shows how much I know. I know one person in the UConn camp upset that it wasn't Evansville whch got the invite to play UConn at noon on Sunday on ESPN2 as UConn sophomore forward Maya Moore would have loved to meet up with her former high school teammate Ashley Austin, a senior guard for Evansville.

Of course expect the story of former UConn assistant Tonya Cardoza coaching her first NCAA tournament game at Gampel Pavilion to get plenty of play in the next few days but it will not be an easy chore for Cardoza's Temple team to oust Florida in Sunday's first-rouund game.

Not much to report on the unofficial visit of Michala Johnson, a 6-foot-3 forward from Montini Catholic High in Lombard, Ill. Johnson was on campus Monday but left midway through UConn's practice to head to the airport. It sounds as if Johnson is planning to practice due diligence and will make other campus visits before making a decision. North Babylon (N.Y.) junior guard Bria Hartley is attempting to set up an unofficial visit. The hope is it could happen during the NCAA tournament but with AAU as well as high school lacrosse commitments, it will not be easy for Hartley to make her way to Storrs. It will happen but if it can't be arranged by this weekend, it will be pushed back to a time when things aren't quite so hectic for Hartley.