Pac-12?

The second item of this news brief is emminently more interesting than the first: Pac-10 officials are thinking of expanding the conference:

"I don't understand. I like the Pac-10 the way it is," said Tara VanDerveer, who's been the Stanford coach since 1985. "That might be old-school. But there is something special about playing a true double round-robin and that we have a true winner of the Pac-10. It's a normal life for kids to not be playing on a Wednesday night and then chartering, which is what you would have to do (if expanding) and it would be extremely expensive."

As usual, I can see both sides. Add to VanDerveer's thoughts the opinion that we should first improve the quality of the teams we have in the league before we go expanding. But on the other side, the conference needs some excitement. And some fans believe the only legitimate conferences are those with 12 teams. We'll see what happens.

In other news.....

Angel McCoughtry is living her big hoop dreams.

North Carolina State Coach Kellie Harper laced up the shoes yesterday to raise funds for breast cancer research. And as a big fan of big love, I love this part of the story:

Former guard Ivy Gardner, who played from 1999-2002, said it was critical in this first season for former players to support Harper. She drove from Washington, where a blizzard had dumped more than 30 inches of snow.

"We have a great respect for Coach Harper," Gardner said. "She's done a great job of transitioning the girls, as well as herself. To say she had large shoes to fill is the most enormous understatement there is. And she's done it with class and respect. She's making her own way in this program."

The Norwich paper talked about the meeting of new teammates Kara Lawson and Asjha Jones without once mentioning where either athlete played in college. It's a miracle.

And you gotta love this "academics comes first" story: UConn's Lorin Dixon was sent home from the NCAA tournament last year due to her poor grades and study habits. She went to class instead, and she learned her lesson.