Doesn't get much better than this

Looks like the NCAA selection committee was spot-on this time.

For the first time in 23 years and just the second time in the history of the women's NCAA Tournament, all four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four.

Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame and Stanford, all rated among the top five teams in the nation this season and all past national champions, are in Denver this weekend vying for the national championship. Big East foes Connecticut and Notre Dame kick off the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday with Baylor and Stanford to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m. Both games will be televised by ESPN, as will the championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

“Whoever wins this tournament will have earned it, because they'll have beaten two of the best teams in college basketball in quite some time,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “I'm sure that people in college women's basketball are saying ‘Enough already. Can we get some new faces in there?' But right now the four best teams in the game are playing in Denver. That's what you hope to have.

“I think all the teams have a little bit of a hunger. There is no defending national champion that's in the field. So I think the same thing is going through everyone's mind at this point.”

That would be visions of cutting down the nets.

All four teams are confident they can be the last one standing, and for good reason. Each, not surprisingly, is blessed with some of the best players in the country, players who will be game-changers at the next level.

Of course, the biggest star is Baylor's Brittney Griner.

The 6-foot-8 center has blown up Twitter and YouTube in March, dunking twice since the tournament started. She's averaging 24.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6 blocks per game during the postseason and will likely be named the national player of the year.

Speaking of hardware, Notre Dame junior Skylar Diggins was just named the winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award for the best point guard in the country. She was everywhere in the Irish's regional championship win over Maryland on Tuesday, notching the first triple-double of her career with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Stanford features a monster sister act in the paint that could wear on Griner. Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike are both All-American forwards who combine to average 38 points and 20 rebounds per game. (And 2008 Illinois Ms. Basketball Sarah Boothe, a 6-foot-5 center out of Warren, adds some muscle off the bench.)

Connecticut is Connecticut. Sure, the Huskies no longer have superstar Maya Moore, but as usual, they aren't hurting for talent. Connecticut's strength is on the perimeter with guards Tiffany Hayes, Bria Hartley and Caroline Doty.

You again?

There won't be many surprises between Notre Dame and Connecticut, who have met seven times in the last two seasons, with Connecticut owning a 4-3 advantage. The Huskies tipped the scale in their favor by getting a win over Notre Dame in the Big East tournament championship last month.

Notre Dame might have the most enviable win, though. It came last year at the Final Four. The Irish defeated Connecticut in the national semifinals before losing to Texas A&M in the title game.

Scary stuff:

It's been a rough season on the health beat for college coaches.

First, it was Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. Now it's Baylor's Kim Mulkey, who is determined to coach at the Final Four in Denver this weekend despite being diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a form of facial paralysis. She noticed some strange symptoms while coaching her team to a regional championship Monday against Tennessee.

“When I smile, it's crooked and when I talk, and talk loud, the hollowness in my hearing is weird,” Mulkey said. “But it's not going to keep me from hollering.”

Summitt announced in August that she was diagnosed with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She was much less active on the sideline this season than usual and many observers believe her 38-year career may be over.

My picks:

In the semifinals, Notre Dame will outlast Connecticut in a hotly contested battle between familiar conference foes, and Baylor will ease past Stanford. Brittney Griner will then lead Baylor to its second national title, and Notre Dame will finish as the national runner-up for the second straight year.

Baylor's first national title came in 2005 in Indianapolis. The Bears defeated Michigan State.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com