While #2 Auburn was getting blown out by #7 Rutgers (on RU's home court), Kara Lawson (who has become, hands down, the best women's basketball analyst on TV) basically said: "If you're a 1 or 2 seed you should be able to win on the road."

Mechelle's not so sanguine:

Auburn’s season “back on top” is over, and Monday night the Tigers found out where 30 victories and and an SEC regular-season championship will get you: an elimination game on the home court of a team that lost nine more games than you did (coming into the NCAA tournament) and was seeded five spots lower that you.

Such is the nature of the women’s tournament that we still have to live with. The bracket is compromised from the start because of pre-determined sites. Schools do not earn home-court advantage because of their results in a year. They don’t “earn” home-court advantage at all. They buy it.