• I have returned from San Antonio, where the weather was warm, the food was spicy and the basketball was thrilling. Yesterday's return trip proved to be a challenge, however, as many of us got stuck in American Airlines' MD-80 bonanza. After flying one of the suspect aircrafts from San Antonio to Dallas, our flight to Indianapolis was cancelled, and the scrambling began. About 15 NCAA staffers started making other arrangements to get home, and seven of us decided to fly to Cincinnati and rent a minivan to get back to Indy. As we pulled out from the Cincinnati airport after 12 hours of travel, Associate Director of Men's Basketball David Worlock began singing "One Shining Moment." How perfectly fitting.

• Ace topped Ice last night, as Candace Parker and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers won their second straight national championship, beating Candice Wiggins and Stanford, 64-48. Parker had 17 points in her collegiate finale, and will likely be the first player taken in today's WNBA draft. Wiggins, who had 14 points, will probably be the second pick.

• On Monday afternoon, NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Chair Judy Southard and NCAA Vice President of Division I Women's Basketball Sue Donohoe addressed the media at the "State of the Championship" press conference. Judy gladly shared the amazing women's basketball initiatives from this past year--Think Pink, Pack the House and Grow the Game Grant Program. All initiatives helped increase attendance immensely and emphasized the sport's focus on giving and community service.

• Additionally, Judy boasted about the most recent graduation rates of women's basketball student-athletes. She said that 81 percent of Division I women's basketball student-athletes are graduating, which is 10 percentage points higher than the graduation rates of the general female student body.

• Television ratings soared for NCAA women's basketball during this championship, displaying a growing interest from the general public.

• Tennessee won its eighth national championship and Pat Summitt improved to 104-19 overall in NCAA tournament games. Although the Lady Vols lose Parker and four other starters, does anyone doubt the program will be in the mix again next year?

• You have to love Doug Davis, don't you? Pitching just two days before having surgery for thyroid cancer, the Arizona Diamondbacks southpaw picked up a win last night with six innings of two-run ball against the Dodgers. Davis is expected to be out for a month, but we have to commend him on being able to go out and throw like that with surgery on the horizon.

• Why does a curveball curve? It has to do with the interaction of the seams and the air around the baseball as it spins. The other day, scientist Paul Doherty explained (and demonstrated) the physics of the game at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

• Virginia Tech golfer Drew Weaver will wear Hokie gear this week while competing as an amateur in The Masters. Weaver, who won the British Amateur Championship last summer, dedicated that win to the victims of the shooting massacre on the Blacksburg campus last spring.

• A number of college football coaches will head to the Middle East next month to visit military bases and coach flag football teams. Georgia's Mark Richt, Miami's Randy Shannon, Yale's Jack Siedlecki, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville and Notre Dame's Charlie Weis will all travel overseas.