Florida Gulf Coast's Sherwood Brown, center, celebrates with teammates after their 81-71 win over San Diego State in a third-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 24, 2013, in Philadelphia. Florida Gulf Coast became the first No. 15 seed to make the Sweet 16.

The opening round of the women’s NCAA tournament went true to form.

Stars Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne shined. The top seeds cruised. There was a thriller or two, just not too many upsets.

Unlike the bracket-busting that happened over the first four days of the men’s tournament, the women’s field remained stable. The higher seeds went 28-4, including blowout victories by No. 1 seeds Connecticut, Baylor, Notre Dame and Stanford.

“Maybe that’s just because the committee seeds well,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. “Maybe they really have a good handle on it.”

It’s hard to argue with that theory.

Over the past six seasons, only once has a team seeded 13 or lower been victorious in the tournament — and that came last year when No. 13 Marist upset Georgia. There was the 1998 tournament in which No. 16 Harvard stunned No. 1 seed Stanford 71-67, but the 14s and 15s are a combined 0-152 since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1994.

There is no Florida Gulf Coast, which became the first men’s team to reach the regional semifinals Sunday night. The women’s talent pool isn’t deep enough yet to see that sort of upset happen.

“I watch the men’s games and I love it,” said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey after her team beat Prairie View A&M by 42 points in its opener. “I don’t compare. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. The games are different. There’s obviously more parity, more guys across the country that can play this game.

“There is more parity in the women’s game, but you can’t compare it to the men’s game. There are so many guys who can flat out play, who can go to schools and can change programs.”