Congratulations, Penn State. You're a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

To live up to it, all you have to do is win four straight games. Of course, two of them might be on your opponent's home court.

Sorry, Connecticut, you're only a No. 2 seed this time. After all, you didn't even make the finals of your conference tournament. But hey, you could earn a record fifth straight trip to the Final Four without ever leaving the state.

Yes, there's nothing like an NCAA tournament bracket to stir up some talk, a bracket that the head of the selection committee says was as challenging has any her group has put together.

"The increase in parity made it probably more difficult than it's been in a long time to determine those No. 1 seeds," said Cheryl Marra, senior associate athletic director at Wisconsin. "It made it difficult in the middle of the bracket as well.

"There was far more parity top to bottom, more parity at the top and a lot more parity in the middle."

Among the "bubble" teams that got in Sunday were North Carolina State (17-14), Maryland (17-12), Mississippi and Missouri (17-12), which was 7-9 in the Big 12. Those left out included Utah (24-7), Louisville (20-9) and Rice (21-9).

Tennessee was the top overall seed and assigned to the Midwest Regional. Duke (Mideast) ranked next among the No. 1 seeds, followed by Penn State (East) and Texas (Midwest). The Longhorns edged Purdue and Connecticut for the final spot.

"I think the seeding is a reward for what the team has done during the regular season," said Texas coach Jody Conradt, who earned her first No. 1 seed since 1988. "But that's today. Tomorrow, reality sets in and we have to learn how to win and advance."

Connecticut, which has won the last two national championships and three of the last four, failed to get a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1998. The Huskies had been in line for one until stumbling late in the season, losing at Villanova and to Boston College in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

And while few expected the Huskies to get a No. 1 seed, coach Geno Auriemma still weighed in on the subject.

"It's kind of ironic," he said. "Because we won the regular season in a league that has the most teams going to the NCAA tournament of any league in the country and we beat the No. 1-seeded team in the whole country at their place."

The Big East has eight teams in the tournament, tying the most from one conference. And UConn won at Tennessee, but the Huskies also blew a 20-point lead at home in losing to Duke and lost at Notre Dame.

"Taking a look at their full body of work, when you put it up to the other schools being considered, the other four we believe had a better overall performance this year," Marra said.

UConn still got a favorable draw, even while ranking behind Purdue among the No. 2 seeds. The Huskies begin defense of their national title just down the road in Bridgeport, Conn., against Penn. If they win twice there, they move to the East Regional at the Hartford Civic Center, where UConn played 10 games this season and is 37-2 since 1996-97.

So how did UConn get placed so close to home? Marra said it simply fell into place. The committee first assigned Purdue among the No. 2s and the subregional at Ames, Iowa, was the closest open site for the Boilermakers. Connecticut came next and Bridgeport was open, so the Huskies landed there

"We went straight across and put these institutions to the closest geographical position we could," Marra said. "It just so happened that Purdue took Ames and Connecticut took Bridgeport."

Penn State, meanwhile, might have to play Virginia Tech on its home floor in the second round and has a potential meeting with UConn in Hartford in the regional final.

Just part of the deal, coach Rene Portland said.

"There's going to be challenges every place we go," Portland said. "That's what this tournament is for. We were sent to Tennessee last year, we've played at Louisiana Tech. We'll add this to the list of challenges."

Penn State plays Hampton in the first round at Blacksburg, Va., next Sunday.

Tennessee has been in the NCAA tournament every year since it began in 1982, and this will be the first time the Lady Vols haven't started out at home. They'll play Colgate in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday.

If the Lady Vols win twice in Florida, they would move to Norman, Okla., where they could play Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt, the No. 2 seed, or third-seeded Oklahoma, which would be at home.

But this is a Tennessee team that has been tested - by its competition and by the loss of starting point guard Loree Moore to a torn knee ligament in late January. Tennessee has won 18 games against NCAA tournament teams, including a victory at Duke.

"We've been everywhere," coach Pat Summitt said. "I don't know (if) we've ever had a team better prepared at this time of the season to hit the road. This group has been very focused."

AP-ES-03-15-04 0348EST