The road to Nashville begins in Ames

Here is how the teams that will play rounds 1 and 2 in Ames match up statistically:

	Stanford	South Dakota	Iowa State	Florida State
Points per game	77.6	75.6	73.7	70.6
Scoring margin	+17.5	+2.6	+9.0	+6.2
Field goal %	0.471	0.422	0.416	0.428
3-pointers per game	6.5	5.7	9.0	4.9
3-point %	0.372	0.327	0.337	0.281
Free throw %	0.693	0.753	0.804	0.654
Rebounds per game	43.7	40.2	37.5	41.4
Rebounding margin	+8.7	+4.4	+2.4	+6.4
Assists per game	17.8	14.0	14.1	14.3
Turnovers per game	12.6	14.5	12.9	19.3
Assist/turnover ratio	1.42	0.97	1.10	0.74
Steals per game	5.8	7.2	4.8	10.3
Blocks per game	3.7	2.7	3.0	3.7
Overall record	29-3	19-13	20-10	20-11
Conferencerecord	17-1	7-7	9-9	7-9
RPI	3	136	42	39
Schedule strength	11	175	36	27

In regard to the other first round matchup in Ames: Florida State and Iowa State have played just once before — in the 2001 NCAA second round game in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State won that game, 85-70.

AP sports writer Doug Feinberg predicts a repeat this year, "The Seminoles have the best player on the court with Natasha Howard. The Cyclones don't lose too many at home. This will not be one of those occasions."

  South Dakota Coyotes

First off, these aren't the Jackrabbits from South Dakota State that the Cardinal played in Puerto Vallarta. They're the Coyotes from the University of South Dakota, which is located in Vermilion, SD.

I expect that many of their supporters, the Howling Pack, will make the 200-mile drive to Ames to cheer on the Coyotes in their first NCAA Divison I Tournament appearance.

This is the Coyotes' second year of tournament eligibility — they joined the Summit League and began their transition from Division II to Division I in 2009. They finished the season with a 7-7 conference record, third behind South Dakota State, IUPUI and Fort Wayne. They earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the Summit League Tournament.

The Coyotes are coached by Amy Williams, in her second season at the helm.

The Coyotes are led by the play of senior guard Nicole Seekamp (15.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.9 spg, 3.9 apg, 1.65 ato), junior guard Raeshel Contreras (13.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.6 spg) and senior forward Polly Harrington (12.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.7 bpg).

Here are South Dakota's 2013-2014 statistics, roster and game notes.

  Iowa State Cyclones

Stanford and Iowa State have met four times, most recently in a memorable game that Iowa State would probably like to forget — the 2009 NCAA Elite Eight game in Haas Pavilion. Iowa State focussed on defending the perimeter and left Jayne Appel single-covered in the paint. Jayne feasted, running up 46 points to set the Stanford single-game scoring record.

But that was then, and there are two very different things about this season's upcoming contest. First, it will take place on the Cyclone's home court, which drew an average of 10,114 fans per game this season — the second-most in the nation. Second, 19th-year head coach Bill Fennelly will surely devise a more effective game plan this time around.

The Cyclones finished fifth (of ten) in the Big 12 behind Baylor, West Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma State. They lost to Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

The Cyclones have advanced to the NCAA tournament 15 times during Fennelly's tenure, twice to the Elite Eight. This is their eighth consecutive appearance. Last season, they lost to Georgia in the second round.

The Cyclones are led by senior forward Hallie Christofferson who is their leading scorer (18.6 ppg) and second-best rebounder (7.3 rpg).

Christofferson is joined by three other double-digit scorers — junior guard Nikki Moody (12.8 ppg), who runs the point and is their best ball-handler (5.3 apg, 1.5 ato); freshman guard Jadda Buckley (10.9 ppg); and freshman guard Seanna Johnson (10.5 ppg), who is also the leading rebounder (8.0 rpg).

The Cyclones are not a very big team. Coach Fennelly says, “We have to shoot the ball really well. We shoot a lot of 3’s. We’ve been a pretty good free-throw-shooting team. So for us to be successful, that has to continue."

Here are Iowa State's 2013-2014 statistics, roster and game notes.

  Florida State Seminoles

Stanford and Florida State have played each other three times, most recently in the 2007 NCAA Second Round game in Maples Pavilion — the stunning loss for Brooke, Candice and Jayne that Cardinal fans find so hard to forget.

The Seminoles finished ninth (of 15) in the ACC behind Notre Dame, Duke, Maryland, NC State, Syracuse, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Miami. They lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

This will be the Seminole's ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past ten years, during which they advanced to the Elite Eight once. They lost to Baylor in the second round last season.

The Seminoles are coached by Sue Semrau, who is in her 17th year at Florida State.

The Seminoles are led by a pair of outstanding seniors:

5'2" dynamo point guard Cheetah Delgado leads the Seminole offense. She dishes out 6.7 assists per game, which ranks #8 in the nation, with a 1.48 assist/turnover ratio. She also averages 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds (closest to the floor?) per game.

On the receiving end is 6'3" forward Natasha Howard, the Seminoles' leading scorer (21.2 ppg), rebounder (9.3 rpg) and shot blocker (2.4 bpg). She makes her shots at a rate of 60.3%, which ranks #6 in the nation.

Here are Florida State's 2013-2014 statistics and roster.