BananaCut

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting seriously fired up for Nationals this weekend.

It happens to the best of us. We forget to re-apply our SPF 50. We grease up in the hotel room before we head to the fields, but the excitement of the tournament, the thrill of victory, the pain of defeat, they all distract us and we forget to block those UV rays.

Every team in a Region gets to vote for the seven players that make it on to the All-Region teams, so everyone knows that if a player is on an All-Region team, she commanded the attention and respect of her regional rivals. For the 2008 season, there are 18 players across the country that have been recognized as All-Region caliber (some more than once!).

This tournament has definitely fluctuated in team numbers as well as programs in attendance. This tournament used to be a stomping ground for the Hodags who won it last year against Pitt and the year before over Georgia.

The story of Stanford's path through NW Regionals to make it to Nationals. Includes a prospective all-region team.

I think what All Region really means is ambiguous and I've talked to many people who have different thoughts on the matter.

For anyone out there that goes to major ultimate tournaments just to watch, like Nationals for example, go to Centex instead. This tournament has been so much fun to be at. Austin is a great city, the weather is unreal. These teams that are invincible in a 16 team Nationals tournament, are actually human believe it or not.

If you heard about a team that took their region three times in the last four years, made Nationals every year since 2002 and while there, made Quarters three times in the last six years, and the Final Four in 2006 - you'd likely say they were a contender for that elusive Sarasota Gold.

As the NCAA Tournament approaches, any conversation about College Basketball will be centered on who is in and who is out. At this point in the season, there are those teams that have solidified their resume and shown consistent enough results that the rest of their season is merely played as a tune-up and for a higher seed. The group just below them is always the most fascinating.