2000 Final Four logo unveiled

Penn will co-host next year's Women's Final Four at the First Union Center. The logo for the 2000 NCAA Women's Final Four, which will be held in Philadelphia, was unveiled yesterday at City Hall. Penn and St. Joseph's will be the co-hosts for the Final Four, whose multi-colored logo is the Liberty Bell with a basketball as the ringer. Predicting that the Final Four -- which will be held next March 31 and April 2 at the First Union Center -- will be "a great event for Philadelphia," Mayor Ed Rendell was confident that the city will do its part to put on a good show. "This city will roll out the red carpet as nobody ever has," Rendell said. "We are unmatched in our level of enthusiasm and pride for our college basketball teams." Philadelphians likely will not have the chance to cheer on a hometown team at the Final Four, however. Only St. Joe's made the NCAA field this year and the Hawks will lose three of their starters to graduation. Penn, which will lose only Sue Van Stone, will have a very good chance to qualify for the tournament for the first time in school history, but the road back home to the Final Four would be a very challenging one for the Quakers to travel. "To play in it would be incredible," Penn forward and Ivy League Player of the Year Diana Caramanico said. "I'd just like to go to the first round right now. But to go to [watch the Final Four] would be fun. The fact that it's 25 miles from my house is great." Penn is not the only team that will be able to get there via SEPTA. Villanova was 13-13 this season, 9-9 in the tough Big East conference. Villanova's women's team faced the same plight as its men's team at the end of this regular season -- the Wildcats needed a good showing in the Big East Tournament to advance to the NCAAs. Unlike John Celestand's crew, however, Villanova's women's squad made a quick exit from the conference tournament and has returned to the Main Line despite a 3-1 Big 5 mark. Despite an expected improvement from the Philadelphia teams -- which also include La Salle and Temple -- the fans at next year's Final Four will still probably be watching as Tennessee or Connecticut rings up another title.