The Final Four: Rutgers

C. Vivian Stringer is hoping that the third time is a charm. By leading Rutgers (26-7) into the Final Four tomorrow, the head coach has already done something unprecedented. Stringer is now the only male or female coach in NCAA history to take teams from three different schools to the national semifinals. Loath to rest on her laurels, the Rutgers boss is primed to do something that neither she nor her program has ever accomplished -- win an NCAA championship. Stringer, in her five years at New Jersey's state university, has turned around a once-powerful program that was an uninspiring 11-17 the year before her arrival. When she took the job in New Brunswick, she pledged to turn Rutgers into the "Jewel of the East," and she has so far proven all of her detractors wrong. The Scarlet Knights, ranked No. 8 in the regular season's final coaches' poll, are the biggest underdog left in the Dance, but their tenacious play -- especially on the defensive end -- has Tennessee, their opponent tonight at the First Union Center, justifiably worried. Rutgers is a rowdy bunch on defense. Playing a hybrid of matchup zone and man-to-man, the Knights, clad in headbands and oozing with enthusiasm, sprint and shout all over the court. They are holding their opponents to just 35 percent shooting and 53.5 points through their four tournament games. Stringer has found success everywhere she's been in the college ranks. From 1971 until 1983, Stringer built a national power at Cheyney State, without the help of a budget of any significance or athletic scholarships. She made it to the final quartet in 1982 with Cheyney and then again with Iowa in 1993. Stringer and her Knights are tired of playing backup, and Rutgers most recently fumed about having to take a commercial flight home from the West Regional as champs, while runner-up and top seed Georgia got a charter. If the pesky Knights can put together two more ugly wins, Stringer will never play second fiddle again. -- Will Ulrich