Cavalaris: Summitt's 'family' commitments are forever

She's part of one great big family.

This sense of permanency also happens to be a big reason for UT coach Pat Summitt's success.

Lawson, who grew up in Virginia and was a youth football star, confirmed UT's family atmosphere during an ESPN.com chat.

"I remember when I was being recruited as a senior in high school and I was torn, as a lot of kids are, as to where I wanted to go to school," Lawson said.

"I was on the phone with Pat and we were talking and she said that if I decided to come to Tennessee, I would be part of the family - always.

"While I was there and even after I graduated, I could always call her," Lawson said. "Now that I've graduated, I've realized that's just as true as ever. That's the commitment she makes - a life commitment to you as a coach, as a mentor. That, today, is the most striking thing about coach Summitt to me."

Lawson joined several other former Lady Vols at Tuesday night's second-round NCAA tournament game with Purdue. She had been in Fresno, Calif., as an ESPN analyst and helped call Stanford's win over Utah and Arizona State's upset of Notre Dame.

While Lawson has not revealed her pick to win the national championship, she has predicted that LSU, Baylor, Connecticut and Tennessee would make it to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Fighting Words: CBS announcer Vern Lundquist chuckled during halftime of Villanova's upset of Florida in the NCAA men's tournament.

Why? Because the Villanova pep band was playing "Rocky Top."

Lundquist pointed out that "outside the state of Tennessee it could be most-hated fight song in the South."

Florida fans reacted instinctively to the song: They booed.

Big-Time Match: Add Tiger Woods to the world-class participants in the second annual Tavistock Cup that will be shown by The Golf Channel on Monday and Tuesday.

The best LPGA player is part of the competition between upscale country clubs in Orlando, Fla.

Here's the lineup:

Lake Nona - Ernie Els (captain), Annika Sorenstam, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Trevor Immelman, Justin Rose, Nick Faldo, Mark McNulty.

Iseworth - Mark O'Meara (captain), Tiger Woods, Stuart Appleby, Craig Parry, Robert Allenby, Charles Howell, Scott Hoch, Lee Janzen and John Cook.

Did You Know? Florida State freshman Chris Festa, 19, finished a career-best second in the Indy Racing League race at Phoenix last Saturday.

"That run was a little interesting," said Festa, who resides in Atlanta. 'There was a lot of carnage going on, especially at the beginning, just cars dropping out like flies."

Send questions or comments to AskChuck@knews.com. Chuck Cavalaris also will host The Ticket Sports Page Live from 3-4 p.m. today on WQBB-AM 1040.