The Big-12's last hope in the women's NCAA Tournament, Texas A&M, had some bad shooting luck down the stretch against Tennessee tonight, and saw their hopes for an upset fall apart in the last few minutes of the game.

But the women's Final Four still has an Austin connection..

Travis Mays is an assistant coach with LSU and the Tigers are in the Final Four for the 5th year in a row.

More importantly, it's a first for Travis.

Remember, as a player, he came within a win of the Final Four in 1990, only to lose to Arkansas up in Dallas.

And as an assistant with Jody Conradt and the Horns, Travis was only able to make one playoff trip in three years.

But when Gail Goestenkors came to Austin, Travis was able to find a job with new LSU coach Van Chancellor. And he's gotten the success he deserves.

You might remember some of the bad luck Travis had in college his first couple of years, with injuries and Bob Weltlich's stale offense. But patience is a virtue and he had a couple of great runs his junior and senior years with Tom Penders' first two teams.

Now patience pays off again.

I traded emails with Travis today, congratulating him on a great year and wishing him luck in the Final Four.

Of course, he's not satisfied. He says they want to win it all.

And if anybody deserves a title, it's Travis Mays.