The NCAA says it is a step in the right direction, but the coaches say it's an unfair one.

This year, for the first time in the NCAA women's tournament history, the sites at which first- and second-round games will be played at were predetermined.

In past years, the top four seeds in each region would host first- and second-round games. The NCAA believes that going to these predetermined sites is getting closer to what the men's game has in neutral sites.

The only problem is unlike the men, who play on neutral courts, some of the women's teams, including Penn State, will play on their home courts in the tournament. But, since the sites aren't determined by the top four seeds, there are No. 10 seeds hosting No. 7 seeds with the potential for a No. 2 seed to have to play on the homecourt of the No. 10 seed.

North Carolina women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell is one of many coaches who disagreed with the NCAA's decision and now has more reasons to be upset.

Her No. 3 seed Tar Heels have to travel to Boulder, Colo., for a potential second-round matchup with Colorado.

"You work so hard to have a good season, to have wins and get a good seed," Hatchell said. "Then you have to go somewhere and play in situations where teams are going to be going to lower seeds and have to play in a packed house on someone else's home court."

The process of being awarded a host site for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament started when schools had to put out bids to the NCAA last April. The NCAA looked at schools that could guarantee $75,000 in gross ticket sales and then looked at each school's facilities. The NCAA received 39 bids and all but seven could guarantee the $75,000. Those schools which couldn't meet the guarantee weren't chosen.

Penn State Assistant Athletic Director Jenn James said that the university tries to host the tournament, not for the small monetary gains, but for the prestige and to help the Lady Lions.

A main concern of coaches across the country would be that the tournament committee, which seeds teams, would mess around with seeds, giving schools that are hosting higher or lower seeds.

One scenario was that a hosting team that would normally be seeded as a No. 8 or No. 9 seed would not be placed there because the committee didn't want a No. 1 seed playing on another team's home court.

The NCAA avoided that problem, as no No. 1 seeds will have to play on another team's home court in the first two rounds.

Committee Liaison Donna Noonan said that the NCAA has always had to move around the true seeds a little to avoid conference matchups in the second round, but that no team will be moved more than one seed line. That means if the team is a No. 5, they could go to a No. 4 or No. 6, but that is the extent of it.

"They claim there is not [moving of seeds], but that's the suspicion of the coaches," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "The committee claims that they are not, but there is room for human error."

Not only is seeding a big problem with this tournament, but one of the biggest problems of this tournament is the fact that there are three teams that could play on their home floor all the way to the Final Four.

Tennessee and Stanford have a realistic chance of doing that, and No. 6 seed New Mexico will play every game in the tournament on its home floor until the Final Four.

The Pit is a raucous place to play at, and the Lobos should have a big advantage, which seems quite unfair for a No. 6 seed.

The problems between the coaches and the committee may have to do with an argument on one topic. The committee feels that seed is more important than site, while the NCAA coaches clearly disagree.

"The committee has always said that seed is more important than site," Portland said.

"The coaches all sat there and laughed and said 'I'd rather be the eight seed at home than the one seed away.' We all know about a season of unbelievable losses on the road across the country, men's and women's [basketball], that home-court advantage is such a big thing right now."

It's hard to disagree with the coaches considering that schools in the NCAA tournament from the major six conferences [Big Ten, SEC, Big East, Big 12, ACC and Pac-10] have a 401-46 home record. That is an astounding 89.7 percent winning percentage.

Neither Stanford nor Tennessee has lost at home this year, which means teams in their respective brackets will have to do something no other team was able to do this year.

Regardless, the NCAA has already committed to the predetermined sites for at least one more season.