Defending national champion Alabama was swept out of the Knoxville Super Regional on Saturday with a 5-3 loss to Tennessee. After losing the opener of the best-of-three series Friday night, Alabama scored three times in the first two innings Saturday for a 3-0 lead. But the Lady Vols scored once in the third inning, twice in the fourth and once in the fifth for a 4-3 advantage. They added a run in the top of the seventh, then shut down Alabama in the bottom half to secure the win. Tennessee (49-10) advances to the Women's College World Series, while Alabama completes its season at 45-15.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament lasts about three weeks. The NFL and Major League Baseball playoffs stretch out to about four weeks each. But the NBA playoffs? They last about two months, if the final series lasts six or seven games. That’s a marathon I’m no longer willing to run alongside. It has nothing to do with the supposed lack of quality in the modern game. It has nothing to do with the players I used to love to follow have long since retired. It’s not about any dislike for the current stars … or even one in particular. (I admire the way LeBron James has grown up, taken his lumps and turned himself into one of the greatest players of all-time.) It’s just that two months is way too long. The first round last two weeks and is exhausting. Every sports network on television already has beaten the playoffs into the ground before the final basket of the first round. And there are three more rounds after that. At the moment, we’re barely past the halfway point in the 2013 NBA playoffs, but it seems as if they’ve gone on forever. The NBA isn’t going to change. Playoffs that last two months make money. Suggesting a cut in the number of playoff games is about like asking the league, “Hey, can you agree to make less money because I get bored before your games are done? Thanks, that’d be great.” But it could be worse. Imagine how much yakity yak we would have to put with about the NBA if Tim Tebow played in the league. Contact Sports Editor Mark Edwards at medwards@annistonstar.com. Read "In My Opinion" in every Anniston Star sports section, written by Star staff members.