Bobby, South Florida was close to hosting, the sixteenth spot in the rankings, all year. Did they end up getting 9th ranked Florida second round because of proximity? Does SF call the committee and say, "we want to play close to home." It seems like they would cherish a chance to knock off a team like Illinois or OK State.
Proximity seems to be the only logical explanation - ideally you'd like to see the 17th ranked team potentially play #14, #15, or #16 with maybe proximity used between those 3 or 4 maybe. I doubt USF had any say in the selection.
Now that you mention it - it may not be that rare because it's not like on the men's side where the final 16 at the NTIs are all top 20 teams. Half of the top 20 on the women's side skips the NTI so you end up with teams in the mid to high 20s that make the final 16 so the fall from there to 45 isn't that huge.
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Upset specials: Stanford, South Florida and Arkansas into the sweet 16!
Bobby, South Florida was close to hosting, the sixteenth spot in the rankings, all year. Did they end up getting 9th ranked Florida second round because of proximity? Does SF call the committee and say, "we want to play close to home." It seems like they would cherish a chance to knock off a team like Illinois or OK State.
Proximity seems to be the only logical explanation - ideally you'd like to see the 17th ranked team potentially play #14, #15, or #16 with maybe proximity used between those 3 or 4 maybe. I doubt USF had any say in the selection.
Fresno State on the women's side may be the first team to make ITAs final 16 but not the NCAA's.
If you remove Wisconsin who hosted then it would have to be a pretty short list.
Two teams this year alone (Alabama), makes me think it's not that rare.
Now that you mention it - it may not be that rare because it's not like on the men's side where the final 16 at the NTIs are all top 20 teams. Half of the top 20 on the women's side skips the NTI so you end up with teams in the mid to high 20s that make the final 16 so the fall from there to 45 isn't that huge.
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