Arizona women’s basketball will play Auburn in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
Adia Barnes, the head coach of Arizona, has been arguing for her team’s inclusion in the NCAA Tournament for several weeks now. Her defense of her team’s near-.500 league record, the strength of the Pac-12, and the fact that they improved during the season despite starting three freshmen were the main points of contention.
As a result of the committee’s approval, the Wildcats (17-15, 8-10 Pac-12) will play Auburn (20-11, 8-8 SEC) in the First Four in order to advance to play sixth-seeded Syracuse.
The goal for the Wildcats is to be ranked eleventh. Although this is their lowest seed in recent memory, the more important thing to remember is that they have qualified for the tournament four times in a row and would have qualified for five if the pandemic hadn’t forced the postseason in 2020 to be canceled.
On March 20 or 21, Arizona will play in Storrs, Connecticut. On UConn’s home floor, the winner of the matchup against Syracuse advances to play either No. 3 Connecticut or No. 14 Jackson State.
Thoughts that Arizona would be the last team in were not entirely correct, since the other at-large matchup has teams vying for a 12 seed.
Later this evening, Barnes will discuss the postseason with the media.
