As I feared, the NCAA Selection Committee was not impressed with the Gophers 10-loss, tied for sixth-place in the Big 10 record. Instead of a 4-seed, conferring home court for the first 2 rounds, they assigned us a 6-seed, and we will be headed to Lexington Kentucky. Our first round opponent will be Western Kentucky, and if we advance, our second round opponent will likely be the Kentucky Wildcats.
I won’t complain for 2 reasons:
- A 4-seed was a lot to ask with 10-losses and tied for sixth-place; and
- A 6-seed draws an 11-seed, followed by a 3-seed, followed by a 2-seed; whereas a 4-seed draws an 13-seed, followed by a 5-seed, followed by a 1-seed. In other words, a 6-seed’s path to the Sweet 16 is tougher than a 4-seed’s path, but a 6-seed’s path to the Elite-8 is easier than a 4-seed’s path.
Western Kentucky went 18 & 0 in their seemingly weak CUSA conference, but they lost to Illinois and Michigan State, and I don’t see any signature wins on their resume. We should beat them.
Kentucky went 14 & 2 to win the SEC, one game ahead of Texas. SEC V-ball is not Big 10 V-ball, but they deserve a higher seed than the Gophs. But they’re beatable. Among the teams that beat them are Nebraska, Penn St., Purdue, Stanford & Texas; we lost to the first 4 of these, but beat Texas. Kentucky is definitely beatable, even on their court..