Although neither the BYU Cougars nor the Utah Utes received automatic bids for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, both knew they would be in the 68 because of the work they put in during the season.
Their first round matches and potential paths to the national title along with the rest of the 68-team bracket were revealed on Sunday.
The Cougars got 6th in the Wichita Region and will take on the 11th seed Villanova Wildcats on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while the Utes got 7th in the Spokane Region and will face the Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday with 10th seed. in Austin, Texas.
If both teams advance, they will play at their site in the second round if those teams advance as well.
BYU will face the 3-seed Michigan Wolverines on their home floor and the Utes will face the 2-seed Texas Longhorns on their home floor.
In the first round, Michigan will face the 14-seed American while Texas will face the 15-seed Fairfield.
For both the Cougars and the Utes, their diverging performance late in the season may have influenced where they ended up.
The Cougars are ranked 15th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and were in contention for the top four seeds and a chance to push through the first two rounds before they lost to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference championship game, while the Utes were rated as probable by observers with 8 4th seed before they unexpectedly entered the Pac-12 championship game.
Of note, and perhaps a warning to BYU, women’s basketball legend Rebecca Lobo mentioned Villanova during the draw as a potentially dangerous team.