Kentucky Set to Face American in First Round of NCAA Tournament

Big East regular season and tournament champion Creighton earned the #16 national seed, but because they didn’t bid to host, they’ll be headed to North Carolina to take on Coastal Carolina for their first round match.

First- and second-round matches will be played at 16 campus sites.

“They’re a great team, obviously”, NMSU coach Mike Jordan said about Stanford.

Nebraska’s big finish to the season got the attention of the tournament selection committee.

The Aggies will take on No. 8 Stanford on the Cardinal’s home floor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Palo Alto, Calif. The NCAA Tournament field was announced Sunday night. “If we show up, and play hard, I think we’ll have a shot”.

This is Nebraska’s best seed since being No. 4 in 2012. UNI’s signature win was a victory against No. 16 overall seed Creighton in that same early-season tournament. Additionally, sophomore middle Kaz Brown ranks No. 2 in the nation in blocks per set and third nationally in total blocks. I feel, when you look at the 64 teams, we’re squarely in the middle.

Arizona will open the tournament on Friday against first-round opponent Western Kentucky at 5 p.m. MST in Provo, Utah.

The other seeded teams that could possibly make it to Lexington are Washington (No. 5), Ohio State (No. 12) and BYU (No. 13).

Arizona is a familiar foe for the Cougars, who knocked off the Wildcats in Tucson last season to earn a trip to the Sweet 16.

Tickets for the Lincoln matches will go on sale Monday morning. First and second rounds will be broadcast across the ESPN Family of Networks, while regional semifinals will be telecast on ESPN3/ESPNU and regional finals available on ESPNU. The team has won at least 17 matches in each of the past 11 seasons, with the team reaching the 20-win mark in eight of the past nine years. The NCAA Tournament begins on Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 3-5.

Style points are nice during the regular season.

NMSU enters the tournament on a 19-match winning streak. The NCAA Championship was last in Omaha in 2008, when the Huskers fell to eventual champ Penn State in the semifinals.