A pair of University of South Florida athletic teams are getting ready for post-season play.
The USF women's basketball team returns to the NCAA Tournament as an eleventh seed in the Stockton, California region. They play sixth seed Missouri in the first round at 5 p.m. Friday in Tallahassee. The winner will take on the winner of No. 3 seed Florida State and No. 14 Western Illinois Sunday."We’re really excited. It’s an opportunity for our fans to make the trip to Tallahassee and see us play. We’re playing a very good Missouri team," said head coach Jose Fernandez at a tournament announcement watch party at the Sun Dome Monday. "We’re excited that we’re still playing basketball at this time of year."
The Bulls (24-8, 11-5 AAC) are making their third straight NCAA appearance and fourth in five years. They were ranked as high as No. 19 in the country this season, which ended with a loss in the American Athletic Conference Championship game to Connecticut for the third straight season.
Missouri (21-10, 11-5 SEC) lost in the first game of the SEC Tournament to Texas A&M, 62-48.
UConn, which has won an NCAA record 107 straight games and is going for its fifth consecutive national championship, is the tournament's overall No. 1 seed. The Final Four takes place March 31 & April 2 in Dallas, TX.
And the USF Ice Bulls hockey team is making a somewhat surprising visit to Columbus, Ohio for the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 3 National Tournament.
They'll play three games in the next three days, starting with Calvin College at 7:45 tonight, March 14. The four teams with the best records after pool play will advance to the semi-finals on Friday.
The Ice Bulls posted a record of 12-18-1, but made the tournament by winning two games in the South Region last month. It's their first appearance in the National Tournament since 2001.
