On December 20th all four schools participating in the inaugural Stadium Shootout looked very much like NCAA Tournament teams. Following the announcement of the bracket on Selection Sunday, what was thought back then now has become official. Louisville, Minnesota, BYU and ASU all have been selected to participate in the field of 65.
Minnesota (22-10) will make their first NCAA appearance since 2005 when they take on No. 7 seed Texas on Thursday. The tenth seeded (East region) Gophers scored a very impressive over Louisville in Glendale and will look knock off another perennial power when they take on the Longhorns. With 22 wins this season head coach Tubby Smith earned his 16th straight 20-win season, the longest active streak in the country. Minnesota and Texas have never faced each other before.
Following the 70-64 loss to Minnesota, Louisville turned its season around and won 21 of its final 24 games to earn a No. 1 seed (Midwest region) and the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Rick Pitino and company won the Big East regular-season title and Big East tournament championship. The Cardinals (28-5) are currently riding a 10 game winning streak as they make the short trip to Dayton to take on the winner of Alabama St. and Morehead St. Should the Cardinals defeat the winner of the play in game, they will face the winner of No. 8 Ohio St. and No. 9 Siena.
This is the fourth time a team lead by Pitino has earned a No. 1 seed. The former Kentucky coach led the Wildcats into the tournament as a No. 1 seed in consecutive years from 1995-97.
In a rematch of last year’s first round matchup BYU will face the No. 9 seed Texas A&M Aggies. The Cougars (25-7) are the No. 8 seed (West region) for the third straight year. The Aggies defeated the Cougars 67-62 in their matchup last year. BYU will be making its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance, coming off a season in which they shared the Mountain West Conference regular-season title. The winner of the BYU-Texas A&M game will advance to the second round to face the winner of No. 1 seed Connecticut and No. 16 seed Chattanooga on Saturday. Should the Cougars win two games and advance to the round of 16 they will return to University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of the 2008 Stadium Shootout.
Arizona State will be going back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. Led by Pac-10 Player of the Year James Harden, the Sun Devils (24-9) will take on the No. 11 seed Temple, champions of the Atlantic 10, Friday at American Airlines Arena. Should the Devils knock off the Owls they will face the winner of No. 3 seed Syracuse and No. 14 Stephen F. Austin. ASU leads the all-time series with the Owls, 4-1. The teams last met on November 30, 2005 with the Sun Devils winning, 65-62.