K-State women are back in the NCAA Tournament. Here’s who and when they will play

It was the strangest selection day Jeff Mittie could remember.

The Kansas State women’s basketball coach planned for his team to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show with fans at a public party, but ended up viewing it behind closed doors at the squad’s practice facility when ESPN inadvertently leaked the bracket Monday afternoon and scrambled to broadcast the program two hours early.

K-State cut a practice short to watch the show, even though some people in the room already knew where they were headed. Then they held a party with fans after.

“It was a little weird,” Mittie said. “I almost felt bad for the team, because I view this as a sacred day as a basketball coach. It really irritates me that this happened. What do you do? Mistakes happen and you move on. But then, of course, we were like the first team to come up. Now we have 58 minutes to sit here.

“A couple years back it was interesting. We thought we were in for sure, but then two brackets go by and the room got real quiet. You start thinking, wow, did they forget about us? It’s a nerve-wracking deal, but it was different this year.”

The bracket results were pleasing to K-State. It is heading back to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the Albany Region. The Wildcats will play No. 8 seed Michigan (21-11) in a first-round game at 1 p.m. Central time Friday in Louisville, Ky. The game will be shown on ESPN2.

The winner will likely face No. 1 seed Louisville in the round of 32 on Sunday.

“I was a little bit surprised,” K-State senior Kayla Goth said. “I was thinking for sure we would be a 10 seed. I am kind of surprised but also really happy about it.”

K-State (21-11) earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning eight of its final 10 games. It finished in a tie for fourth in the final Big 12 standings.

Monday was the reward for all that hard work.

“It’s unbelievable,” Goth said. “It’s a great feeling, a great moment. I was a little disappointed that we had to do it early. I got to experience the buildup and everything else as a sophomore. There was suspense, I loved that. But we’re happy to be here.”

The Wildcats return to the NCAA Tournament after missing it in 2018. Mittie has now guided them here three times. He led K-State to a first-round victory in his previous two appearances.

The K-State women are tipping off at the same time as the men in the NCAA Tournament first round. The Wildcats men face UC Irvine at 1 p.m. Friday on TBS.

That will make it difficult for K-State fans to watch both games, but Mittie sees it as a potential advantage.

“If it’s not going to fall perfectly we may as well play, from our preparation, at the same time,” Mittie said. “That way we aren’t worried about it one way or the other. For our fans it kind of stinks, but it could be a great thing. There will be a lot of people watching that game, and hopefully all the sports bars will put it up on their TVs and our fans can really follow it.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 4:10 PM.