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The suspense of Sunday evening was not a factor on Monday, as Kansas State was fully aware that an invitation to the 2017 women’s NCAA Tournament was impending. Even so, learning the assigned seed, opponent, and location still has its own excitement. Tonight, the Cats got the news, and it’s fantastic.
K-State (22-10) was awarded a 7 seed in the Lexington Regional, and will face 10th-seeded Drake (28-4) on Saturday in Manhattan.
Wait, Manhattan?
That’s right. The second seed in the Lexington Regional is Stanford, but Maples Pavilion is hosting the Pac-12 Gymnastics championship and is therefore unavailable. As a result, the Wildcats take over hosting duties for the pod.
Lexington is stacked. Just to escape Manhattan, the Cats will have to get past a very hot Drake squad and then top Stanford. If they accomplish that, potential enemies awaiting in Lexington include top-seeded Notre Dame, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, and Ohio State.
This is the first time K-State has hosted games in the women’s tournament since 2002-03.
(Ed. Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated that Stanford was hosting the NCAA gymnastics championship rather than the Pac-12 championships.)