Selection Sunday was yesterday and Northern Iowa earned a No. 9 seed for the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Region and will face No. 8 UNLV on Thursday in Oklahoma City. Northern Iowa was given a No. 9 seed despite a school-record 28 wins, but Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said he wasn’t surprised by that because he expected the Panthers to be seeded somewhere in that range. The 28 and 4 Panthers, who won the Missouri Valley’s regular season championship, will be making their fifth NCAA tournament appearance in seven years and their second in a row. The Panthers lost their last four NCAA tourney games, though, including a 61-56 loss to Purdue as a 12th seed in 2009. If Northern Iowa advances, they would likely face top-seeded and No. 1 Kansas in the second round on Saturday. Ohio State is the second seed in the Midwest, followed by Georgetown and Maryland.
It looked like a long shot two weeks ago, but Minnesota is in the NCAA tournament. The Gophers learned Sunday they’ll be the No. 11 seed in the West Region and play No. 6 seed Xavier in the first round on Friday. They get to stay close to home, too, in Milwaukee. This is the first time in 15 years that the Gophers have made the NCAA tournament two straight seasons. They lost in the first round last year to Texas. The Gophers got in by winning seven of their last 10 games, including their first three this weekend at the Big Ten tournament. They beat 11th-ranked Michigan State and sixth-ranked Purdue before being blown out by Ohio State in the title game 90-61.
