BYU and Utah were squarely on the bubble for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament heading into Selection Sunday.
The bubble burst for the Cougars and Utes, though, as they failed to make the 68-team field.
Instead, BYU and Utah will be headed to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament as two of the top seeds in that tourney.
Both schools earned No. 1 seeds in the WBIT, which is in its third year of existence. BYU and Utah were among the last four teams just outside the NCAA Tournament, along with fellow WBIT No. 1 seeds Texas A&M and North Dakota State.
The Cougars (22-11) will host Alabama A&M (22-10) in the first round of the WBIT on Thursday, with game details to be announced later.
The Utes (19-12), despite being a No. 1 seed, will travel for their first-round game against Eastern Kentucky (24-8) on Thursday due to a facility conflict at the U., per the WBIT.
“Despite being left out of the NCAA Tournament field, I am grateful for the opportunity that our team has to continue our season in the WBIT,” BYU head coach Lee Cummard said in a press release.
“Earning a spot in the postseason is always the goal for our team, and getting the opportunity to play in the Marriott Center again is always a blessing. We look forward to facing a good Alabama A&M team on Thursday and getting back to playing BYU basketball.”
Alabama A&M went 17-1 during the regular season in Southwestern Athletic Conference play but was upset in the SWAC tournament semifinals.
In Cummard’s first season as head coach, BYU turned around its postseason fortunes with a strong regular season and went on a five-game win streak late in the season before losing to TCU in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.
Eastern Kentucky was 15-3 during the regular season in ASUN Conference action but fell in the league tournament’s first round.
The Utes and Colonels played two years ago in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, with Utah winning 117-72.
Utah had its four-year NCAA Tournament streak end this year, though it will be making a postseason tournament for a fifth straight season.
The Utes were in contention for the NCAAs for much of the season before a late-year slide knocked them just out of the field.
“We’re excited to get the opportunity to continue to play,” Utah head coach Gavin Petersen said in a press release. “At the end of the day we get to keep this group together and play basketball and we’re going to try to keep that alive as long as we can.”
The first three rounds of the WBIT will be at campus sites before the semifinals and championship move to Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas, on March 30 and April 1.