Several seconds later, cheers were replaced by an eerie silence. Everyone suddenly realized the Cowgirls were placed in the New Orleans Regional and wouldn't be playing in the Ford Center.
"It would have been fun to play in Oklahoma City because I think you would have had 18,000 orange shirts there,” said OSU coach Kurt Budke. "But that's OK. We'll just go play. We're playing good basketball right now. We're excited about the next opportunity.”
OSU, 25-7, will play Atlantic Sun Tournament champion East Tennessee State, 21-11, in a first-round game Saturday at 7 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa. The game will be televised on ESPN2 (Cox 28).
With a win, the Cowgirls would play the winner of Ohio State-Florida State on Monday night for a chance to advance to New Orleans.
"A No. 3 seed, how about that for respect?” Budke hollered, the crowd roaring its approval. "Hey, that's a loooong way from 0-16 (in the conference).”
The NCAA women's tournament selection committee said months ago improving attendance would play a key role, that teams would be placed as close to home as possible.
The committee's explanation was its hands were tied. LSU, a No. 2 seed, had to be placed in the New Orleans bracket. Texas A&M also is a No. 2 seed.
As a result, the committee's reasoning was the Big 12's top seed couldn't be sent to the East or West coast. Since conference teams can't meet until the regional finals, OSU was forced into the New Orleans bracket.
"We're a little disappointed,” said OSU All-American point guard Andrea Riley. "Everybody wanted to play in Oklahoma City, near home. But it doesn't really matter. We knew they'd probably send OU there because they have a better history than us.”
If the Cowgirls advance to the Sweet 16 they probably will face LSU in the Tigers' home state. LSU has made four consecutive Final Four appearances.
"I just hope we have that opportunity,” Budke said. "Playing on the road in the Big 12 gets you ready for any kind of road action. We've played in front of 10,000 people all year long. It doesn't matter where we've played. We've actually played well on the road.”
The No. 3 seed is the highest in school history, surpassing a No. 5 seed in 1991, the only time in school history the Cowgirls have advanced to the Sweet 16. Earlier in the day, they were ranked No. 13 in the final AP women's poll, the highest in school history.
"We don't care who we play,” Riley said. "I don't care if they have All-Americans or are No. 1 in the nation, No. 2, 3, 4, 5 or top 10, I don't care. We're going to play the best basketball we've ever played.”
The Cowgirls could have a home-court edge in Des Moines. In addition to two or three busloads of fans that have follo
