Miami Hurricanes seeded fourth in NCAA Tournament, will host Florida Gulf Coast Friday
So much for the suspense of Selection Monday.
The University of Miami women’s basketball team didn’t have to wait until Monday night’s Selection Show to find out it was awarded a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host 13th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast Friday night at 9 at the Watsco Center. The game will be on ESPN2.
ESPNU accidentally aired the 2019 Women’s NCAA Tournament bracket on Monday afternoon, three hours before the scheduled show, spoiling some of the fun at team watch parties all over the country. The Canes still held their party, and a spirited group of fans showed up to celebrate.
UM coach Katie Meier was coming out of a meeting with a recruit and her family when her staff gave her the news that the bracket was leaked.
“I come out and my staff is right at my door staring at me, and they’re like `The brackets are leaked, and gave me the whole scoop,” Meier said. “It was crazy. I was like, `Excuse me, this was a fantastic meeting, but all of a sudden, the world just exploded.’..The 9 p.m. start is an issue for me because that’s my bedtime, but I think it will be great for the crowd and I think our student support should be through the roof.”
Fifth-year senior Khaila Prather, the first UM player male or female to be on five NCAA Tournament teams, was in class when the team group chat lit up on her phone with a blurry screen shot of the bracket. Beatrice Mompremier was in study hall when her high school coach texted her a photo of the TV screen.
Emese Hof was in the training room. “I was like `Hold up, this looks pretty legit’. She then went home and watched the full reveal at 5 p.m. with roommate Laura (Cornelius) and their dog Buddy. When UM’s name and seed popped up, they high-fived.
“We watched at our dining table, the two of us,” Hof said. “It takes a little bit away from the excitement, but it doesn’t take away how excited we are to host.”
ESPN apologized for the snafu: “In working with the NCAA to prepare for tonight’s Women’s Selection Special we received the bracket, similar to years past. In the midst of our preparation, the bracket was mistakenly posted on ESPNU. We deeply regret the error and extend our apology to the NCAA and the women’s basketball community. We will conduct a thorough review of our process to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.”
The Hurricanes (24-8, 12-4 ACC) earned an NCAA bid for the seventh time in the past eight years. The Eagles (28-4, 16-0 Atlantic Sun) have won 19 games in a row, average 10 steals per game and held league opponents to 49.4 points per game. Last year they beat Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and two years ago lost to UM in the first round on controversial shot with 1.5 seconds to go.
Fifth-seeded Arizona State and No. 12 Central Florida will play at 7 p.m. Friday at the Watsco Center. The four teams are in the Portland Region.
Miami beat six Top 25 teams this season, including then-No. 4 Notre Dame and then-No. 2 Louisville. But the Canes know none of that matters in March. Last year they lost in the first round to Quinnipiac, and FGCU is another three-point shooting team.
“They’re not as big as we are, but they can probably all shoot,” said Hof.
Cornelius added: “We played them two years ago here at home and had to beat them on a buzzer beater. We’re going to be comfortable on offense with our size advantage, but defensively it’s going to be tricky.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 8:59 PM.