Howdy, I believe that we will get by the #8 seed Okie St on Thursday. And on Friday I predict we will match up with the Missouri Tigers....Missouri is scary! They played the Horns to a 2-1 OT match in Austin. I was at the match vs Missouri at TAMU. They have a freshman, Jennifer Nobis that is just terrific! She is as dangerous as our Emma Smith is on a 1 on 1 attack...I was also there in College Station Friday night when we took on the Longhorns for the regular season Championship. What excitement and What a Crowd! Hopefully we can have a repeat of that match on Sunday in San Antonio for the Tourny Championship. The Horns have a Great team. And I know that sooner or later they will outscore our Aggies. BUT maybe we can keep the record (legend) going a bit longer! See you all in San Antonio !!!!!! Gig 'em !!

Mizzou lost to tu in overtime. Couple of questions. Our Goalkeeper...Kati Jo Spisak was just dynamite, especially against tu Friday. Wonder why Mizzou didn't offer her a scholarship...she is from Missouri. Also her bio says she lettered in highschool football for 3 years? Really? As a kicker?

She was a kicker for her high school team.

Who's road-trippin to San Antonio Sunday for the championship game?? The Men of 2nd Floor Dunn will be making the trip Sunday morning to watch the Lady Ags presumably go 15-0 against the t-sips, but I guess we won't know for sure til Friday. We'll paint up if it isn't freezing outside.

Kati Jo rocks!!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves on making plans for the game on Sunday.

I read something last year that Coach G doesn't even unpack his bags in the hotel during the Big 12 Tournament trip until the team wins in the semi-final game on Friday night. The Ags were upset by #7 seed Iowa State a few years ago, which blew all the plans that had been made for the rest of the weekend, and brought the team crashing to earth. I guess that's his way of not thinking too far ahead. Funny where superstitions come from, but it might be a good lessen for all of us.

Let's get there to support the team as they try to get to their 3rd straight Final! Not just when/if they get there. I can't make it to the Thursday morning game vs. OSU, but I'm getting to San Antonio for the Friday match (if we can beat OSU again).

Here's another thought:
Again, I know we shouldn't ge ahead of ourselves, but...With the win over tu on Friday, we should host an NCAA Regional on the weekend after the Big 12 Tournament (even if we don't win the tourney in San Antonio). I wonder if it's going to be a true geographic regional again, with SMU, tu, and the SLC champ again? I hope not. It would stink to have two teams as strong at A&M and tu play in the 2nd round of the NCAA's, especially in a 64 team tournament.

Let's get the 12th man to San Antonio!

Speaking of regionals, can someone explain to me how that works. Is it a similiar format to the Baseball regionals??

Corpus kid, if previous regionals weren't geographic (before last year), I would guess they won't be this year. Last year's events were clouded by Sept. 11 (rightly so), so the NCAA wanted teams — and fans — to have as little hassle as possible getting to venues to watch their teams. I think things are mostly back to normal (but I'm not sure).

The 09/11 excuse was just NCAA propaganda. Yes, only a few teams had to fly to their regionals last year. But, more than two months after the 09/11 tragedy, this had everything to do with saving the NCAA (and the participating schools) money.

The NCAA Soccer Tournament has ALWAYS lost money...and lots of it. Last year, the first tournament with the regional format, reduced overall travel...by both keeping teams close to home and by assuring that no team would have to travel between the first and second rounds.

This year's tournament may not be quite as regional, but not because of the time that has passed since 09/11. With so many highly ranked teams on the West Coast (and in Texas), something has to give. Highly ranked teams being sent to weak regionals elsewhere is one answer...which was done last year. Another solution is regionals that are not so geographically close-knit. Conference foes potentially facing each other in the second round is one of the worst parts of the draw...but the tournament committee loves to do it.

It's all about money. Even before the regional format, the draw was strictly regional. Just ask any school located anywhere near UNC what they're hoping for as the pairings are announced. William & Mary fans have long complained that, for the Tribe, the road to the Sweet 16 always goes through Chapel Hill.

With another Big 12 Tournament trophy, the road to the Final Four may meander a while in College Station. Let's hope so. Gig 'em, girls!

Here's how the regionals work. The top 8 teams are seeded, 1 through 8. The rest of the top 16 (as determined by the committee) also host regionals...although there was some gerrymandering last year. The rest of the field of 64 are matched up with nearby hosts.

In general, the top team in a regional plays the "worst" team in the regional (likely an automatic bid) in the first round.

The brackets are set from the beginning...and after the first two rounds, the remaining paired teams play at the school with the highest "seed" as paired. It's quite similar to women's basketball or women's volleyball...but that the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 are at campus sites on different weekends.

Last year, Texas A&M (an unseeded regional host) played at #5-seed Stanford...then played at #4-seed Portland in the Elite 8 the next weekend. The unseeded hosts are paired up regionally with the top 8 seeds. (In other words, A&M wasn't necessarily the 12-seed.)

Confused? So is everyone else.

Wow, Starns-struck is very knowledgable, I would venture to say he has a great soccer mind.

If you were Kati Jo Spisak and you could play for either A&M (top 5 team) or Mizzou, who would you play for?

What sucks is that A&M and Texas both deserve top 8 seeds in the tourney, and they probably will both get it, but if one doesnt for some reason, then they coul dmeet in the second round. Let's hope not because both teams should be fighting for the final four.

In other words, Texas A&M needs to win out and get a top 4 seed. If that happens, first 4 rounds would be at home if we could just keep winning. Of course the national championship is in Austin so that is pretty much a home game in the national picture.