vs. Texas State and winner of Illinois vs. Rice

Then we'll face either kansas or nebraska--probably host. It gets tough then because we'll have to face number one north carolina to get to the finals.

Somebody remind me of this... We host a first and second round. I got that much. If all the top seeds win, then we would head to North Carolina in UNC's bracket for the 3rd round and the quarterfinals, right? And then the semifinals and the finals are in North Carolina anyway this year.

Or is the third round held in a different location than the quarterfinals? I can't seem to remember which is correct. And if the latter is true, would we host Kansas or would they host us? They're a higher seed but certainly the NCAA committee would pick our site over theirs...

If A&M wins the 1st and 2nd rounds, they play the winner of the Kansas bracket in the 3rd round (Sweet 16). If Kansas wins, A&M would go to their site because they are the higher seed. If one of the other 3 teams wins, then A&M would host the 3rd round because it would be the only seeded team of the winners.

Wasn't Duke last year more highly seeded than A&M last year yet A&M hosted? I thought how big a crowd shows up has something to do with hosting? This year Auburn and Connecticut are hosting yet they are not seeded and seeded teams are playing at their sites. They do go to different sites for the semifinals and quarterfinals so we would probably go to North Carolina for the quarterfinals.

Last year A&M was chosen as a host site for the 1st and 2nd rounds (one of only 16), and Duke was assigned in our bracket. When you get to the Sweet 16, the higher seeded team gets to host (A&M went to Penn State last year even though the Aggies set the national attendance record). So if Kansas wins their bracket and A&M wins our bracket, I expect we will go to Kansas, especially since they are a host site this year.

Also, Auburn is hosting their bracket because the higher seeded team (Washington) is the only West Coast team in the bracket. The other teams are in the southeast area. Instead of having 3 teams travel so far to Washington state, the NCAA is having Washington travel to Auburn. Same thing as to why UConn is hosting as opposed to Arizona -- the other 3 teams are East Coast. Last year Kansas was a seed yet Missouri hosted because the facilities at Kansas were not up to par.

That makes sense and is probably right-also kansas beat us at our place this year so they might have a reason to complain. I wish we had that number 8 seed for winning the tournament but I guess we can't be greedy.

There is some inconsistency about host sites. Last year, Colorado was the 10 seed, but the Buffs were sent on the road because their facility is inadequate. (It's mostly grass seating, not to mention it's cold there in November!) It's pretty obvious that we hosted Duke since we fill more seats, but there's more to it than that. There were simply too many tourney teams in Texas to send them all elsewhere (since there were no seeded teams in the state).

Auburn is hosting this year since there are too many teams in the SE, and too many seeded teams on the West Coast (such as Washington). The first two rounds are done regionally, but some seeds have to travel to reduce overall travel and costs.

The third round doesn't always make sense either. In 2002, 3rd-seeded Pepperdine traveled to unseeded Michigan in the third round. (The Waves ended up losing that match in the freezing cold.) The Aggies were at UCLA the same weekend. A friend took me out to Malibu while I was out there to see that epic match, and I can verify that Pepperdine's facility was quite adequate.

In 2003, Kansas was seeded #13. It was rumored that A&M would host Kansas in the quarterfinals because their facility is "inadequate". (I believe there was chatter about that on this message board in fact.) It turned out that the Aggies lost at Penn State, and Kansas lost at UCLA, so it was a moot point.

It's pretty rotten that Kansas got the edge in the seeding (8 vs. 9) if hosting is on the line. Yes, Kansas defeated us...in College Station. And yes, Kansas has allowed very few goals this season. But the A&M's schedule is considerably tougher...3 of the Aggies' 5 losses are to teams ranked in the top 15. The only team Kansas played in the top 15 is A&M!

You do realize Kansas beat Clemson 3-1...I bet that and the head to head played a role in the seedings.

the workings of the ncaa tournament council are dark and mysterious, and not for simpletons like us to know all the inner-workings of...

i wish they had their rules for who's hosting online or something..

o well, GET OUT TO THE AGGIE SOCCER COMPLEX AND BE FREAKIN LOUD AGS!!! PACK THE PLACE! BRING YOUR FRIENDS!