A&M draws 4-seed in 2016 NCAA Tourney, hosts Missouri St. on Saturday

In the famed words of Dorothy Gale, ‘There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.’

Less than 15 minutes into ESPN’s NCAA Tournament selection show, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team learned that they would have at least one more chance to play on the Reed Arena floor this season as the Aggies (21-9) drew the four-seed, and the right to host, in the Dallas region of the bracket.

A&M will face off against 13th-seeded Missouri State (24-9) on Saturday afternoon before a potential matchup with the winner of fifth-seeded Florida State and 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee State on Monday.

The bid to the 2016 dance is the 11th-straight for the Aggies and will be the fourth time in five years that the first two rounds of the tournament are played at Reed Arena.

“The best part of our region is that we’re in College Station,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “We earned that number four seed by our body of work and who we’ve played and who we’ve beaten. We had the 11th-best strength of schedule and an RPI of 19. We’re where we should be.”

If the Aggies are able to advance past the first two rounds, a familiar path awaits as the winner of the College Station sub-regional will be paired with the winner of the Waco sub-regional (most likely the top-seeded Baylor Bears) in the Dallas portion of the Sweet Sixteen.

During their 2011 title run, A&M faced off against top-seeded Baylor in the finals of the Dallas regional. Additionally, as it is this year, the 2011 Final Four was held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“Four years ago we were watching Sydney Cater and Sydney Colson take on Baylor in the (2011) Dallas regional,” said A&M point guard Jordan Jones. ”We would have never expected to be in the same position that they were in, ultimately going for the same goal that they ended up winning. It’s a little sign of fate and a blessing as well to be put in this position.”

But in order to even earn the chance to take on their green and gold rivals, the Aggies must first take care of business at home against the Missouri Valley Conference champion Lady Bears. Although the contest is technically a neutral site game, Missouri State boasts a strong 10-3 road record on the year including double-digit victories over SEC foes Arkansas (69-54) and Ole Miss (91-78).

“I’m very familiar with [Missouri State] because I used to play them at Arkansas every year,” said Blair. “I’m very familiar with their head coach, Kellie Harper, one of Tennessee’s all-time best point guards.”

Having been bounced out of the tournament in the first round by a mid-major opponent last season (Arkansas-Little Rock), A&M is more determined than ever to start their tournament run on the right foot.

“We’re very hungry,” said Jones. “We come in here and during practice it’s a business state of mind. Everyone knows how serious this senior class is about winning. We know what it will take to reach the goal we want to get to.”

The Aggies weren’t the only ones who got good news on Monday as eight other SEC teams were also included in the field. Of those teams, top-seeded South Carolina, third-seeded Kentucky and fifth-seeded Mississippi State were named host sites (the Bulldogs earned the right to host because fourth-seeded Michigan State is unable to).

In order to represent the conference well, the Aggies need to, at the least, advance out of the College Station regional. Anything short of a Sweet Sixteen appearance would be considered a disappointment with about as good of a draw as possible and a senior-led team with tons of tournament experience.

“I’m fired up to be back at home,” Blair stated. “We’re not even thinking about the Dallas regional, we’re thinking about the College Station regional because we let this town down a couple years ago by losing in the second round to Nebraska. We’re going in for [Missouri State]. Right now, that’s enough for us.”