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WNIT announces 2019 field: here’s your breakdown

Kim Doss|
GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 08: The Arkansas team celebrates after the victory over South Carolina during the SEC Women's basketball tournament between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks on March 8, 2019, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 08: The Arkansas team celebrates after the victory over South Carolina during the SEC Women's basketball tournament between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks on March 8, 2019, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The NCAA teams of tomorrow, in the NIT today.

Last year, Indiana won the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. This year, they are in the NCAA field. Three years ago, Oregon lost to eventual champions South Dakota in the WNIT semi-finals. This year, they’re a No. 2 seed hosting the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

How strong those feelings–positive or negative–are vary from program to program and year to year. Disappointment for those who thought they had earned a NCAA berth. Thrill for others, who may not have been in a postseason tournament in years.

But this year, everyone waiting to find out if they were in the 2019 field had to deal with yet one more feeling: uncertainty about when the field would even be announced.

There are teams in this year’s tournament who hope to follow the fate of those two. Then, there are teams who hoped that this would be the year they broke through and got that invitation to the Big Dance.

How strong those feelings–positive or negative–are vary from program to program and year to year. Disappointment for those who thought they had earned a NCAA berth. Thrill for others, who may not have been in a postseason tournament in years.

But this year, everyone waiting to find out if they were in the 2019 field had to deal with yet one more feeling: uncertainty about when the field would even be announced.

After ESPN’s gaffe caused the NCAA Tournament field to be announced early, the WNIT had to decide on their timeline. Were they going to stick to their usual late-evening announcement, or were they going to announce early and let teams begin preparing? Fortunately for the teams and their fans, they moved the announcement up.

At 10:40 p.m. EDT, the suspense was finally over.

Unlike the NCAA Tournament, teams aren’t assigned formal seeds in the WNIT. Instead, they are placed in one of three tiers based on team strength as determined by six different ranking systems. Top tier teams are paired with bottom tier teams in the first round. Hosts are selected based upon bids and the availability of facilities.

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All 32 conferences are represented in the 2019 field, with the Big East and Conference-USA getting in the most with five teams each. However, the prospective field had already been reduced before the announcement was made, with several teams announcing that they would not accept an invitation.

In the Pac-12, Utah head coach Lynne Roberts told the media just after the Utes lost to Washington in the conference tournament that the Utes would not be playing in the postseason. Although the Utes qualified for the Pac-12’s automatic bid to the WNIT, the team had been reduced to “seven healthy-ish players” and were unable to continue playing, according to the Utah Athletic Department.

Although not an automatic qualifier, Purdue announced on Monday that they would not accept the invite, either. In their press release, the school said that the decision was a collective one made by the administration and the team. Like Utah, the Boilermakers noted injuries as a reason.

Georgia Tech won the WNIT two years ago. They were eligible to return as the ACC’s automatic qualifier, but turned down the invite for other reasons. Head coach MaChelle Joseph has been on leave for almost a month in what the school called “an impending personnel matter.” The team chose not to continue with the difficult season after meeting with administration.

Play will tip off on Wednesday, Mar. 20, 2019 with four games. The remaining first-round games will be played on Mar. 21 and Mar. 22.

The championship will be held on Saturday, Apr. 6, 2019. That game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. Check school websites for streaming information for early round games.

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