Selection Monday is not a peaceful day for Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw. She’ll try to get her mind off of the selections, which will be announced at 7 p.m. (ESPN) McGraw feels her team has done enough to earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. And Notre Dame already knows it is hosting first and second-round games. The drama for Notre Dame involves seeding, and more importantly, the region to which the Irish will be assigned. “I’ve been on vacation,” McGraw said. “I haven’t even wanted to think about basketball.” McGraw gave her players time off since the club was eliminated by No. 1 Connecticut in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament last Monday. Notre Dame is 27-5 with an RPI of No. 6. Other teams considered contenders for a No. 2 seed include Duke (27-5, RPI No. 5), Ohio State (30-4, RPI No. 9), West Virginia (28-5, RPI No. 10) and Xavier (27-3, RPI No. 12). Oklahoma (22-9, RPI No. 7) and Texas A&M (23-7, RPI No. 8) could sneak into that picture. “I feel really good about us being a two seed,” McGraw said. “I think that’s what we earned. That’s about all I’ve thought about it.” What McGraw doesn’t feel good about is that the Fighting Irish could be placed in the same region with unbeaten Connecticut. “We’ve played Connecticut three times,” McGraw said. “Come on, don’t put us in their bracket. “I would think Ohio State would go to Dayton,” McGraw said. “Geography plays a little bit of a role in the selections. It’s something they would consider for us because of our fan base. On a neutral site, you’ve got to be able to draw, so the NCAA wants to make sure they get a team that’s going to travel (in terms of fans). So they’ll keep the higher seeds fairly close to home. But I’m more worried about being in a better bracket than geography.” The four regional sites are Dayton, Memphis, Kansas City and Sacramento. If the mix of geography and balance holds true for the selections, then probable No. 1 seeds would be assigned as follows: Connecticut to Dayton, Tennessee to Memphis, Nebraska to Kansas City and Stanford to Sacramento. According to McGraw, Notre Dame, with its national alumni base, would be an attractive draw for fans in any region. Attendance is always a consideration for the women’s tournament. McGraw and her Irish will meet Monday night to watch the selection show. Sometimes, it’s a festive event for McGraw. Other times, not so much. “It depends on the year,” McGraw said. “This year, Monday will be fun, because we had such a good year. Some years in the past, it hasn’t been fun. It’s a little stressful to try and figure out what seed they’re going to put you at. Last year, I thought we were going to be a five seed and we ended up a seven. You never know how it’s going to work out. “I think about it all day,” McGraw said. “I have a practice that day, so it will get my mind off of it for a little bit, but these are days where you’re in limbo. I just want to know who we’re playing so I can start working. It’s an anxious, stressful day.” McGraw gave her team and her staff a few days off, believing it needed a break after three games in three days. After a practice Wednesday, players were allowed to get away until Monday. “We let them take advantage of spring break,’’ McGraw said. “We let them get out of here to recharge their batteries, same as the coaches. “It was a long season,” McGraw said. “As well as we played, it’s still a grind. It’s been tough on the players’ bodies. I was really happy to be able to give them so much time off. We didn’t have a bye in the season. We didn’t have a day off since Christmas, in terms of we’ve played twice a week since Christmas, sometimes three times. When I looked at the schedule when we first got it back in the fall, I was worried. You look at those quick turnaround games, the travel, without a break in February. That’s very, very difficult. I’m very proud of the way we handled it.”
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Notre Dame women’s basketball: McGraw thinks Irish deserve No. 2 seed
When the NCAA Tournament draw is released Monday night, Muffet McGraw doesn't want to see her Notre Dame squad in the same region as Connecticut. (Tribune photo/MARCUS MARTER)
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