It’s easy to understand why the Notre Dame women’s basketball team had to be saying, “Holy Toledo!” after learning where it would spend the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.
That is as close to home as the second-ranked Irish could be — and with no actual home team to worry about, as is the case for 13 of the other 15 first- and second-round sites.
It’s a little far to walk from South Bend (150 miles) but Notre Dame figures to have at least one walkover before it actually plays at home in the regional round.
The Irish (RPI: 1), who just finished their first unbeaten regular season (32-0), open Saturday against Robert Morris (RPI: 174). The winner meets the winner of Arizona State (RPI: 33)-Vanderbilt (RPI: 43).
“It’s awesome to be able to get on a bus and go to a game,” Irish coach Muffet McGraw said.
The tournament’s other unbeaten team, top-ranked Connecticut (RPI: 2), has an even easier early road, with the sub-regional round on its home court in Storrs.
An expected two routs, of Prairie View (224) and the Georgia (47)-St. Joseph’s (22) winner, will send UConn to Lincoln, Neb., for what could be a Huskies-Huskers matchup in the regional semifinal.
Nebraska (19), upset winner of the Big Ten tournament, is among the five conference teams hoping to improve the league’s dismal recent NCAA tourney record.
No Big Ten team has made the Final Four since 2005. Over the last two years, just two of the 13 Big Ten entries won more than one game and none reached the regional final.
Also in the Lincoln regional: DePaul (25), which opens Saturday against Oklahoma (61) at Durham, N.C., where a victory would likely bring a second-round meeting with home-standing Duke (4).
In soccer terms, the Louisville regional is the NCAA women’s “Group of Death.”
It includes Southeastern Conference champion Tennessee (5); 2013 runner-up Louisville (8); Maryland (20), which came closest of anyone to beating Notre Dame this season; and upstart West Virginia (12), the Big 12 regular-season champion.
Stanford (3) did not get the No. 1 seed in its own region, sending the Cardinal to Ames, Iowa, for the opening rounds. Despite a late slump, South Carolina (6) earned the top seed and a trip to Seattle.
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