2024 NCAA Tournament Preview

The NCAA Tournament is once again upon us, with four teams featuring Aussies among the 64 teams challenging for a national title. The four teams this year comprise a mix of a dark horse to make a deep run, a couple of teams looking to improve upon their 2023 outing after securing back-to-back automatic bids, and one team making their NCAA Tournament debut. From a purely Australian viewpoint, is also a chance for a couple of players to make a late case for some College Matildas awards after helping lead their teams to this point.

However, as far as actually watching the four teams, games are available only on ESPN+, unfortunately making viewing difficult for Australian fans as ESPN+ is a US-only platform.

Maine (Lara Kirkby, Grace Wilson)

First Round: @ #5 Wisconsin – 12:00pm, Saturday 16 November

Second Round: Princeton or #4 Virginia

Maine hardly disgraced themselves in last year’s first-round defeat to Harvard, and the Black Bears have an arguably preferable matchup this time around despite the longer trip to Madison to face Wisconsin. Now armed with last year’s tournament experience under their belt, the two-time America East Champions face a Badgers side that finished 9-5-4 and lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Whilst that record doesn’t jump off the page, the strength of Wisconsin’s schedule saw them do enough to earn a #5 seed. The Badgers are favourites, but Maine have a real chance to prove that they can mix it with the big names and upset the apple cart. Lara Kirkby appears set to start as per usual, but it remains to be seen if Grace Wilson will retain the starting spot between the sticks or if regular starter Jessica Kasacek will return after being forced away for the conference tournament. Regardless of who is selected, it’s not a bad problem for head coach Scott Atherley to have.

Morehead State (Lilly Bailey, Natasha Tanner)

First Round: @ #2 Wake Forest – 10:00am, Saturday 16 November

Second Round: #7 Georgia or Colorado

Morehead State faced the overall #1 seed in Florida State last season, so on paper, any matchup has to be preferable to facing a Seminoles team that put as many goals (five) past Stanford in the final as they did past the Eagles in their tournament opener. However, if this season’s body of work is anything to go by, Wake Forest will keep Lilly Bailey busy between the sticks, with the Demon Deacons averaging in excess of seven shots on target per game on their way to averaging almost two goals per contest. It won’t all be about Bailey, though, as fellow Western Australian Natasha Tanner will almost certainly be part of the starting lineup as well as the Eagles look to continue their theme of postseason upsets after knocking off #1 seed Tennessee Tech in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. It’s certainly not going to be easy for Morehead State, but like Maine, they have last year’s tournament experience under their belt and should be far better for it.

Santa Clara (Holly Furphy)

First Round: @ #7 BYU – 12:00pm, Saturday 16 November

Second Round: #6 Minnesota or South Dakota State

Santa Clara are no strangers to visiting BYU; from 2011 to 2022, the pair were West Coast Conference rivals before the Cougars’ move to the Big 12. Indeed, the last match between these two teams was a 0-0 draw at BYU during conference play in 2022, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Santa Clara have returned to the peak in the West Coast Conference after finishing third in 2023, whilst BYU finished fourth in the Big 12 and reaching the conference tournament semi-finals before falling to TCU this season. Similarly to Maine’s opponent, Wisconsin, BYU finished with a 9-6-5 record but a stacked non-conference schedule combined with the level of play in the Big 12 ensured that those results would stack up well enough to secure a seeding and a home first round game. Santa Clara, on the other hand, sit 11th in the national rankings, but some unfortunate results, including a late draw against lowly-rated San Diego, scuppered any chance of the Broncos securing a home first round match as the raw data failed to match public perception. Hopefully we see Holly Furphy off the bench for the Broncos, but in any event, a first-round match between two teams of this calibre Is a bonus in terms of matchup, even if it does rob us of the chance to see these teams go deep into the tournament. This is definitely shaping up as one of the games to watch, and the potential for an Aussie to feature is a bonus.

Southern (Yazmin Baird-Watson)

First Round: @ #1 Mississippi State – 10:00am, Sunday 17 November

Second Round: #8 Utah State or Washington

As per usual, the SWAC Champion will face a tough matchup, and although the travel from Baton Rouge to Starkville won’t be too bad for Southern, the opposition, #1 seed Mississippi State, would be a daunting prospect for just about any of their potential first round opponents. The Bulldogs average 1.95 goals per game, but it is their defence that forms the backbone of their success. Conceding just 0.459 goals per game, Mississippi State have the second-best defence in the nation, which helped them to a perfect 10-0-0 record in league play before an upset loss to South Carolina in the conference tournament. Southern have actually faced an SEC opponent this season, taking on Ole Miss in the season opener, falling 4-0 on that occasion to the eventual bottom-placed team in the conference. However, the game isn’t played on paper and the Jaguars are in good form, so whilst history and pedigree are not on their side, anything can happen on the day. Unfortunately, Yazmin Baird-Watson appears to remain unavailable for the Jaguars, so whilst four teams in the tournament this year feature Aussies, we will not see all of them on the pitch.

About Lachy 436 Articles
Founder of College Matildas. An Australian women's football fan who also happens to be a college sports fan. Often found at A-League Women or NPLW games.

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