Aggie WBB draws five-seed in NCAA Tourney, faces Penn on Saturday

On Monday night, the Texas A&M women's basketball team learned that they would once again be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Though grabbing a 12th-straight bid was no shock to Gary Blair and his team, the fact that they were not placed in the Austin sub-regional came as a bit of a surprise.

The Aggies (21-11) drew the five-seed in the Bridgeport region of the bracket and will travel to Los Angeles to take on the 12th-seeded Pennsylvania (22-7) in the tournament's first round. Should they win that, a likely clash with fourth-seeded UCLA (23-8) awaits if the Bruins can beat 13th-seed Boise State (25-7).

“My bracket got torn up early, I had us as a six going to Austin to face Virginia with Texas after that,“ said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “I guess I won’t get to see Waka Flocka or Migos (at South by Southwest). We’re going to LA and there are going to be four good teams out there.”

If A&M can pull off two victories on opening weekend, the Aggies would likely face overall top-seed UConn in the Sweet Sixteen.

But to get that far, A&M first has to get through the 12th-seeded Quakers. Penn earned their bid into the tournament by winning the inaugural Ivy League Tournament.

Brian OkosunA&M senior point guard Curtyce Knox hopes to lead the Aggies to a successful NCAA Tournament in her final chance at the dance.

After a second straight earlier-than-expected exit to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 where Florida State beat A&M in the second round at Reed Arena, the Aggies are ready to change the narrative of bowing out early.

“We saw what happened two years ago when we played a very talented Arkansas-Little Rock team,” said Blair. “We will completely watch nothing but Penn. It’s all about Penn right now.”

In addition to A&M, seven other SEC teams also made the field. Of those teams, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Kentucky all earned the ability to host by virtue of holding a top-four seed.

“There were eight SEC teams, and they got good brackets,“ said Blair. “They rewarded us and Tennessee with five-seeds because of our strength of schedule and our conference. We have a lot of teams that have a chance to win a national championship, not just a game. ”

After many doubters were skeptical coming into the year if A&M would be able to continue their NCAA Tournament streak, the Aggies have done enough to be favored in at least their first game in the tournament. Though they've already surpassed what was expected of them by many, Blair knows his team isn't finished just yet.

“I’m happy for this team because people counted us out,” said Blair. “This team refused to be the team that broke the streak. We were not going to let it end at 11-straight trips to the tournament. We were going to make sure we found our way to make it work again.”