The weekend of Mar. 18th is something Arizona Wildcat fans should mark on their calendars. That’s when McKale Center should host the Women’s NCAA Tournament opening rounds for the first time since Mar. 15, 1998. The close calls and disappointments should finally end for Tucson’s team almost exactly 24 years since Adia Barnes led her team to the Sweet Sixteen as a player.
Arizona certainly didn’t make it easy on itself. At one point, the Wildcats were projected by the NCAA Tournament selection committee as a No. 1 seed. Then, the questionable losses started to pile up, Arizona’s NET started to drop, and the opportunity to host the opening rounds of the tournament started to look less assured.