On Monday afternoon, Memphis women’s soccer learned its fate during the NCAA Selection Show. The Tigers were given a seventh seed and are set to host Illinois on Saturday, despite the fact that they are the only undefeated team in the country (the loss in the semifinals was counted as a draw because it went to penalty kicks).
This is Memphis’ fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years, and Saturday’s match will be the third time in that same time frame that the Tigers have hosted an NCAA Tournament match.
Despite a lot of people thinking that Memphis was potentially under-seeded, Tigers head coach Brooks Monaghan says that it may work to the team’s benefit to dodge powerhouses in the first round.
“I’d rather be a seven seed playing Illinois than the three seed in Tennessee playing North Carolina,” Monaghan said. “I don’t want to sit and fuss but I feel like we’re kind of used to, you know, when you’re at Memphis not always getting the benefit of the doubt on seeding and (we) just deal with it and move on.”
The full bracket can be found at the NCAA's website.
This will be just the second time in program history that the Tigers do battle with the Fighting Illini, the last time coming all the way back in the 2008 NCAA Tournament when the team from the Big 10 took down the then-CUSA champs in double overtime 1-0.
Whenever Memphis has hosted NCAA Tournament games in the past, particularly 2021’s match against LSU, the crowds were excellent, and Monaghan is expecting another big one on Saturday. “I’m speaking to the whole city,” he said. “Please come out and support the kids and I think everybody will enjoy it.”
The game kicks off on Park Ave. campus at 7 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
