In the days leading up to Arizona’s NCAA tournament appearances at McKale Center, UA coach Dave Rubio and his staff scouted and evaluated potential second-round opponent BYU and came to the same conclusion: the selection committee had blown it on the unseeded Cougars.
“Everyone in the volleyball world knew how good they were,” Rubio said Friday. “I knew we had a team good enough to get to the Final Four. I also knew BYU was good enough.”
BYU beat the Wildcats in a close match at McKale, and then roared through the West Regional in Seattle, beat favored Texas in the national semifinals Thursday, and on Saturday played Penn State for the national championship.
Even though UA finished in sole possession of third place in the Pac-12, the nation’s top conference, the NCAA selection committee gave fourth-place Oregon an easier route, at home, with the highest–ranked RPI opponent No. 38 LSU. The committee also gave a less difficult field to UCLA, which finished tied with Oregon. UCLA’s top opponent was No. 26 Long Beach State.
BYU was No. 17 in the RPI and vastly underrated. For Arizona, it was RIP.
