Well, the Gophers slipped in there. They were seeded No. 16 -- out of 16 seeded teams -- for the NCAA softball tournament, meaning they get to host a four-team regional this weekend.
Friday's schedule at Jane Cowles Stadium:
Auburn (39-17-1) vs. North Dakota St. (35-16), 4 pm
Gophers (41-9) vs. Wis-Green Bay (27-12), 6:30 pm
The most formidable opponent there seems to be Auburn, one of 11 -- that's not a typo -- SEC teams in the tournament. The Big Ten has five, the most since 2009. The Pac-12 also has five.
The U is 33-3 all-time against the Phoenix, their first foe in the double-elimination regional, 19-1 vs. NDSU and 1-1 vs. Auburn.
This is the Gophers ninth NCAA tournament, including last year. This is the second time they have hosted a regional, the other time was in 2002. That year they beat Princeton but lost two two-run games to DePaul.
None of the other five Big Ten teams were seeded, so none are hosts.