Montana State Bobcats get 13 Seed in NCAA Tournament, Will Play at Ohio State in First Round

BOZEMAN — The Montana State women’s basketball team, the first in Big Sky Conference history to reach 30 wins, will be a No. 13 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The Bobcats (30-3) will face No. 4 seed Ohio State (25-6) on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. MT on Friday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

MSU players, coaches and fans gathered on Sunday at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse to watch the selection show and learn where in the bracket they would go. The MSU women have never faced Ohio State in the program’s history.

“We’re really proud to represent the Big Sky and take this team to the national stage,” head coach Tricia Binford said. “For us, we just need to treat it like the next game, where we’re moving the needle and we’re focusing on us and getting better, and we know we’re going to have our hands full, but it’s a great opportunity to play our basketball and see what we’re capable of.”

Also playing in Columbus will be No. 5 seed Tennessee against No. 12 seed South Florida. The winner of MSU-Ohio State will face that game’s winner on Sunday.

MSU Director of Athletics Leon Costello used the occasion of the watch party to also announce that the school and Binford have agreed to a new four-year contract. A four-time winner of the Big Sky coach of the year award, including this year, Binford is now signed through the 2028-29 season. Four years is the maximum length of a contract permitted by the Board of Regents, so — as has been the case on previous new deals — this new contract simply renews the four-year window of the coach’s employment.

Binford, who is currently in her 20th season at MSU, said the decision to extend her deal is one that goes “beyond basketball.” She said her family has loved being a part of the Bozeman community, and she praised the leadership of Costello and outgoing President Waded Cruzado.

“That’s a big piece of why we do what we do,” Binford said. “When you have that kind of support, we feel like here is the place where we can take that next step. We certainly took a step this season. We do not feel like we’re finished. We think that there’s more capable here, and we have the best community to support these young athletes, and I’m just really grateful for my staff and what they bring to the table. It’s just been such a fun ride.”

The Bobcats received their second-highest seed ever for their fourth overall trip to March Madness and third in Binford’s tenure. MSU was a No. 10 seed in 1993 (losing in the first round to Washington 80-51), a No. 14 seed in 2017 (losing to Washington 91-63) and a No. 16 seed in 2022 (losing to Stanford 78-37). 

Ever since Montana State won the Big Sky tournament championship game on Wednesday in Boise, Idaho — on Marah Dykstra’s buzzer-beating put-back — online bracketology projections estimated that the Bobcats might land between a No. 12 and No. 14 seed.

Montana State had some history on its side, though. Since 2000, 16 different small- or mid-major conference women’s programs had carried 30 or more wins into the NCAA Tournament a total of 22 times. None of those teams had ever been seeded lower than No. 13. Most often, those teams were seeded seventh, 12th or 13th (four times each).

The Bobcats had to wait until the third quadrant of the bracket was revealed on television Sunday to learn their opponent, but they ultimately ended up as a No. 13 seed.

“I think it shows the respect that we’re getting with the year that we had,” senior guard and Big Sky tournament MVP Esmeralda Morales said of the team’s seed, “but at the same time, we’re underdogs now, so we can go out there and just play free and don’t have to have the pressure of like, ‘Oh, we have to win it. We have to, we’re (the) top.’ No, we’re underdogs now, so just go out there and just play us.”

The Bobcats take an impressive body of work into the NCAA Tournament. They are one of the better defensive teams in the country, ranking in the top 20 in steals (first), turnover margin (third), turnovers forced per game (fifth) and scoring defense (18th). MSU is also 19th in scoring margin and 11th in bench points per game.

Their defense will be put to the test against the Buckeyes, who are 17th in the nation in scoring at 78.9 points per game. MSU has held opponents to 55.5 points per game this year.

“When you defend, you can always give yourself a chance no matter what, against any opponent, any night,” Binford said. “And our defense is going to have to be on from start to finish for 40 minutes.”

Ohio State finished third in the Big Ten standings during the regular season and lost in the conference semifinals to eventual league champion UCLA, the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State is No. 19 in the NET Rankings, while MSU is No. 54.

All six of Ohio State’s losses this season came to conference opponents: Penn State, UCLA (twice), USC, Indiana and Maryland. All of those teams save for Penn State made the NCAA Tournament. (Penn State finished 1-17 in the Big Ten, its lone win coming against the Buckeyes.)

Ohio State finished the season 15-0 on its home court.

“They’re very good on their home floor,” Binford said, “and we have that experience at Florida Gulf Coast. We’ve had that experience in Dahlberg Arena. We’ve had a lot of situations this year where we’ve had to be a road warrior, so my first reaction was, ‘OK, this team is built for being road warriors, so let’s bring it.’”