Our women's soccer team will face Memphis in an NCAA Tournament first round game in Baton Rouge, LA on Friday. This makes our 15th consecutive appearance in the women's soccer NCAA Tournament. The Aggies will play Memphis at 4 p.m., and LSU will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 p.m. (Arkansas-Pine Bluff? Is the NCAA aware this isn't the baseball tournament, and they aren't required to send the SWAC champion to Baton Rouge?). The winners of the two first round games will face off on Sunday at 1 p.m.

I must say that I am a little disappointed we won't get the opportunity to host first and second round games at the Aggie Soccer Complex. I know LSU is currently ranked in the top 10 (#10 in the NSCA poll), but their 14-4-4 record isn't that much better than A&M's 14-6-2 record. Add in the fact that LSU's soccer stadium can only hold crowds of 1,200, while the capacity of the Aggie Soccer Complex is 3,500, and financially it just makes more sense to have the Aggies host the first and second round games. We have a state-of-the-art facility that is arguably the best soccer complex in the nation. I just think it does more for the sport to have games before bigger crowds in better facilities. I'm sure the NCAA tournament committee sees things differently, though.