I admit I don’t follow women’s basketball very much. Certainly not as much as I should have this season, and perhaps that’s for the best.

That said, I imagine the NCAA Tournament is structured similarly, if not the same, as is the men’s NCAA Tournament. I’m curious because WVU’s women’s team is ranked No. 17 and was appropriately seeded fifth in this year’s tournament. The reward for the greatest season in school history? A first-round game against the University of New Mexico, a team that’s won six straight games, including a conference tournament championship. 

No big deal, right? Well, that first-round game is in The Pitt. In Albuquerque, N.M. It’s the opponent’s home floor. Apparently, that’s the way the women’s tournament is.

“That’s the way the women’s tournament is, and it’s a shame,” Carey said. “(In 2004) we were a lower seed, so it didn’t bother me so much. Now, being the fifth seed and playing on the 12th seed’s home court, that’s a big disadvantage.”