UNI anxious, excited to learn NCAA fate

CEDAR FALLS - The waiting is the worst part.

Sure, it's not as bad for No. 10/11 Northern Iowa since the Panthers know they'll be in the NCAA Tournament after their Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship last Sunday, but the nervous excitement is starting to set in.

UNI and the rest of the college basketball world will find out exactly which 68 teams qualify and what their seeds will be for the 2015 NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 5 p.m. on CBS. The benefit of having their conference tournament a week early lets the Panthers rest easy on that they'll be dancing, but it becomes a long wait to find out where.

'You get anxious, you get curious as to what's going to happen, who you're going to play, where you're going to be seeded, where you're going and all that stuff,” said MVC Player of the Year and tournament Most Outstanding Player Seth Tuttle. 'We're basically just going through the days, day by day, working out a little but until we find out what to expect and what we need to prepare for. For the most part, it's just days full of excitement and wondering what's going to happen.”

Knowing they had a little extra time some other schools don't have, Coach Ben Jacobson gave the guys a couple days off on Monday and Tuesday this week - and himself, as he was battling back from illness he carried through the MVC Tournament in St. Louis - to rest and relax before easing back into things starting Wednesday.

For Jacobson, having done this a few times, the wait this week isn't a negative thing.

Sure, there's nervous energy around, but for him it's more exciting than anything. Even knowing they're in for sure won't take away from getting to see the Panthers' name and logo pop up in the bracket on the CBS telecast.

'I look forward to it. Even this year, where it felt like going into St. Louis - and I think I can say with certainty - that we were going to get in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happened,” Jacobson said. 'Winning the tournament and now having the automatic bid, we know our name's coming up on Sunday, but it doesn't take away any of the excitement for me. It's one of the very best days of the college basketball season, and to know our name's coming up, I just can't wait.”

Neither Jacobson or Tuttle were shy about where they feel like the Panthers should or will be seeded.

The coach said he anticipates a four or five-seed for the tournament. His player aimed a little higher, and (maybe not-so-) jokingly expressed a great desire to avoid the dreaded potential upset specials of being one of those two seeds.

'I'd love to see us slip into that three slot, but at the same time I'm pretty realistic with my thoughts and I could see us being a four. I'm hoping we don't end up being a five,” Tuttle said. 'Anywhere in a three or four would obviously be tremendous. And it's hard, obviously, to complain about being a four. It's one of those things where it's like, ‘Man, we're going to be a stinkin' four?' But that's really good. We'll take whatever we get, really.”

And having been to Cancun, Mexico earlier this season, where they play doesn't matter a whole lot to the coaches or players.

Jacobson said he hasn't even mentioned it around the players, and Tuttle said it's more about making memories than anything else. No matter where they go, he said, that will happen. For a team - minus its coaches - that has never played in the NCAA Tournament, it's more about getting on the floor.

If that fact, being in the NCAA Tournament, has set in, Tuttle is not aware of it. It's all new territory, and he's hoping at some point he'll have the time to really sit back and take stock of this season. Just not yet.

'I have no idea what it's going to feel like; if it has or hasn't already set in. I'm not completely sure,” Tuttle said. 'I'm just waiting, trying to be patient and see what happens. I'm not sure if it will set in - it might be a month after the season where I look back and I'm like, ‘Shoot, we were Valley champs, I won player of the year, most outstanding player and our team made it however far.' It might not hit me until literally a month after when I'm sitting there thinking about it.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com