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Jose Fernandez didn’t get to sleep until after 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.
That was perfectly fine with him.
The South Florida women’s basketball coach was studying up on the Lady Raiders, as his team was one of the final squads included in the NCAA Tournament Field of 64 announced Monday evening.
“I’ve been on the wrong side of the bubble three other times,” Fernandez said Wednesday in a phone interview.
His Bulls (21-10, 9-7 in Big East Conference play) qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. South Florida plays Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in United Spirit Arena in the first round of the tournament.
He said he felt confident heading into the selection show, but there are still nerves until you see that name float across the screen.
The Bulls dropped a few tight games this season in league play, but those close losses (five were by less than 10 points) are now a thing of the past as he studies the teams in the Spokane, Wash., regional.
“It’s a great deal of excitement,” said Fernandez, in his 12th year leading South Florida. “I think it’s something that sometimes as coaches you take for granted. You’re sitting there, and you see the name, and there’s shouts of joy and excitement.”
Fernandez has had to deal with senior-laden bunches getting left out of the field, but he is stoked to send his eight seniors out in style.
He expects his tilt with Tech to be one of the more exciting matches of the first round.
“It’s going to be a fun game to watch,” he said. “The teams are very similar. Both teams are up and down and their strength’s in their perimeter play.”
POTUS picks Cal
California coach Lindsay Gottlieb tells her players to ignore all of the outside predictions that tend to swirl around this time of year.
Her Golden Bears, who earned a program-best No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, are favorites to emerge out of the Lubbock subregional and contend with No. 1 seed Stanford for the Final Four berth. After all, the Bears (28-3) are one of two teams to beat the Cardinal this season.
But all of that talk of ignoring outsiders’ thoughts took a screeching halt Tuesday night when President Barack Obama picked the Bears to emerge out of the Spokane regional.
“Maybe ill have to give (the players) a pass on that one,” Gottlieb said during a Wednesday teleconference with the media.
She herself couldn’t stop from calling her dad — a judge on the east coast — at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night to tell him about Obama’s prediction, joking that he is probably more proud of Obama picking the Bears than any win Gottlieb has ever notched.
“I think if you can’t have fun with stuff like that, then you’re missing part of the experience,” she said.
On Monday night, though, there wasn’t too much talk of the Bears making a run to the Final Four by another powerful entity: ESPN.
During the hour-long selection show, much of the talk centered on which team could possibly dethrone mighty Baylor, with Stanford, Notre Dame and Connecticut the only teams taking up analysts’ breath.
Obviously the Big Four of women’s basketball deserve plenty of credit, but Gottlieb wants her players to aspire to be in the conversation. She knows they aren’t there yet, but they deserve a shot.
“We’re fighting to be on that level,” she said. “We’ve done some special things. We’ve done some special things, and we’re capable of being on the level of those four teams.”
South Florida coach Jose Fernandez, whose team barely made the field of 64 but played Notre Dame tight twice this season, said he wished there was a bit more parity at the top of the women’s game.
However, he said his team can’t be worried about the odds and just focus on match ups.
“I think maybe the kids pay more attention to that than anything else,” he said, “but we’ll see. That’s why you play the game, right?”
Lubbock, Texas Tech receive high praise
Fresno State coach Raegan Pebley remembers heading to Missoula, Mont., in 1993 this time of year.
Pebley, who was a senior in high school back in ’93, took in some women’s college basketball games, a couple of which feature Sheryl Swoopes and the Lady Raiders.
Twenty years later, Pebley is pumped to come to Lubbock to perhaps write her own history as a coach.
“Texas Tech supports women’s basketball so well, and I’ll say they’re one of the pioneers in a community really getting behind women’s basketball and supporting it,” Pebley said during a Wednesday teleconference with media.
Tech has been the envy of many coaches and marketing departments alike because of the large crowds and fan base.
Tech’s attendance numbers are down since the opening of United Spirit Arena, but coaches still take notice of what they’re getting into.
Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said her players thrive on the road when there’s a rowdy crowd, and she expects her players to do just that if they face Tech in the second round.
The Bears face Fresno State at 3 p.m. before Tech plays South Florida, whose coach says his team has been good on the road this year.
“Lubbock, I think, is going to be an unbelievable venue, then on the other side you have Cal and Fresno,” Bulls coach Jose Fernandez said. “I think it’s probably one of the best sites in the tournament, to be honest with you. I think it’s great for the city and it’s great for our game.”
2013 WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT
in United Spirit Arena, Lubbock
Saturday’s First Round
No. 2 Cal (28-3) vs. No. 15 Fresno State (24-8), 3 p.m.
No. 7 Texas Tech (21-10) vs. No. 10 South Florida (21-10), 5:30 p.m.
Monday’s Second Round
Cal/Fresno winner vs. Tech/USF winner, 8:30 p.m.
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