Pep Band for the Women's NCAA Tournament 1st Round Game

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ST_Lawson
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So, you may have noticed that the pep band at the Summit League tournament was kinda sparse and didn't include any trombones. Well, I can assure you that there will be at least one more trombone (and a more substantial band) at our first game (or two) of the tournament. Since I helped out during the regular season, I was invited to participate in the pep band for our games. So that's kinda awesome.

I think I'd like to document the trip somehow, possibly with photos on instagram or something. Once I figure out what I want to do, I'll let you all know and post a link so that anyone who's interested can virtually follow the pep band to the women's NCAA tournament.
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Great news, Scott!

I hope that "#33" gets to go. He is a senior this year. We will miss him next year. He is a very energetic fan!

Looked like we had approx 20 in the Pep Band at Sioux Falls. Was there a limit imposed by the conference as to the maximum number that a band could have ??? IUPUI's band appeared to be around the same size as ours.
meganeck
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Scott, Can I ask, do you have to pay for anything or is the University picking up the cost for everything? But yeah that is very cool you get to go.
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ST_Lawson
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wiu712 wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:08 pm Great news, Scott!

I hope that "#33" gets to go. He is a senior this year. We will miss him next year. He is a very energetic fan!

Looked like we had approx 20 in the Pep Band at Sioux Falls. Was there a limit imposed by the conference as to the maximum number that a band could have ??? IUPUI's band appeared to be around the same size as ours.
:lol: yea, Devin (#33) will be going too. I just found out that another trombone is going as well, so there's at least two trombones and one baritone that'll be there.

I don't think there was a conference-imposed limit, but I know that we have to pay for transportation/housing for the conference tournament, but the NCAA pays for travel costs and stuff for the tournament. Could just be that schools can only afford to send a certain number usually or something.

Meganeck - your question popped up as I was typing the above, but actually it's the NCAA that picks up the bill for us. I think they have a specific number of pep band members, cheerleaders, dancers, etc. that each school can bring, but they pay for it. Doesn't cost the university (or myself) anything really, other than "extras" (souvenirs, snacks, etc.).
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sealhall74
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Does the entire "party" (players, coaches, band, ...) travel via the same charter flight?
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ST_Lawson
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sealhall74 wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:20 pm Does the entire "party" (players, coaches, band, ...) travel via the same charter flight?
No clue, but I'll be sure to let you know if we end up flying. I checked the ESPN bracketology for the women's tournament and their best educated guess at this point is us as a #13 seed taking on #4 Ohio State in the first round. The way it works with the women is that the first weekend (round 1 and 2) take place at the campus of the highest seed of the group of 4. Our "block"...again, just a guess...has #4 Ohio State, #5 Miami (FL), #12 Quinnipiac, and us at #13, which means it'd be at Columbus. That's only about an 8 hour drive, so I'd bet that the team would fly, but the rest of us would just take a charter bus.

The bracket from last week though had us paired up with #4 UCLA....so that'd be out in LA and we'd fly, but probably commercial, I'd imagine.

However it shakes out, I'll be sure to report back here ;)
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meganeck
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Scott, even better that NCAA picks up the tab. Enjoy the games it should be fun
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sealhall74
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FYI, back in 2007, Ohio State as a #4 seed lost to #13 Marist in the first round of tournament.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Wome ... hip_upsets

Update: College Sports Madness has bracket projection which would take us to Oklahoma:

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/wom ... acketology
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sealhall74 wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:20 am FYI, back in 2007, Ohio State as a #4 seed lost to #13 Marist in the first round of tournament.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Wome ... hip_upsets

Update: College Sports Madness has bracket projection which would take us to Oklahoma:

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/wom ... acketology
Yea, most brackets have us sitting around #13 going against a #4. The nice thing is that a 13 over 4 is doable...it happens periodically. Moreso on the men's side, I think, but still...it's not like we're a #16 taking on UConn or something (although it would be kinda awesome to see UConn's women's team play in person....just not against us).

The downside to being a #13 taking on a #4 is that your group of 4 teams in the first weekend are #4, #5, #12, and #13, and the games are hosted at the campus of the top seed in the group. So, it's not even a "neutral court" game, it's literally an "away" game at the home arena of the team you're playing, who happens to be a Top 25 ranked team.

Won't be easy, but it's possible.
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It would be nice to not have to play the first game on someone's home court. Looks like the only way that we could avoid that would be to named as a #12 seed.
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