Players were getting anxious. Fans were holding their breath. Coaches told everyone to be ready to scream when "Minnesota" was called.
The anticipation grew Monday night at Williams Arena for the Gophers women's basketball team as it waited several brackets into the selection show. Eventually confetti and colored powder filled the air once the U found out it was dancing for the first time since 2015.
"I think we just had a lot of anxiety," Gophers coach Marlene Stollings said. "They made us wait there a little bit, but that's part of the fun. We felt extremely confident we were in. We're just excited to see a lot of emotions for our team. We're so proud of them."
Minnesota (23-8) received a No. 10 seed in the Spokane Regional and will face No. 7 Green Bay (29-3) at 4 p.m. Friday in Eugene, Ore., in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.
If the Gophers win, they will play on Sunday against the winner of the game between No. 2-seed Oregon and No. 15 Seattle. You can see the full tournament bracket here.
"I was just ready for it to come up," junior guard Kenisha Bell said. "I couldn't sit there that long and just be looking, looking, looking and waiting. I was just happy it came up on the screen. Coach just said, 'Stay ready, stay ready.' We were ready."
Everyone assumed Minnesota already locked up an at-large bid after the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal victory against Iowa in Indianapolis last week. The semifinal loss to Ohio State was by only one basket. The Buckeyes, who received a No. 3 seed Monday, won the conference tournament title.
Stollings tweeted Sunday an invitation for fans to come out to the team's watch party at the Barn. The Gophers band, cheerleaders and a crowd of a hundred gathered to watch the selection show on the scoreboard.