Follow
The NCAA Tournament resumes on Thursday with both semifinal matches to be played at Loyola’s Gentile Arena in Chicago.
Check out the initial look and the historical information to know about these two semifinal matches.
No. 1 seed Loyola (27-1, 14-0 MIVA) vs. No. 4 seed Penn State (25-6, 13-1 EIVA)
Match vitals: 8 p.m. Thursday in Chicago
Last NCAA Tournament appearance: Loyola (2013); Penn State (2013)
Last NCAA Tournament championship: Loyola (never); Penn State (2008)
How they got here: Loyola received the top seed and a bye to the semifinals. Penn State defeated Lewis in four games in the NCAA Tournament play-in match on Tuesday.
Historical stats to know: This is the seventh time in the rally scoring era that a team is in the field and playing host to the NCAA Tournament. Four of the last six times the host school has advanced to at least the NCAA Tournament with Penn State suffering the only two losses. Penn State is attempting to win both the men’s and women’s NCAA championships during the same school year. That feat had only been accomplished twice before with Penn State in 2008 and Stanford in 1997.
No. 2 seed BYU (21-6, 18-6 MPSF) vs. No. 3 seed Stanford (23-8, 17-7 MPSF)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. Thursday in Chicago
Last NCAA Tournament appearance: BYU (2013); Stanford (2010)
Last NCAA Tournament title: BYU (2003); Stanford (2010)
How they got here: BYU received a top-two seed and a bye to the semifinals. Stanford swept Erskine in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on Thursday.
Historical stats to know: BYU had its first losing record on the road in almost five years and has lost its last two matches at Loyola. In addition, the Cougars are one of two teams that has always advanced to the NCAA finals every time it has qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Stanford has lost its three previous matches this season against BYU, but the Cardinal is 2-1 all-time against BYU when playing on a neutral court.