Let's hope they give BYU the benefit of the doubt.

BYU got a home game against one of the weakest teams in the field (UVU). But then they probably get 1 seed Stanford next. There is quite a bit of griping on Cougarboard over it.

Some things to keep in mind though:

The NCAA only seeds the top 16, so only 4 seeded teams per region. After that they just try to make things regional and easier for travel for everyone else. So just because BYU gets Stanford next doesn't mean they're an 8 seed, any more than UVU is a 9. UVU would get a 16 under a tournament where everyone was seeded and BYU would probably get a 5. The idea of getting a 5 seed is consistent with BYU's #18 in the rpi.

So why did Santa Clara get a 4 seed when BYU didn't? Well, BYU didn't beat Santa Clara, so that's a wash. Also, Santa Clara's schedule turned out to be a little harder than BYU's. BYU tried by scheduling a bunch of P12 teams, but unfortunately except for Stanford to whom they lost, and Cal, who did alright, the rest were all from the bottom of the conference, including the utes. Santa Clara also beat Stanford, which is completely escaping those who are complaining. BYU had some ok wins, but except for rpi #24 Cal, none against teams that made the field.

However, BYU can play through this. They should clobber UVU. After that, I fully believe they're capable of beating Stanford. If anything, the committee gave BYU a break there by giving them a rematch against a 1 seed they came pretty close against. Toward the end of the match something seemed to click and BYU had Stanford on its heels with a couple of shots hitting the crossbar. They know they can play with them. I think it's going to be a great game.

The new signees:

http://byucougars.com/w-soccer/four-...-sign-play-byu

BYU is looking very good so far. Impressive road wins at Washington State, Penn State, Ohio State and Utah. PSU and OSU are top 25 teams. WSU is pretty good. Utah, who knows. Not terrible anyway.

The NCAA is moving the final four away from Cary, NC. The dates set for that were going to be a Friday-Sunday. Now the NCAA site no longer says "Cary, NC", but curiously, the official dates have suddenly changed to Friday-Saturday. They're still trying to lock down a venue, but it would seem to me BYU being a legitimate contender for getting there makes them play it safe and deal with that and change the dates before it becomes an issue later. They can always blame having to make a last minute change for having the games played back to back.

By the way, this is a nice article from about the best site out there for covering college soccer that mentions BYU

http://herosports.com/news/d1-womens...ntender-ladder

All three forwards can score, making them versatile. The left back concerns me a bit, and that Nebraska game is a headscratcher, but it is a fun team to watch right now.

Here is the link to BYU.

http://herosports.com/news/d1-womens...ender-ladder#3

With a win at home Saturday BYU will at least tie for the conference championship for the 6th year in a row.

Does Pepperdine get the automatic bid due to the tiebreaker of defeating BYU?

Yes, but it doesn't matter. Both teams were going to get in anyway.

All three WCC teams made it to the round of 32. Next round might see some losses considering Santa Clara goes against number Stanford and Pepperdine goes against NCState.

BYU against the Sooners of OU at 4:00 PM, I believe EST, but not certain about that. OU defeated SMU 1-0. I don't know how they stack up against BYU, but we may be okay, as BYU easily defeated SMU in Provo, 4-0.