UTC Mocs logoMonday mornings stink.
But University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf coach Mark Guhne and his players hardly could wait for this one. They need to know their future.
The field of teams in the NCAA Division I tournament will be revealed today on GolfChannel's "Morning Drive" show, which begins at 7 a.m.
Guhne's Mocs could be selected to participate in an NCAA regional, or their season could be over after their runner-up finish in the Southern Conference tournament.
"I'd like for Monday to hurry up and get here," senior Davis Bunn said Friday. "I try not to worry about it too much, because it's out of our control. We've done what we can."
Does he think the Mocs are in?
"I don't want to jinx it," he said.
The NCAA selection committee typically seeds the top 18 teams, slots them in the different regions in a snake-style order, then selects at-large teams and places them to fill out the field.
UTC is ranked No. 60 in GolfWeek and No. 64 in GolfStat. GolfWeek college insider Lance Ringler tweeted earlier in the week that he believes the cutoff line for at-large teams is No. 66. That puts the Mocs on an edge more dramatic than the drop-off from Lookout Mountain on the first green at Canyon Ridge Golf Club.
The Mocs could be in. Or they could be out.
"This is not fun," said Guhne, who has been putting the math skills he learned at UTC to work. "I can tell you who's won every conference tournament across the country. I've never been able to do that in the past."
The Mocs have participated in seven consecutive regional tournaments and reached the NCAA Championships in 2009 and 2012.
"We've been practicing every day, but for who knows what," Guhne said. "I know that I don't want to leave anything up to chance like this again.
"I'm ready to be back where we walk away from the SoCon tournament knowing that we're moving on."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.