Tonight the uncertainty ends.
Sometime between 7 at 8 this evening, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team will learn who their first-round opponent will be for the NCAA tournament and where the Mocs will be heading to start their quest for a deeper run into the postseason.
The Mocs (29-3) will gather at Jefferson's restaurant on Georgia Avenue with fans to watch the women's selection show, and the public is invited to join the team as they find out who they will face in the first round.
After taking three days off following Sunday's 61-56 overtime win over East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference Championship game, the players and coaches have been back at work for the past few days preparing for their next opponent.
"This is the most exciting time of the year for me, so I'm looking forward to seeing who we play," sophomore guard Chelsey Shumpert said last week. "We can't wait to see what seed we get. If we can win a few games in there it will be great."
Chattanooga guard Chelsey Shumpert (25) goes for a basket as East Tennessee State guard Chandler Christopher (10) defends in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game during the Southern Conference tournament on Sunday, March 8, 2015, in Asheville, N.C. Chattanooga won 61-56.The Mocs have put together perhaps the best season in program history. They have high-profile wins over Tennessee and Stanford, an unbeaten run in the SoCon, a 25-game winning streak heading into the NCAA tournament and a No. 17 ranking in the Associated Press women's Top 25.
Those accolades, plus the No. 20 ranking in the latest NCAA RPI rankings should get UTC a high seed in the NCAA tournament -- possibly as high as a six or seven seed -- but Mocs coach Jim Foster for one isn't concerning himself with where the selection committee places his team in the bracket tonight.
"That's wasted time," he said. "You're just setting yourself up to be disappointed. We shouldn't even be thinking about (what our seed is). We should just be thinking about who we're playing. Just go play them.
"That seeding stuff is a necessary evil."
What the Mocs are concerning themselves with is improving and being ready for whichever team they are paired with in the first round. In the SoCon title game, UTC squandered a 24-point lead in the second half before regrouping in overtime to hold off the feisty Buccaneers, and the team will likely emphasize finishing strong in practice before their next game.
"We've been talking all season about being a 40-minute team, especially this time of the year," Shumpert said. "We knew ETSU was going to make a little run because it was the championship game. I'm glad that we stuck through and came together and got the win in the overtime."
"All teams are going to make a little run this time of the year, and we needed to move the ball more. We were rushing a little bit, but we got it together."
Foster said that postseason officiating is different than the regular season, resulting in more physical games that all teams have to adjust to.
"It's more how the games are called in the postseason than the technique, so you have to have a different mindset," he said. "They're going to let more go. They just do. They say they don't, but they just do. I guess it's just human nature.
"So the game's going to be more physical, and you've got to handle that."
Foster credited physical play by ETSU against post player Jasmine Joyner for limiting her to four points in the SoCon title game, but the sophomore said having that tough game should benefit her when the NCAA tournament begins this weekend.
"That did nothing but just help me. That game helped me a lot," she said. "Coach John (McCray) showed me film, and now I know what to do. I know not to do quick shots.
"Coach Foster told me during the game that if I didn't score any points he's good with that because my defense helped it all. If my offensive game is down, I'm going to do my best to help do everything on defense."
Shumpert said the SoCon was a better league this year with the Mocs facing more than one close game during the conference season, and she hopes that tougher competition will help UTC going forward.
"I think (the SoCon) really has gotten better from last year to this year," she said. "All in one year it really got better. Better players and improving players. It really helps us for the NCAAs because most of the time in the NCAA there's bigger teams and stronger teams. So we needed that (tougher conference play) going into this."
But today will be about the Mocs and their fans celebrating how far this UTC has come and preparing for the next challenge regardless of where the NCAA selection committee seeds the team or where the Mocs have to play.
"I feel like we're hungry either way it goes. We try to not let that stuff get to our head," Joyner said. "I know we're going to come into practice and work hard and fix some things that we need improving on. All the seeding stuff, like Coach Foster says that's just talk.
"I love stuff like this when the team comes together. It was so exciting last year and I know it's going to be exciting this year. So I'm very excited (about Monday)."
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.