Last year the Pitt women's basketball team didn't have to travel to get to the NCAA tournament because the school was one of eight sites to play host to the first and second rounds. And while the players were excited to have the chance to participate in the tournament, many were a little disappointed that they didn't get to travel and experience that part of the fun of March Madness.

That experience of traveling will certainly come this year for the Panthers as they found out last night they are headed to The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M. The Panthers (22-10), who are the No. 6 seed in the Spokane (Wash.) regional, will play Saturday against No. 11 seed Wyoming (24-6) at about 4:30 p.m.

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• PDF: 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Bracket

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But Pitt is not the only local team headed to The Pit as the West Virginia Mountaineers (24-7) are the No. 5 seed in the same regional and will play Saturday at 8:30 p.m. against No. 12 seed New Mexico (20-12), which is the host team. The Mountaineers were hoping for a No. 4 seed but likely lost it when they lost to Louisville in the semifinals of the Big East tournament and the Cardinals grabbed the No. 4 seed in the New Orleans regional.

Pitt coach Agnus Berenato, however, was excited about the Panthers' seed and said that the experience of traveling will make this year a lot different than last year's tournament.

"Who'd have thunk that five years ago when we got started here that we'd be a six seed," Berenato said. "We are really fired up about this opportunity. I thought last year was wonderful for us to get a chance to host, but when you are playing at home, you are here, and I don't think the girls really got a chance to fully understand the magnitude of playing in the NCAA tournament, and I think getting on a plane and flying somewhere to play is part of the excitement because it is a national tournament.

"I just feel really excited for our team. There has been a lot of hard work [to] go into this, and I'm happy for my staff and for this team and especially for our three seniors."

This is the Panthers' second consecutive NCAA berth -- and only the second in school history. Last season they were a No. 8 seed and after winning their first-round game against James Madison had to play No. 1 seed (and eventual national champion) Tennessee, which is where their season ended.

The fact that they received a better seed means their road to the Sweet 16 is a little more manageable as they would most likely have to face No. 3 seed Baylor (24-6) in the second round, as opposed to facing one of the four No. 1 seeds.

Although the Panthers got a good seed, they will certainly have their hands full with Wyoming, which spent much of the season ranked in the Top 25.

The Cowgirls compete in the Mountain West Conference but proved they could beat quality teams from bigger conferences as they notched wins against Kansas State and on the road against Wisconsin and Iowa.

Their leading scorer is Hanna Zavecz (13.9 ppg) and they are an excellent defensive team as they limit opponents to only 53.1 points per game.

Nationally there were very few surprises as Tennessee (Oklahoma City Region), Maryland (Spokane) -- though an argument could be made that both Stanford and LSU deserved a No. 1 seed ahead of the Terrapins -- North Carolina (New Orleans) and Connecticut (Greensboro, N.C.) received No. 1 seeds. The one big surprise, however, is that Rutgers was given the No. 2 seed in Greensboro, which means they'll likely have to go through Big East rival Connecticut to get to the Final Four.

The Big East and Big 12 both had eight teams get in the field, the most of any conference, while the Atlantic Coast Conference got six teams and the Southeast Conference got five.