OXFORD | Ole Miss Women's Basketball expected to sleep in their own beds all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, but the committee threw cold water on that projection.

The Rebels were announced as the No. 5 seed in Regional I Spokane on Sunday, setting up a trip to Waco, Texas, for the second round and potentially third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ole Miss opens play with No. 12 seed Ball State. No. 4 seed and host Baylor and No. 13 seed Grand Canyon are also in the four-team field. The first round games are on Friday for this bracket.

"I'm shocked (considering) the No. 3 strength of schedule and NET of (12) and in the last month beating the No. 8 and No. 7 ranked teams in the country," McPhee-McCuin said. "You would think we'd have a chance to host."

UCLA is the No. 1 seed in the region and the top overall seed in the tournament.

Ball State is 27-7 overall and No. 65 in the NET. The Cardinals went 16-2 in the MAC and won the regular season and tournament titles. One common opponent is Texas A&M. Ball State beat the Aggies, 75-62, in the Bahamas in November. Ole Miss lost at Texas A&M, 60-58, on January 5.

The Rebels are 20-10 on the season, with a 10-6 regular season SEC record. Ole Miss advanced to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and has the No. 11 NET nationally. The Rebels went 6-9 in quad one games, 2-0 in quad two, 3-1 in quad three and 9-0 in quad four contests.

"I'm excited about our team," McPhee-McCuin said. "We have been to Waco before. Four years ago, and it didn't go well. That was when we were just getting the run started. We got ousted, but this will be a different opportunity for us."

Baylor is No. 15 in the NET with a 3-6 quad one record.

It's Ole Miss' 21st all-time NCAA Tournament appearance including the fourth straight under McPhee-McCuin. The Rebels are 3-3 in the NCAA Tournament under McPhee-McCuin, losing to South Dakota in 2022, beating Gonzaga and Stanford and losing to Louisville in 2023 and beating Marquette and losing to Notre Dame in 2024.

The 2023 Sweet Sixteen trip was the 11th for the program and first since 2007.

The top four seeds in each region are the host schools in the NCAA Tournament.