Just two years after finishing last place in the Big Ten, Michigan is back where it wants to be — the NCAA Tournament. With the women’s soccer team packed around a TV watching ESPNU’s selection show Monday afternoon, anxious minutes passed before it was finally announced that the Wolverines had made it for the first time since 2006.

They will now travel to Stillwater, Okla. and face Oklahoma State — the region’s host — on Friday. The Cowboys are the No. 3 seed in the North Carolina Region.

Michigan coach Greg Ryan — who guided Wisconsin to two Final Fours and a runner-up finish in 1991 — is in his third year as the Wolverines’ head man and has returned his team to familiar territory. Before his tenure began, Michigan had made the tournament in nine of its last eleven years. Only one player on this roster, senior defenseman Kylie Neschke, has any tournament experience.

But for the Wolverines (5-3-2 Big Ten, 10-4-4 overall), who haven’t had a winning record since 2007, being back on top is incredibly rewarding.

“We knew we weren’t going to be very strong on the field, so we committed to being good teammates and getting along and working for each other,” Ryan said. “That’s carried over for all three years. I think when you get to a year where you have enough talent on the field to win and you have that great team chemistry, I think that combination puts you over the top.”

The season has been a magical ride for the seniors who had gone through so much. After the show’s conclusion, a nostalgic Ryan addressed his team, nearly choking up.

“It’s a great credit to this group of girls who have made the NCAA Tournament, but it’s also a credit to people of the past few years that have helped us rebuild the program, building the culture, learning how to fight every second,” Ryan said. “This is just a gritty group of players that believed in themselves when nobody else in the country believed in them.”

With all they’ve gone through, the season couldn’t have been any more special for a transforming soccer program. To begin the season, Michigan unveiled a brand-new stadium and discovered a vibrant fan base. A bid to the tournament just caps it all off.

“It really makes us realize how far we’ve come as a team and as a senior class,” senior captain and forward Amanda Bowery said. “To go from our freshman year when we won three games to now, it feels really good to look at and reflect on what we have done. When we found out freshman year that we were going to get a new coach, it was kind of like, ‘We know there’s going to be a turnaround in the program and restructuring,’ and now that we’ve actually been able to see it from nothing to now winning, it’s really cool.”

The tension built in the room as the bracket filled up and the Wolverines were still absent. Needing a win or tie to all but secure a bid, Michigan lost to Penn State on Sunday in the final 17 seconds of double overtime.

With banners and streamers still hanging in the locker room from last week’s Senior Day victory, the players and coaches were loose prior to the show’s beginning, mostly enjoying the large spread of food and laughing among themselves. But when three of the four brackets had been finished, the mood darkened as the room swelled with nervous words of encouragement and even frustration.

Someone even yelled at commentator Julie Foudy to “shut up” as she rambled about numerous matchups.

When Michigan was finally announced, jubilant yells were let out in celebration, as the team hugged and high-fived. After Ryan’s speech, coaches piped in rock music, yet the celebration was short lived.

“(Oklahoma State) is obviously a very, very good team,” Ryan said. “My next hour is going to be calling coaches, figuring out everything I can about them. We’ll roll up our sleeves against anyone in the country. This team has showed that all year long.”

The Wolverines will head down to Stillwater on Wednesday in preparation for Friday evening’s game against Big-12 champion Oklahoma State (8-2-1, 17-3-2). The winner will advance to play the winner of Memphis and Oregon State.

“Our gameplan the whole year has been taking it one step at a time,” Bowery said. “We’ll just go in there Friday, give it our all, leave it all on the field. This is the point where one loss is your season. Then it’s done.”