The Colorado women's basketball team finds itself dancing for the second consecutive year.

The Buffs (23-8) landed the No. 6 seed in the Seattle 2 region and will open the NCAA tournament against 11-seeded Middle Tennessee (28-4) on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina.

“Our young ladies have worked so incredibly hard to earn the right to be here, to have their name called, and this is all a testament to them and the amount of work that they've put into being here,” coach JR Payne said.

This reward wasn’t projected for Colorado back in October. The Pac-12 media poll predicted the Buffs to finished eighth in the conference. Wins against then-ranked No. 8 Utah, No. 14 Arizona and No. 8 UCLA in overtime helped the Buffs blow past those expectations. Entering Selection Sunday, Colorado was ranked No. 20 for the second week in a row.

The Buffs secured a seat in the Big Dance with those ranked wins and an overall successful conference sprint, finishing third in the Pac-12 (13-5) -- the program's best finish since joining the conference in 2011-12. It also marked the first time since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons the program has posted 20 wins in back-to-back seasons.

Last year’s 20-win season propelled CU into the tournament. However, the Buffs lost to 10-seeded Creighton in the first round of the tournament in Iowa City.

“I do expect us to handle it differently,” Payne said. “We have a great group of upperclassmen veterans that didn't perform the way they wanted to last year in the NCAA tournament, and since that time, we really wanted to make sure that we perform the way we're capable of.”

Quay Miller, an All-Pac-12 selection, enters her second tournament appearance with a chip on her shoulder. Before the selection celebration, Miller received the program's offensive player of the year and Lisa Van Goor (a CU Athletics Hall of Famer) rebounding award after averaging 13.2 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game.

“That award means I bring a very prominent offensive presence, but I think that it also says that I have the ability to do more and be more,” Miller said.

Miller and all of the Buffs will get another chance on Saturday to try and script a different outcome to this postseason appearance.

“This is the second year in a row,” Frida Formann said. "We knew we're going to be in it and I think this season has been different in many ways from last season, and this year we're just so excited to get back and get a second chance.”