Deep down, Mark Francis knew all along.

Francis, Kansas University’s 10th-year soccer coach, did the math. He figured a victory by his team in the first round of the Big 12 tournament – which would give Kansas 12 on the season – was going to be enough to ensure a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, he had to avoid informing his players. The last thing he wanted was some sort of letdown.

So, he did what any coach would do in that situation.

He fibbed. He told the team it needed to win the whole tournament.

“I thought if we won the first game we would get in, but I didn’t want to tell the players that,” Francis said. “So I told them, ‘Hey you guys have got to win it.'”

A little white lie never hurt anybody.

Kansas didn’t win the tournament. But it did defeat second-seeded Texas A&M, 4-2, in Round One, likely propelling the Jayhawks into the NCAA Tournament. Three days after losing to Missouri in Round Two, the Kansas players and coaching staff heard their school called on television at a watch party in Naismith Auditorium.

At 12-7-2, Kansas is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.

Kansas will play Denver (19-2-2) in the first round on Friday in Palo Alto, Calif.

The selection moment was not lost on KU seniors Missy Geha and Jessica Bush. Twice before in the last three seasons, they were a part of Kansas teams that won 11 games and failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

“I was a little worried,” Geha said of Monday night’s selections. “Because my freshman and sophomore year, the whole team thought we got the short end of the straw.”

At the watch party, three brackets came and went on the television screen. Kansas was not among the teams named.

“We saw the first 24 (teams) come out, and we were like, ‘Oh gosh, if this is a repeat of freshman year, this is going to be the worst feeling in the world,'” Bush said.

Then, the moment Bush and Geha waited four years for finally occurred in the fourth section of brackets.

Geha jumped up with her arms out, unable to contain her excitement.

Bush stared straight through the TV screen, moved to the brink of tears.

Francis never doubted.

“I was excited, but to be honest, I really thought we would get in,” Francis said. “So it wasn’t like I was really surprised.”

Tuesday afternoon, players slogged through drills that culminated with a scrimmage, enduring dreary, drizzly, overcast conditions.

And they couldn’t have been happier.

“I mean, yeah, the weather is awful out,” Geha said, “but we have so much to look forward to.”