Four Big 12 Teams In Top 16 of NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracketology
Big 12 teams are among the Top 16 seeds in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in ESPN’s latest Bracketology, released on Tuesday.
Going into Wednesday’s set of games, Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas are either a No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 seed in their respective brackets. If you extend it out to the No. 5 seeds, you’ll find Kansas State.
Texas remaining on a Top 4-seed line is curious given the Longhorns’ three-game losing streak. Charlie Crème of ESPN wrote that Texas has built up enough collateral in its resume to be a Top 4 seed, but it was no longer a lock to host first- and second-round games.
The Big 12 held steady with six teams in the projected field. The SEC now leads with nine teams tournament, while the ACC and the Pac 12 have seven teams. The Big Ten also has six each.
Other Takeaways:
Moving up: The Oklahoma Sooners moved up another seed line, this time to a No. 3 seed, after its win over Baylor last week. The Sooners are tied for the Big 12 lead with Iowa State. Baylor also moved up a seed line on the strength of its back-to-back wins over Texas.
Moving down: Texas dropped to a No. 4 seed with its back-to-back losses to Baylor over the weekend.
Holding steady: Iowa State remained a No. 2 seed after winning its weekend game. The Cyclones aren’t back on the floor until Saturday. Kansas State held as a No. 5 seed despite a loss to Iowa State last week. Kansas remained a No. 11 seed and is one of the ‘last four byes’ for the tournament. The Jayhawks have won three straight.
How the bracket looks for the Big 12 as of Feb. 4:
Bridgeport Region
No. 4 Texas vs. No. 13 UNLV
No. 11 Kansas vs. No. 6 North Carolina
Greensboro Region
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Albany
Wichita Region
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Belmont
No. 5 Kansas State vs. No. 12 IUPUI
Spokane Region
No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 Troy
Future Big 12 members
Spokane Region
No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Mississippi State/WSU winner
Greensboro Region
No. 8 UCF vs. No. 9 Utah
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
