Three Thoughts for Big 12 Women’s Bracketology for Jan. 31
The Big 12 has six teams in ESPN’s most recent Bracketology for the Women’s NCAA Tournament next March.
The Big 12 also had six teams last week. Plus, the league has two teams on the bubble. Here are three thoughts on ESPN’s latest Women’s Bracketology from a Big 12 perspective.
Iowa State is Back Home
After a four-game winning streak, which included a victory over Oklahoma, the Iowa State Cyclones are not only sharing the Big 12 lead with the Texas Longhorns, but Ashley Joens and her teammates would host a subregional if the tournament started today.
Based on the last two weeks, Bracketology moved the Cyclones to a No. 4 seed, where they would face Illinois State in the first round and host the first two rounds at Hilton Coliseum. Right now, the cyclones would be the only Big 12 team to have a homecourt advantage in the first weekend. It served them well last year, and it could serve them well again if they can hang on to it.
Oklahoma’s Steep Drop
I wrote last week that the Oklahoma Sooners had a golden opportunity to solidify their place at the top of the Big 12.
Unfortunately, Taylor Robertson and her teammates were unable to beat either Texas or Iowa State last week. That not only cost coach Jennie Baranczyk the league lead, but it cost Oklahoma three seeds in bracketology.
The Sooners dropped from a No. 4 seed to a No. 7 seed. Along with losing the opportunity to host a sub-regional, the Sooners ended up in the same sub-regional with LSU, which is currently undefeated. If that were to hold, the Sooners would have a very difficult road to get to the Sweet 16.
The good news? Oklahoma still has time to improve its seeding for March Madness.
Now the Bubble Fun Begins
Oklahoma State has been firmly in the field for a few weeks now. After the Cowgirls split two games last week, they dropped one seed from No. 9 to No. 10.
Meanwhile, there are two Big 12 teams sitting on the bubble as part of the first four teams out of the tournament. That would be West Virginia and Texas Tech.
We are about to find out which of these three teams is tournament worthy. Why? Because all three have to play each other quite a bit the next few weeks.
This week, Oklahoma State will host Texas Tech on Wednesday. Then on Feb. 7, Oklahoma State will host West Virginia. Each of these three teams has at least a couple of more games against one another in the final month of the season.
While the committee certainly values wins over ranked teams, these games may help determine which of these three teams has the best case for March. The more wins these three teams collect against one another, the better their odds of making it into the tournament.
Big 12 Teams in Projected Women’s Field
The Big 12 has six teams in the field. The seeds include:
Iowa State, No. 4 seed (Greenville Region), vs. Illinois State, at Ames, Iowa (was No. 5 seed last Tuesday)
Texas, No. 5 seed (Greenville Region), vs. UNLV, at Los Angeles, Calif. (was No. 7 seed last Tuesday)
Baylor, No. 6 seed (Seattle Region), vs. Columbia, at Durham, N.C. (was No. 6 seed last Tuesday
Oklahoma, No. 7 seed (Seattle Region), vs. Washington State, at Baton Rouge, La. (was No. 4 seed last Tuesday)
Kansas, No. 8 seed (Seattle Region) vs. Arkansas, at Palo Alto, Calif. (was No. 9 seed last Tuesday)
Oklahoma State, No. 10 seed (Greenville Region) vs. Oregon, Columbus, Ohio. (was No. 9 seed last Tuesday)
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
