Three Thoughts on Big 12 Women’s Bracketology for Feb. 7
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.
Texas Could Host
At one point Texas was out of the tournament field completely. Now, after winning seven of their last eight games, the Longhorns would host a sub-regional if the tournament started today.
It’s been a heck of a turnaround for head coach Vic Schaefer and his team. With four new transfers, coupled with the loss of forward Aaliyah Moore to injury early in Big 12 play, it’s taken time for the chemistry to come around for Texas.
But now that it has, the Longhorns are in first place in the Big 12 and appear pointed toward a homecourt advantage in the NCAA Tournament’s early rounds.
We’ll find out more about what the NCAA Tournament committee thinks about Texas when they release their Top 16 seeds on Thursday night.
Oklahoma State Hangs In
Oklahoma State is among the last four byes in the Tournament, which is a fancy way of saying the Cowgirls are in pretty solid shape. But they’re also not that far away from the bubble either.
The Cowgirls are sitting on 16 wins with seven games to play. They have three combined games left against West Virginia and Texas Tech. The Cowgirls have already beaten Texas Tech already. Another win over the Lady Raiders, plus two wins over West Virginia would give OSU 19 victories.
After that, Oklahoma State would just need one win over Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, and Oklahoma to get to 20 victories and most likely a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
This weekend I’m going to be in Stillwater to see Oklahoma State play Baylor in a game where the Cowgirls are in position to sweep the Bears, something I’m sure they haven’t done in quite some time.
It will be interesting to see how the Cowgirls handle prosperity down the stretch. There is a path for them that doesn’t need to be bumpy if they can take care of business.
Texas Tech on the Bubble
For the second time in about a month, the Lady Raiders are on the bubble. This time, they’re one of the Next Four Out of the Tournament. Basically, Texas Tech is one of the first eight teams that Bracketology is considering for the field. With 16 victories, they have basically the same credentials at Oklahoma State. So what’s the issue? It may be as simple as NCAA NET rating. Oklahoma State is No. 47. Texas Tech is No. 72.
The Lady Raiders have a path to 20 victories with eight games to play. Texas Tech still has one game remaining each against Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and TCU.
Let’s say Texas Tech wins two of those three games. That’s 18 wins. Then, Texas Tech would need two more wins over Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Iowa State to get to 20.
That’s an important benchmark. It means your odds are good that you’ll find your way into the field. It’s still possible for the Lady Raiders to get into March Madness. But they’re probably going to have to get to 20 wins before Kansas City in order to do it.
Big 12 Teams in Projected Women’s Field
The Big 12 has six teams in the field. The seeds include:
Texas, No. 4 seed (Greenville Region), vs. Long Beach State, at Austin, Texas.
Iowa State, No. 5 seed (Greenville Region), vs. Rhode Island, at Tallahassee, Fla.
Baylor, No. 5 seed (Seattle Region), vs. UNLV, at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Oklahoma, No. 7 seed (Seattle Region), vs. Middle Tennessee, at Iowa City, Iowa
Kansas, No. 8 seed (Greenville Region) vs. Oregon, at Columbia, S.C.
Oklahoma State, No. 10 seed (Greenville Region) vs. Tennessee, College Park, Md.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
