2023 Big12 WBB Tournament

Born in ATX

Born in ATX

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Based upon the Big 12 Standings through today (2/26), here’s what we’d be looking at:

2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship, March 9-12, Kansas City, Municipal Auditorium

Thursday, March 9 (all times Central)

Game 1: No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed - 5 p.m. - ESPN+

TxTech (#8) v. KSU (#9)

Game 2: No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed - 7:30 p.m. - ESPN+

KU (#7) v. TCU (#10)


Friday, March 10

Game 3: No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed - 11 a.m. – ESPNU

IowaSt. (#4) v. Baylor (#5)

Game 4: No. 1 Seed vs. Game 1 Winner - 1:30 p.m. – ESPNU

Texas (#1) v. Game 1 Winner

Game 5: No. 2 Seed vs. Game 2 Winner - 5 p.m. - ESPN+

oU (#2) v. Game 2 Winner

Game 6: No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed - 7:30 p.m.- ESPN+

Okie St (#3) v. WVa (#6)


Saturday, March 11

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner - 12 p.m. - ESPN+

Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 2:30 p.m. - ESPN+


Sunday, March 12

Game 9: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner - 1 p.m. - ESPN2
 
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Final bracket. This sets up pretty favorably for us if we can handle the lack of depth. Yes, we'd have to play OSU in the 2nd round, but then would only face one of the winner of oU/Baylor/IowaSt. in the Champ. game.
 
So I see that we might play Tech in the first game. Is our feud with Tech over since Vic went and shook hands with the SandWitch and AC plays almost no minutes for that team?
 
1sahorn said:
Not in tceh's eyes...never will be. They are almost as obsessed with/delusional about us as aggy.
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True... and Tech has always had some of the rudest and most unsportsmanlike fans you'll ever encounter. #trash
 
On the one hand I’d love for us to eliminate Tech but that would mean they’d have to win a game first over a team they so gloriously swept and bragged about. Go Cats!
 
brnkj said:
True... and Tech has always had some of the rudest and most unsportsmanlike fans you'll ever encounter. #trash
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I went to tceh for a bit. They try to be what they think is UT arrogant but miss and hit obnoxious. And they are possibly the most obnoxious fans I've ever dealt with.
 
Lived in Lubbock as a child... Lived in Lubbock for a year as an adult in pilot training while my wife attended nursing school at that school. We left nothing in Lubbock. And she has family doing rodeo at tech today. Happy to see Vic take the high road at the tech game at home. Was hoping sand witch would do something...HOOK 'EM!
 
HornView said:
I can’t believe the Semifinal round is on ESPN+ only
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Been like that for the last few years. That's what happens when your semi-finals are on the same Saturday when just about all men's conference tourneys are playing their semi-finals or finals. Who do you think ESPN's main channels will be airing that day?
 
Moooooo said:
Been like that for the last few years. That's what happens when your semi-finals are on the same Saturday when just about all men's conference tourneys are playing their semi-finals or finals. Who do you think ESPN's main channels will be airing that day?
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Won’t be a problem in couple years I guess
 
HornView said:
Won’t be a problem in couple years I guess
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My biggest gripe isn't the lack of TV. It's the timing of the tourney as a whole. While other conferences finish their tourneys well before ours starts, the committee is "placing" those teams whose seasons are completed in the bracket as we speak; and, they'll be close to finalized. So, when our conference member schools lose later this week/weekend, the committee basically has no choice but to bump them down (unless their NET ranking rises).

And, of course, all the rest and practice time other conferences will be getting the next 10-12 days.

Sunday's championship final might not even be factored into the seedings as it is completed just a few hours before the Selection Sunday airs.
 
It's been so long since we've been the #1 seed that I'd forgotten just how much of an advantage one gets when it comes to the scheduled times of the games.

#8 Tech versus #9 Kansas State will end at 7 PM Thursday night or later (we should all hope for overtime). The winner has to turn around and play Texas at 1:30 PM on Friday; that's like having to play 2 games in 20 hours. I've said this in year's past, but I just don't get why those first 2 games of the tourney aren't started at 11 AM and 1:30 PM on Thursday in order to allow more rest for those teams.

That being said, I'm rooting for Kansas State for so many reasons. I think playing them again after playing them on Saturday makes for an easier game plan and strategy. I hated the way the last few minutes of our game against Tech in Austin was played (and officiated); I don't want that team potentially fouling aggressively at the end of the game and possibly injuring any of our players.

In the other quarterfinal in our part of the bracket, I'd say I'll be rooting for West Virigina to beat Oklahoma State; I think we match up better with the Mountaineers, and I think they have less depth than OSU.

On the other side of the bracket, of course, I'd normally be rooting for the upsets. Assuming #7 Kansas gets by #10 TCU, I will be rooting for the Jayhawks against the #2 Sooners. But, not sure I can root for #6 Baylor to beat #3 Iowa State; but, getting Iowa State knocked out early sends their fans home early and we don't have to deal with their home court advantage if we were to advance to Sunday's final. So, I'm torn. Neither team has a lot of depth, so they would have a tough time winning 3 games on 3 consecutive games just like us. OU not playing any defense probably makes them a more rested team if they advance to Sunday's final. Probably best to get the Sooners eliminated before Sunday.
 
As far as our seed in the NCAA tournament, I don't think there's anything we can do in the Big 12 tournament to move up from our projected #4 seed to a #3 seed. All the teams projected to be seeded ahead of us have completed their seasons; so, none of them can lose again. And, with 8 losses, we have more losses than any of them. Our NET ranking is #11; I'll be watching to see if that changes after each game we play in KC.

Our record against Q2 teams is 5-2. No team ahead of us has more than one Q2 loss; most teams ahead of us have zero Q2 losses.

NET Ranking - Women's College Basketball | WarrenNolan.com


Potentially beating Tech or Kansas State does nothing to improve our resume'; same for beating OSU or West Virginia. An unexpected loss in the quarterfinals could move us down to a #5 seed, IMO, and miss out on hosting a sub-regional. Since our championship final isn't until Sunday, I don't think potentially winning the conference title will factor in as the bracket will most likely already be finalized by the time that game is finished.

NCAA Women's Bracketology - 2023 women's college basketball projections (espn.com)

Obviously, getting Sonya Morris healthy is more important than most of the above. Injuries have hurt so many teams this season. I do wonder if the NCAA committee will knock down Notre Dame from a projected #3 seed since they've recently endured a season-ending injury to Maddy Westbeld, and an even more recent to Olivia Miles suffered in late February; she did not play in the ACC tournament where #1 seeded ND was trounced by Louisville, 64-38 in the semi-finals. ND is the only team ranked ahead of us who could possibly move down; but, I doubt ND announces anything about Miles' post-season availabliity as it could hurt their seed.
 
You may be right, but I do think a tourney win (or even a tourney final) solidifies us as a three seed. But yeah, probably can’t creep up to a 2. But a 3 is definitely in play.
 
UTexRulz23 said:
You may be right, but I do think a tourney win (or even a tourney final) solidifies us as a three seed. But yeah, probably can’t creep up to a 2. But a 3 is definitely in play.
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Agreed. If we end up with a net ranking in the top 12 I don't see why we couldn't be awarded a #3 seed. Another note to consider... even without Rori, Taylor, and Sonya for a number of games each we have not yet lost a game by double digits. The same cannot be said for most (if not all) other teams whose rankings are close to ours. Even when we've played very poorly we were in those games. That includes the game vs UConn (with Fudd uninjured) without Rori.
 
My starting point for my comments was the last reveal on February 23 where we were listed as the first #4 seed (#13 overall). Since then, we lost at home to Baylor, and beat KSU on the road. That doesn't move us up; kept us pretty steady in NET ranking which is surprising.

What did other teams above/below us do since the last reveal?

The #2 seeds
- Virginia Tech and UConn won their conference tourneys, and beat at least one Top 15 team (Duke and Villanova, respectively)
- Maryland and LSU advanced to the semi-finals

The #3 seeds
- Iowa won their conference tourney and beat Top 10 Maryland and Top 15 Ohio State
- Ohio State advanced to the finals after beating Top 20 Michigan and Top 2 Indiana
- Notre Dame and Duke advanced to the semi-finals; ND did get blown out by Louisville, but they won the regular season ACC title

The #4 seeds
- Arizona and Michigan lost in their quarterfinals; Villanova advanced to the final and lost to Top 8 UConn, but didn't beat any ranked team along the way

Teams below us
- Tennessee beat Top 10 LSU, and lost to #1 South Carolina
- UCLA beat Top 20 Arizona and Top 5 Stanford, and lost to Top 32 Washington State in the final
- Louisville beat Top 15 Notre Dame and lost to Top 5 Viriginia Tech

In order for committee to move us up a seed line, the have to move someone down a seed line; and, we have to hope no one below us leapfrogs us.

I'm open to discussion; who would the committee move down in order to move us up? Why would they move us up if we had already lost to Baylor after the last reveal? Of the teams I listed above, the only team we could possibly leapfrog is Notre Dame (and that's if the committee downgrades them for injuries).

I believe the bracket will be completed Saturday night, and the result of the Big 12 championship might not be considered. If that's true, best we could add to our resume' are wins over KSU and OSU (neither of which is in the Top 25).


 
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I don't follow this stuff real closely, but does LSU really deserve to be the #5 overall seed? From what you guys say, they have played an easy schedule and they got blown out by SC. That's frustrating. It rewards scheduling weak teams, which is boring for basketball in general. I wouldn't mind playing them on our path ahead.
 
JoeDallas said:
I don't follow this stuff real closely, but does LSU really deserve to be the #5 overall seed? From what you guys say, they have played an easy schedule and they got blown out by SC. That's frustrating. It rewards scheduling weak teams, which is boring for basketball in general. I wouldn't mind playing them on our path ahead.
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Most fans and media don't believe they should be rewarded for having such a weak schedule. But, they were #5 overall in the last 2 reveals. So, the committee is overlooking it, and that's what matters.

Folks used to complain about the committee only using RPI to help seed teams; now they use that and the relatively new NET rankings.

The reason LSU's NET ranking is so high is because it takes margin of victory into consideration; all those blowout wins by LSU skewing things in their favor. Basically, it's Kim Mulkey beating the system . . . again
 
I guess we could beat the system in the same way, schedule only powder puff teams, blow them out, and then get a top seed, but that would be a cowardly manipulation of the system. That is putting a seed over what sport is supposed to be about --- the excitement and challenge of real competition. I don't see how anyone who is involved in this sport could respect Kim Mulkey. She has proven herself to be a poor sport over and over again in so many ways. You hear over and over again that she is a great coach. Well, who gives a damn. In the end, sports is about something more important than winning.
 
I’ve already seen some ESPN pundits expressing doubts about LSU’s success in the tournament because of their weak schedule and point to the Tennessee game as a big indicator (blowing a big lead). Hope they’re correct.

It still nauseates me when announcers talk about Mulkey being the quickest coach in history to reach X number of wins while ignoring her history of weak non conference scheduling. If I were her I’d be embarrassed but we all know what kind of person she is and I’m sure she eats it up. Good coach, crappy human should be her epitaph

edit to say: my apologies for contributing to the off topic of Mulkey in a Big 12 tournament thread.
 
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Looks like Morris didn’t make the trip to Kansas City. Leg injury seems more serious than I originally thought. I really hope this isn’t the end of her career at Texas:(
 
Moooooo said:
It's been so long since we've been the #1 seed that I'd forgotten just how much of an advantage one gets when it comes to the scheduled times of the games.

#8 Tech versus #9 Kansas State will end at 7 PM Thursday night or later (we should all hope for overtime). The winner has to turn around and play Texas at 1:30 PM on Friday; that's like having to play 2 games in 20 hours. I've said this in year's past, but I just don't get why those first 2 games of the tourney aren't started at 11 AM and 1:30 PM on Thursday in order to allow more rest for those teams.

That being said, I'm rooting for Kansas State for so many reasons. I think playing them again after playing them on Saturday makes for an easier game plan and strategy. I hated the way the last few minutes of our game against Tech in Austin was played (and officiated); I don't want that team potentially fouling aggressively at the end of the game and possibly injuring any of our players.

In the other quarterfinal in our part of the bracket, I'd say I'll be rooting for West Virigina to beat Oklahoma State; I think we match up better with the Mountaineers, and I think they have less depth than OSU.

On the other side of the bracket, of course, I'd normally be rooting for the upsets. Assuming #7 Kansas gets by #10 TCU, I will be rooting for the Jayhawks against the #2 Sooners. But, not sure I can root for #6 Baylor to beat #3 Iowa State; but, getting Iowa State knocked out early sends their fans home early and we don't have to deal with their home court advantage if we were to advance to Sunday's final. So, I'm torn. Neither team has a lot of depth, so they would have a tough time winning 3 games on 3 consecutive games just like us. OU not playing any defense probably makes them a more rested team if they advance to Sunday's final. Probably best to get the Sooners eliminated before Sunday.
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I'm hoping that it's K-State. Basketball is about match-ups, and for whatever reason they don't match up as well against tech. Not to mention that they won't have Morris to open things up on the perimeter against their zone. I think it's a close game, maybe even another loss if they play tech. It's all about match-ups.
 
Jacob Johnson said:
Looks like Morris didn’t make the trip to Kansas City. Leg injury seems more serious than I originally thought. I really hope this isn’t the end of her career at Texas:(
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If she didn't even make the trip then it must be serious. I'm thinking she might be done. I sure hope I'm wrong.
 
brnkj said:
If she didn't even make the trip then it must be serious. I'm thinking she might be done. I sure hope I'm wrong.
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Kirk Bohls said on Tuesday that Vic told him he didn't expect Sonya would play in the Big 12 tourney. But that was it. He didn't say she was done for the season. I'm hoping she is actually progressing, but Vic doesn't want to ruin it by putting her in these conference games that mean very little. That will leave her 6 weeks to heal between the original injury and the start of the NCAA's.
 
Born in ATX said:
Kirk Bohls said on Tuesday that Vic told him he didn't expect Sonya would play in the Big 12 tourney. But that was it. He didn't say she was done for the season. I'm hoping she is actually progressing, but Vic doesn't want to ruin it by putting her in these conference games that mean very little. That will leave her 6 weeks to heal between the original injury and the start of the NCAA's.
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Hoping for the best outcome for sure!
 
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