THE BIG 12 BASKETBALL WHIP-AROUND…
As you probably know by now, the Kansas Jayhawks have won the Big 12 Title for the 2019-2020 regular season. That’s their nineteenth title for those wondering. This year, It wasn’t won without any fierce competition, that’s for sure. The Baylor Bears put together one of their greatest regular season campaigns in school history, but wound up just short of Kansas, as many have over the years. The cornerstone victory for the eventual conference champions came on February 22, when Kansas traveled to Waco and knocked the Bears off their top-of-the-conference perch. In the following weeks, Kansas would only distance themselves further from BU.
The top spot in the conference, however, is not the only rank that matters. Big 12 tournament seeds and NCAA tournament bids were all on the line with last weeks results.
How did it wrap up?
Saturday’s games began with West Virginia’s upset of Baylor, followed by Kansas’ victory over Texas Tech. Those results sealed the Jayhawks sole claim to the regular season conference title.
That left Texas vs. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma vs. TCU to decide seeds 3-6 in the Big 12. All the Longhorns needed was a home win over the Cowboys to take third in the conference and almost guarantee a spot in the big dance. Oh boy. Didn’t take long for those hopes to fall flat at the Erwin Center. The Mountaineers upset over Baylor, along with the blow out in Austin, solidified Texas, West Virginia and Texas Tech at 9-9 in the conference.
A win in Fort Worth would give the Sooners the 3-seed, a loss the 6-seed. Despite trailing by 18 at the half, and by 10 points with only 3:20 left in the game, Oklahoma rallied to a two-point victory on the back of a 41-point performance by Austin Reeves. It all came down to this last-second bucket by the man of the match:
Just like that, all four teams finished with a .500 record in the conference. Here is the rule determining seeds from there:
"Results from the collective head-to-head competition during the regular season among the tied teams in a mini round-robin format, ranking the tied teams by winning percentage from highest to lowest will be used to determine the seeds."
https://big12sports.com/sports/2011/6/22/1520897.aspx?path=mbball
The tiebreakers are implemented such that Oklahoma grabs the third seed, Texas gets the fourth, Texas Tech fifth, and West Virginia drops to six.
Now, what’s at stake for each team in the conference tournament?
(Bracket via Big12Conference on twitter)
-Baylor & Kansas: Both are likely to be 1-seeds in the NCAA tournament, with KU most likely to be the top overall seed.
-Oklahoma: With their victory over TCU, they are just about locked-in to the NCAA tournament. A run in the conference tournament could put them as high as an 8-seed, but most likely they will be 9 or 10.
-Texas: After blowing their big chance on Saturday, it now looks that Texas has to take down Texas Tech in Kansas City to feel good about their chances to make the NCAA tournament. A loss to the Red Raiders would probably leave Texas praying for a play-in game on selection day.
Read more thoughts on Texas' NCAA Tournament chances from Dustin's piece this morning:
https://texas.forums.rivals.com/thr...c-ncaa-bracket-thoughts.464340/#post-13665224
-Texas Tech: CBS Bracketology has both Texas and Texas Tech in the “First Four Out” category. Thursday’s contest between UT and TTU will, almost certainly, leave the loser out to dry.
-West Virginia: The Mountaineers huge win against the Bears greatly improved their standing, boosting them as high as a 7-seed in some brackets. A win over OU in Kansas City could jump them up even higher.
BURNT ORANGE BEYOND THE BRIGHT LIGHTS…
A weekly drive down the road less traveled, beyond the three major men’s sports.
(Photo via TexasSoftball on twitter)
-The story of the weekend on the forty acres very well might’ve been Miranda Elish’s impeccable perfect game for Texas Softball against New Mexico on Sunday. The performance happened to be Elish’s second perfect game (First was while she was at Oregon) and third no-hitter of her college career (second while at Texas).
While Elish was terrific, striking out 10 of the 21 batters she faced, perfect games rarely happen without fielding heroics. In the sixth inning, Tuesday DerMargosian stepped up to carry the torch in centerfield with this play:
That was close to dropping in… quick feet and a good glove save perfection. On the offensive side, the Longhorns put 7 runs across the plate. There was no worry of letting the Lobos get back into the game, Elish was only concerned with sitting every one of them down, which she proceeded to do with the final help of Shannon Rhodes:
Longhorn softball has now won 6 in row and improve to 24-3 on the season.
-No. 6 Women’s Tennis kicked off the week with a thrilling victory over No. 15 Michigan. The Turati twins got back into their groove, winning their doubles game as well as both individual singles matches. The Longhorn pair of Adri Nagy and Tijana Spasojevic took their doubles match as well to give Texas the 1-0 lead. They would go on to win 4-2 over the Wolverines.
Next up for the ladies was the beginning of conference play. The Longhorns hosted West Virginia and Iowa State over the weekend and dusted both teams 6-1. They’ll resume Big 12 play in Lawrence, Kansas on March 20th.
-Longhorn Men’s Tennis, currently ranked third in the nation, took on No. 43 Tulane, Tulsa and Rice over the weekend. Texas beat all three challengers by wide margins, but the victory over Tulane was no easy task. Earlier in the season, Tulane had blanked No. 20 Mississippi State in Starkville. The Longhorns took that one 5-2, and beat both Rice and Tulsa by a score of 6-1.
The upcoming schedule for Texas only gets tougher as No. 9 Columbia travels to Austin, then the Longhorns go on a California road trip where they’ll face No. 1 USC and No. 15 Harvard.
-Texas Women’s Basketball took the expected loss in Waco last Tuesday, but they bounced back with a 63-52 win over Oklahoma State. That was good enough to solidify the three-seed in the conference tournament. In that position, the path to gaining a better seed in the big tournament looks very doable. Current ESPN bracketology has them as a 10-seed.
(Bracket via Big12Conference on twitter)
-No. 1 Ladies Golf did not have their best week, granted they were playing a very tough course in Hilton head, South Carolina for the Hootie, or, excuse me, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. They finish 36-over on the tournament, only 7 strokes back of second place, but No. 7 Wake Forrest ran away with the whole thing at only 3-over.
-Texas Soccer kicked off the spring season with a win over Monterrey at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Friday. Next, the 1-0 Longhorns will travel to Houston to take on the Houston Dash FC.
Events upcoming, and featuring in the next edition of Beyond the Bright Lights:
As you probably know by now, the Kansas Jayhawks have won the Big 12 Title for the 2019-2020 regular season. That’s their nineteenth title for those wondering. This year, It wasn’t won without any fierce competition, that’s for sure. The Baylor Bears put together one of their greatest regular season campaigns in school history, but wound up just short of Kansas, as many have over the years. The cornerstone victory for the eventual conference champions came on February 22, when Kansas traveled to Waco and knocked the Bears off their top-of-the-conference perch. In the following weeks, Kansas would only distance themselves further from BU.
The top spot in the conference, however, is not the only rank that matters. Big 12 tournament seeds and NCAA tournament bids were all on the line with last weeks results.
How did it wrap up?
Saturday’s games began with West Virginia’s upset of Baylor, followed by Kansas’ victory over Texas Tech. Those results sealed the Jayhawks sole claim to the regular season conference title.
That left Texas vs. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma vs. TCU to decide seeds 3-6 in the Big 12. All the Longhorns needed was a home win over the Cowboys to take third in the conference and almost guarantee a spot in the big dance. Oh boy. Didn’t take long for those hopes to fall flat at the Erwin Center. The Mountaineers upset over Baylor, along with the blow out in Austin, solidified Texas, West Virginia and Texas Tech at 9-9 in the conference.
A win in Fort Worth would give the Sooners the 3-seed, a loss the 6-seed. Despite trailing by 18 at the half, and by 10 points with only 3:20 left in the game, Oklahoma rallied to a two-point victory on the back of a 41-point performance by Austin Reeves. It all came down to this last-second bucket by the man of the match:
Just like that, all four teams finished with a .500 record in the conference. Here is the rule determining seeds from there:
"Results from the collective head-to-head competition during the regular season among the tied teams in a mini round-robin format, ranking the tied teams by winning percentage from highest to lowest will be used to determine the seeds."
https://big12sports.com/sports/2011/6/22/1520897.aspx?path=mbball
The tiebreakers are implemented such that Oklahoma grabs the third seed, Texas gets the fourth, Texas Tech fifth, and West Virginia drops to six.
Now, what’s at stake for each team in the conference tournament?
(Bracket via Big12Conference on twitter)
-Baylor & Kansas: Both are likely to be 1-seeds in the NCAA tournament, with KU most likely to be the top overall seed.
-Oklahoma: With their victory over TCU, they are just about locked-in to the NCAA tournament. A run in the conference tournament could put them as high as an 8-seed, but most likely they will be 9 or 10.
-Texas: After blowing their big chance on Saturday, it now looks that Texas has to take down Texas Tech in Kansas City to feel good about their chances to make the NCAA tournament. A loss to the Red Raiders would probably leave Texas praying for a play-in game on selection day.
Read more thoughts on Texas' NCAA Tournament chances from Dustin's piece this morning:
https://texas.forums.rivals.com/thr...c-ncaa-bracket-thoughts.464340/#post-13665224
-Texas Tech: CBS Bracketology has both Texas and Texas Tech in the “First Four Out” category. Thursday’s contest between UT and TTU will, almost certainly, leave the loser out to dry.
-West Virginia: The Mountaineers huge win against the Bears greatly improved their standing, boosting them as high as a 7-seed in some brackets. A win over OU in Kansas City could jump them up even higher.
BURNT ORANGE BEYOND THE BRIGHT LIGHTS…
A weekly drive down the road less traveled, beyond the three major men’s sports.
(Photo via TexasSoftball on twitter)
-The story of the weekend on the forty acres very well might’ve been Miranda Elish’s impeccable perfect game for Texas Softball against New Mexico on Sunday. The performance happened to be Elish’s second perfect game (First was while she was at Oregon) and third no-hitter of her college career (second while at Texas).
While Elish was terrific, striking out 10 of the 21 batters she faced, perfect games rarely happen without fielding heroics. In the sixth inning, Tuesday DerMargosian stepped up to carry the torch in centerfield with this play:
That was close to dropping in… quick feet and a good glove save perfection. On the offensive side, the Longhorns put 7 runs across the plate. There was no worry of letting the Lobos get back into the game, Elish was only concerned with sitting every one of them down, which she proceeded to do with the final help of Shannon Rhodes:
Longhorn softball has now won 6 in row and improve to 24-3 on the season.
-No. 6 Women’s Tennis kicked off the week with a thrilling victory over No. 15 Michigan. The Turati twins got back into their groove, winning their doubles game as well as both individual singles matches. The Longhorn pair of Adri Nagy and Tijana Spasojevic took their doubles match as well to give Texas the 1-0 lead. They would go on to win 4-2 over the Wolverines.
Next up for the ladies was the beginning of conference play. The Longhorns hosted West Virginia and Iowa State over the weekend and dusted both teams 6-1. They’ll resume Big 12 play in Lawrence, Kansas on March 20th.
-Longhorn Men’s Tennis, currently ranked third in the nation, took on No. 43 Tulane, Tulsa and Rice over the weekend. Texas beat all three challengers by wide margins, but the victory over Tulane was no easy task. Earlier in the season, Tulane had blanked No. 20 Mississippi State in Starkville. The Longhorns took that one 5-2, and beat both Rice and Tulsa by a score of 6-1.
The upcoming schedule for Texas only gets tougher as No. 9 Columbia travels to Austin, then the Longhorns go on a California road trip where they’ll face No. 1 USC and No. 15 Harvard.
-Texas Women’s Basketball took the expected loss in Waco last Tuesday, but they bounced back with a 63-52 win over Oklahoma State. That was good enough to solidify the three-seed in the conference tournament. In that position, the path to gaining a better seed in the big tournament looks very doable. Current ESPN bracketology has them as a 10-seed.
(Bracket via Big12Conference on twitter)
-No. 1 Ladies Golf did not have their best week, granted they were playing a very tough course in Hilton head, South Carolina for the Hootie, or, excuse me, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. They finish 36-over on the tournament, only 7 strokes back of second place, but No. 7 Wake Forrest ran away with the whole thing at only 3-over.
-Texas Soccer kicked off the spring season with a win over Monterrey at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Friday. Next, the 1-0 Longhorns will travel to Houston to take on the Houston Dash FC.
Events upcoming, and featuring in the next edition of Beyond the Bright Lights:
-Swimming & Diving:
- NCAA Zone "D" Diving Meet (3/9-3/11, Dallas, Texas)
- NCAA Indoor Championships (3/13-3/14, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
- T-town Showdown in Tuscaloosa (3/13-3/15)
- vs. No. 9 Columbia (3/14, 12:00 p.m., Austin, Texas)
- vs. Yale (3/14, 3:00 p.m., Orlando, Florida)
- @ UCF (3/15, 2:00 p.m., Orlando, Florida)
- Big 12 Tournament (3/13-3/15, Kansas City, Missouri)
- @ Houston Dash (3/14, 2:00 p.m.)
