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ESPN’s NCAA women’s tournament expert Charlie Creme currently projects four tourney teams from the Big 12: Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.
Of course, that’s not set in stone. But if it were, Oklahoma would miss the tournament for the first time after reaching it 18 straight seasons, breaking the nation’s fifth-longest streak.
Creme keeps four categories of schools he views on the bubble, too: the last four teams in the tournament, the first four out, the next four out and those moving in.
The Sooners aren’t among any of those groups either.
Is it time to worry?
“Obviously we don’t want to be the team that stops the streak,” OU graduate
guard Maddie Manning said. “But I don’t think you can think of it as that. Otherwise, you start pressing.”
Which nearly happened earlier this season.
“We’re not thinking about it on a daily basis. I think there for a second people were, when it was really shaky,” Manning said. “Right now we have the confidence that if we go out and play the basketball we know we can play, we’ll be in the tournament.”
The NCAA’s official Ratings Percentage Index has been used by the women’s basketball selection committee since 1984, three seasons after the men started using it, as supplemental data to select at-large teams and seeds for the tournament.
It’s composed using three main data points: how teams fare against Division I opponents (25 percent); how their opponents fare against Division I opponents (50 percent); and how their opponents’ opponents fare against Division I opponents (25 percent).
OU’s had a healthy RPI ranking all season — it’s No. 30 right now — largely because its schedule is ranked No. 2 nationally.
But the Sooners’ NCAA resume was damaged by missed opportunities. They’re 2-10 against teams Creme projects into the tournament field. Some of those games were longer shots — against top-10 programs Oregon, Texas, Connecticut and Baylor.
An overtime loss at De-Paul, a road loss at South Dakota State, and home setbacks to Oklahoma State and TCU were tougher to stomach.
The NCAA selection guessing game might stimulate fans, but OU coach Sherri Coale says she’s she’s not sitting up at night thinking about it.
Her few talks with players about the NCAA tournament have focused on ignoring the projections they might scroll over on social media or see on television.
“You can see a thing and decide to not go there and be invested there, or you can see a thing and decide to go down a rabbit hole. We’ve talked a little bit about that,” Coale said. “Mostly we’ve just talked about, how can we get better today?”
The Sooners have won three of their last four games, including an upset over then-No. 21 West Virginia. OU also took No. 3 Baylor to the wire in Waco.
“I think there was an attitude shift,” Coale said of the Baylor game. “There was a shift in belief.”
OU travels to West Virginia on Saturday, and can reach 17-12 by winning its last four regular-season games. The 2004-05 Sooners made the NCAAs with an identical record.
Such a win streak would mean beating WVU, then Iowa State and Texas Tech at home, and surprising No. 6 Texas in Austin.
That would certainly give the NCAA selection committee something to think about.
“Have absolutely no control over [NCAA tournament talk]. The only thing we can control is how we’re playing right now,” Coale said. “For our guys, we have to be where we are. And this group has done a really good job of continuing to get better.”
Of course, that’s not set in stone. But if it were, Oklahoma would miss the tournament for the first time after reaching it 18 straight seasons, breaking the nation’s fifth-longest streak.
Creme keeps four categories of schools he views on the bubble, too: the last four teams in the tournament, the first four out, the next four out and those moving in.
The Sooners aren’t among any of those groups either.
Is it time to worry?
“Obviously we don’t want to be the team that stops the streak,” OU graduate
guard Maddie Manning said. “But I don’t think you can think of it as that. Otherwise, you start pressing.”
Which nearly happened earlier this season.
“We’re not thinking about it on a daily basis. I think there for a second people were, when it was really shaky,” Manning said. “Right now we have the confidence that if we go out and play the basketball we know we can play, we’ll be in the tournament.”
The NCAA’s official Ratings Percentage Index has been used by the women’s basketball selection committee since 1984, three seasons after the men started using it, as supplemental data to select at-large teams and seeds for the tournament.
It’s composed using three main data points: how teams fare against Division I opponents (25 percent); how their opponents fare against Division I opponents (50 percent); and how their opponents’ opponents fare against Division I opponents (25 percent).
OU’s had a healthy RPI ranking all season — it’s No. 30 right now — largely because its schedule is ranked No. 2 nationally.
But the Sooners’ NCAA resume was damaged by missed opportunities. They’re 2-10 against teams Creme projects into the tournament field. Some of those games were longer shots — against top-10 programs Oregon, Texas, Connecticut and Baylor.
An overtime loss at De-Paul, a road loss at South Dakota State, and home setbacks to Oklahoma State and TCU were tougher to stomach.
The NCAA selection guessing game might stimulate fans, but OU coach Sherri Coale says she’s she’s not sitting up at night thinking about it.
Her few talks with players about the NCAA tournament have focused on ignoring the projections they might scroll over on social media or see on television.
“You can see a thing and decide to not go there and be invested there, or you can see a thing and decide to go down a rabbit hole. We’ve talked a little bit about that,” Coale said. “Mostly we’ve just talked about, how can we get better today?”
The Sooners have won three of their last four games, including an upset over then-No. 21 West Virginia. OU also took No. 3 Baylor to the wire in Waco.
“I think there was an attitude shift,” Coale said of the Baylor game. “There was a shift in belief.”
OU travels to West Virginia on Saturday, and can reach 17-12 by winning its last four regular-season games. The 2004-05 Sooners made the NCAAs with an identical record.
Such a win streak would mean beating WVU, then Iowa State and Texas Tech at home, and surprising No. 6 Texas in Austin.
That would certainly give the NCAA selection committee something to think about.
“Have absolutely no control over [NCAA tournament talk]. The only thing we can control is how we’re playing right now,” Coale said. “For our guys, we have to be where we are. And this group has done a really good job of continuing to get better.”
