Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: Select Seven Representing in NCAA

By Mike Siroky

The best conference in women’s basketball, the Southeastern, placed seven in the 38th NCAA elimination tournament. Three of the top four seeds are the teams with 30 wins.

No. 1 seeds: Mississippi State (Portland);  Louisville (Albany); Notre Dame (Chicago); Baylor (Greensboro). 

UConn is No. 2 in the final poll, ahead of No. 5 Louisville as the other team with 30 wins. This is where the Magic 8 Ball logic starts, No. 2 in America but behind someone else in the NCAA view.

One of the reasons we keep calling it the best conference is that Select Seven, along with the idea two of the nationally seeded league teams were one-and-done in the league tournament, another first.

 Another NCAA home team lost an upset in the semifinals.

Upstart Arkansas found winning 20 and making the conference tournament final were not enough because of the quality of the league.

 For the first time in all 38 NCAAs, a 20-game winner and conference finalist was found unworthy by the Magic 8 Ball logic of this year’s Selection Committee.

 They change the rules with every season.

By the way, only us real basketball nerds will recall the Louisville coach is suspended one tournament game for comments he made on NCAA officiating after the loss to Mississippi State in the  previous Final Four. 

The NCAA statement: He “directed inappropriate comments and profane language toward committee members and NCAA staff seated at the scorer’s table.”

And, it doesn’t matter what the whacky Cremeologist of ESPN thought.

 He simply followed the AP poll for his top “selections.” 

Anyone can cut-n-paste the Top 16. He is as reliable as an ouija board. If you use him as your pick-em guide, you have already lost.

He had the order wrong on several of them and had dismissed Tennessee as even getting in by January.

 He didn’t acknowledge the strength of the SEC champ until the last week of the season. He is one reason coaches can claim fake news.

The election Committee put both UConn and Louisville in the East, which guarantees there will be a new Final Four.

 UConn remains the favorite.

It is likely only one SEC team has a six-game run left in them. Those that start at home have the usual chance of being in the Sweet 16, a first goal.

We will report every night an SEC team plays.

So, here we go:

No. 1 seed,  Mississippi State, Portland

As strange as it is, even with the run to two straight National Championship games, all the individual and program awards, Mississippi State achieved yet another first with this year’s bid. 

It is the first automatic bid in program history. 

Maybe that is why the NCAA made the Bulldogs wait for the automatic bid to make them a top seed.

Ever since the conference went to the money ball tournament in the post-season, only validating its importance by making the tournament winner the automatic bid winner, has Mississippi State finally won that. 

The conference nationwide did the same, trying to explain the reason a compressed tournament week is more important than a full season run.

It is not, of course. 

But conferences gain more money by making the players push themselves one week more.

 Purists recognize it’s the season that is more important.

 Athletic directors and school presidents recognize it is the money gained from a few more games that is important.

State is likely the fourth No. 1. 

That means their No. 2 is Oregon, the best of the No. 2s.

That is one of the two teams State lost to this season.

The Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring margin (28.3) and have the No. 2 scoring offense (86.1).

 They top the SEC in field goal percentage (49.2), assist/turnover ratio (1.3), assists (16.6), rebound margin (12.9) and offensive rebounding (17.3).

Magnificent Mississippi State warmed up in practices all week.

 One of the leadership leftovers from the conference tournament was senior Jazzmun Holmes getting mad when coach Vic Schaefer let them skip a shootaround to rest after a travel day.

She got angry at me, Schaefer said, and they talked about it.

 Everything was OK.

 But it showed him how much his system had become part of her life and how she continued the theme they are not yet satisfied.

Her job is to feed the monsters inside. It was noticed in the post-game ceremonies when she joined Teaira McCowan and Anriel Howard on the all-tournament team.

A coast-to-coast flight gets them to Portland after the opening round. 

Forget the guff about geography used in past seedings. 

Greensboro is closer than Portland for State and Portland is closer than Greensboro for Baylor, the alleged No. 1 of everyone.

Before booking a Sweet 16 hotel, State welcomes 20-12 Southern to StarkVegas.

  The winner gets the South Dakota-Clemson survivor.

  Clemson is coached by a former Florida coach. The Selection Committee gave State a break by not putting another conference team in its bracket.

“We’ve still got a lot in front of us,” Schaefer said. “We feel the same way about the NCAA Tournament as we feel (about the SEC Tournament). We’re going to go try and win it.”

They did not cut down the nets after the first SEC tourney title. They were given them. Perhaps the message is the team is working on unfinished business.

Schaefer did not put up with the ESPN monkey business on the reveal. As a result, he was the

only coach of a top seed not interviewed by the network.

Just an insult. He did not mention it.

As for his team, he said the joy of McCowan is “We can play through her, not just to her. She is not a dead end in the middle.

“She is a great passer. She can see the floor well. She knows where those kids are supposed to be. That’s another piece we’ve just added, offensively.”

As he continues to move up the coaching food chain, Schaefer has been named as  an assistant to the World University Games team.  He also was named the ESPN women’s coach of the year.

The USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee, chaired by George Washington head coach and former UConn All-American Jennifer Rizzotti, is responsible for selecting the coaching staff, which is approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors and pending approval by the United States Olympic Committee.

“I am very honored and humbled to have the opportunity to represent the United States of America, across the world in competition,” Schaefer said. “Being the son of a full colonel in the United States Army, I have a tremendous appreciation for the red white and blue along with this great country. To have the opportunity to be a coach on a team representing this country is the ultimate, for me, as a coach and a competitor.”

This competition is for players with college eligibility left.

This is the start of the national ladder for anyone who wants to be an Olympic coach. These Games also take place every four years in the one immediately preceding the Olympics.

There a plenty of worthy non-seniors in the SEC alone.

McCowan achieved her first All-American status on the path to being a consensus in Division 1.

 The ESPN women’s division announced first. 

Still to come are the Associated Press, United States Basketball Writers, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, among others. 

She won her state’s Gillom ward, emblematic of a combination of academics and athletics as a player of the Year. 

She is also one of four finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year.

Schaefer is one of four coaches nationally in contention for Coach of the Year.

This is the first time in a decade both State basketball teams are in NCAA tournaments.

 

No 4 seed Texas A&M, Chicago

The magician got an all-sophomore lineup to an eighth SEC tournament semifinals without his best player, league leading scorer Chennedy Carter. 

Her sprained finger is all better now. 

She was actually cleared to play on Selection Day. They referred to it as “availability players” in their metrics.

They are the last of three conference teams to host an opening round.

It will be a different team in the NCAA eliminations. 

They left the stitches in until selection day. They removed the cast on Tuesday so she could start individual workouts. 

It is spring break on campus. 

Not everyone worked out over the weekend.

They are blessed with a shot at two games at home, starting with Coach Gary Blair wanting to work on limiting turnovers. 

He was especially focused on the 26 in the tournament semifinal loss. 

“There is no excuse not to make seven out of eight shot,” he said.

 “When momentum changes, sometimes you cannot stop it. As coaches we put all of that on us. You don’t blow a 17-point lead. I wanted to get to 60 first. We didn’t. That’s on the coaches.”

Just by getting to the semifinals, he said, helped the NCAA seed them in the Top 16. 

“It showed we are not a one-player team, which was important for us,” he said.

 Also important is having a university representative on the Selection Committee, though this is her last year there.

The traditions of the SEC and the Aggies’ play in it has made his team a certainty for the elimination games, which allows him to enjoy a selection party with the home fans.

As he points out, not every SEC team this year scheduled a gathering because they were not sure if they were getting in. 

His team had confidence, calmly preparing.

Among the players he praised is senior Lauren Davidson, in Aggieland for two seasons after a start at Texas Tech.

 “They were so welcoming when I came in,” she said. She has at least one home game left.

They open with Wright State, which played nobody of significance in a 27-6 season. 

The winner gets the winner of Marquette vs. Rice. 

The top seed in the Regional is defending National Champ Notre Dame.

Both A&M and Wright State had viewing parties on campus for the “reveal.”

Then the dunderheads at ESPN posted the bracket early, so everyone knew who was in and where they were going two hours before the lame cablecast. 

When you sell your broadcast rights to an uncaring company, you take your chances.

 ESPN even staged “surprise” reactions to the announcement two hours late

.

ESPN apologized for the leak within the hour.

“In working with the NCAA to prepare for tonight’s Women’s Selection Special we received the bracket, similar to years past,” ESPN’s prepared statement said.

 “In the midst of our preparation, the bracket was mistakenly posted on ESPNU. 

“We deeply regret the error and extend our apology to the NCAA and the women’s basketball community. We will conduct a thorough review of our process to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.” 

So, ha.

Wright State was not deterred.

“We want to go and be competitive,” senior guard Mackenzie Taylor said. “We're not just satisfied.”

“We're going to the NCAA tournament. We’re going wherever they tell us to go,” fellow-senior Emily Vogelpohl said with a laugh.

 

No. 4 seed South Carolina, Albany

The Gamecocks are in Louisville’s bracket with No.2 UConn.

 The Huskies destroyed them in the regular season, the former Olympic Coach still tutoring his successor.

But that is two games away.

Even in the midst of one of the greatest eras, the Gamecocks have renewed enthusiasm after one-and-done in the SEC tournament.

 It interrupted a Gamecock presence on the all-tournament team.

With coach Dawn Staley, they have at least 20 wins for the eighth straight season.

 The Gamecocks have played in the NCAA Elite Eight three times in the past four seasons, including winning the 2017 National Championship over conference rival Mississippi State.

They lost in the Regional final to UConn last season. 

They have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 129 consecutive weeks, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation. 

The Gamecocks finished in the top two of the SEC for the sixth straight season and played down to the last game for the league regular-season title.

 After opening the season 4-4, South Carolina won 13 of its next 14 to climb as high as No. 11 in the poll.

 All eight of the Gamecocks' losses have been to teams ranked in this week's top 25 with an average RPI of 13.

The new offense had 10 different Gamecocks lead the team in scoring at least once -- nine in SEC games.

 Eight have scored 15 more more points in an SEC game at least once. Five Gamecocks averaged double-figure points in SEC play this season.

Guards Te'a Cooper and Tyasha Harris feed Alexis Jennings. 

Neither Cooper (Tennessee) nor Jennings (Kentucky) started their careers at SC. 

Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton are superior freshmen.

Senior Bianca Cuevas-Moore needs 17 Points to reach 1,000 in her career.

Tyasha Harris needs one more assist to move into the program's all-time top five.

Harris is one of five finalists for the point guard Lieberman Award to be issued at the Final Four.  She is the only SEC finalist.

The Gamecocks start 100 miles away from home because the men’s tournament bumped them. It is another evaluation of men’s vs. women’s basketball that the women are always bumped.

South Carolina opens with Belmont on Friday morning. 

That’s where the current Florida coach established the team. They also went head-to-head with Kentucky a few seasons ago.

Also in the Gamecocks’ home bracket are Florida State and Bucknell.

“I’m happy,” coach Dawn Staley said. “We were just waiting after we lost prematurely in our SEC tournament, so you just never know.”

They did move up to 15th in the final poll, so the Selection Committee had an easy placement as a Top 16 host team.

“In the SEC, our body of work showed we were worthy. Everyone at our university did their part. We put ourselves in a position to play at the highest level,” Staley said.

 

No. 6 seed Kentucky, Greensboro

Coach Matthew Mitchell, co-coach of the league, was stunned when the Kats went one-and-done in the league tournament. 

It cost them a hosting position in the NCAAs.

He has recovered his balance.

The top Regional seed is Baylor. There are three SEC teams in this Regional, an NCAA first.

The Kats open with Princeton. 

The winner gets whoever survives between host N.C. State and Maine.

It will have been 15 days between games.

“For this particular team, this particular year, I think it’s really good for us,” Mitchell said. “Coming down the stretch, we were playing tough, tough games, we were trying to position ourselves.

“ (The last) five games, in a real grind, I thought had depleted us a little bit from an emotional standpoint and an energy standpoint.

“We were able to get three days off, completely off, from basketball and school, it was spring break,” Mitchell said. “I thought that was great (for the team).”

Freshman Rhyne Howard blazed across the nation as she did in the SEC. ESPN has selected her as nation al Freshman of the Year.

Senior guard Maci Morris has been named one of national finalists for the  Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award which annually seeks to honor the nation’s top shooting guard. 

Mississippi State guard Victoria Vivians won last season.

 

No. 7 seed Missouri, Greensboro.

Basketball purists get to see attack dog Sophie Cunningham at least one more game.

 Her teams have not lasted long in the NCAAs. She has ratcheted back her WWE-style play for weeks.

 She smiles brightly and pretends to not get it when she is booed. 

But she is also that player you hate when she in on the opposite bench and would embrace if she was one of yours.

So it is sad she is done playing on her home stage already. 

Missouri opens with Drake.

The Tigers would likely get No. 2 seed Iowa next on the Hawkeyes’ home court. Drake upset then No. 13 South Carolina and lost to LSU in their 27-5 season.

 

No. 10 seed Auburn, Chicago

Slowly, coach Terri Williams-Flournoy has built a national footprint without many steps in any NCAA tournament. 

A couple of NCAA wins is the next major steps. 

They open at Stanford against No. 7 seed BYU, with No. 2 seed Stanford hoping to survive No. 15 seed UC Davis.

What is motivation is they were not one-and-done in the SEC tournament. 

Then they lost on a shot with five seconds left to Texas A&M, a second two-point loss in the series.

“(It was) definitely a winnable game,”  Williams-Flournoy said. "We turned them over 26 times. Offense was the problem. We didn't score enough points off those turnovers. 

“The offense in the second half was bad."

So that is what they worked on in the off week, that coach’s dream of concentrating on her own team, without knowing whom the NCAA would select for them to go against next.

Now for the intense game-planning and inhaling knowledge about the Cougars.

“I’m so happy for our team," Williams-Flournoy said. “I'm very excited to be heading out to California; it's going to be great. We don’t really know too much about BYU at this point; we'll get the film and get to work.

“The one thing we’ve been talking about since the start of the season is building a ‘Team of Excellence.’

“ We didn't want to talk about going to the NCAA Tournament. We knew if we built a ‘Team of Excellence,’ doing the right things, getting wins, that would get us to the NCAA Tournament.”

According to the NCAA, Auburn and Tennessee were among the final teams selected in a group of seven, both on strength of schedule in the toughest conference in America. 

Indiana eked out the difference, by the way, in what eliminated Arkansas.

 

 No. 11 seed Tennessee, Albany

This is redemption for Holly Warlick, dissed all season by ESPN.

 The network said they were out of the NCAAs in January, of course they were not. They are not the Tennessee of legend. No one is.

Warlick basically lost her center to a bum knee, not having her at full strength is when the slide began.

 But superior sophomore Evina Westbrook emerged not only as a leading scorer, but also as team facilitator Warlick has lacked for several seasons.

Don’t forget Te’a Cooper fled this team. What a difference she could have made.

A smaller off-team loss was when the local newspaper eliminated the women’s basketball beat in a continued downsizing. 

It affects the team and recruiting when there is not local coverage. Tennessee has had that since 1979.

 Notre Dame is among other national programs without a beat writer, for the same reasons. 

Tennessee’s local newspaper, for instance, did not even preview the game at South Carolina.

Tennessee is a road warrior now. 

They need one win to make 42 seasons in a row with at least 20.

“We are very excited to be competing in our 38th consecutive NCAA Tournament and look forward to our match-up with UCLA on Saturday,” Warlick said. “Our young team has continued to be resilient and bounce back when faced with adversity this season, and I'm happy that they’ve earned this bid. 

“Our challenging non-conference schedule combined with the toughness of the SEC proved to be beneficial when it came time for the committee to make some tough final decisions. We're grateful for the opportunity." 

Using the “young team” crutch early is a bad vibe. 

Tennessee can demonstrate the weird charisma of being able to win every game and lose every game.

Maryland, the host team, gets Radford in the other opener.