The chances of Arizona women’s basketball participating in the NCAA Tournament remain favorable.
Head coach Adia Barnes was not thrilled about the concept of participating in the new Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament a few weeks ago, regardless of whether it would offer a young Arizona Wildcats squad a better chance to advance. She believes that once you’ve experienced the NCAA Tournament, returning is not an exciting idea. It appears that she won’t have to worry about that as of right now.
Whatever happened in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game on Sunday, the Wildcats were going to come out on top. Stanford may claim victory if they overcame the regular season and tournament winners. If USC prevailed, they might claim to have given the tournament winners two of their three most difficult games during the final week of competition.
It was an enormous accomplishment to just be able to play in the Pac-12 and finish above.500 overall and nearly.500 in league play. The league was loaded even if the Wildcats hadn’t experienced problems with depth.
Based on all indicators, the Pac-12 was the best league in the country this season. Not only is there consensus present, but unanimity, regardless of the criteria used, which includes NET, RPI, ELO, and even human surveys.
Starting by examining schedule’s greatest advantages is a smart idea. After the games on March 11, Arizona has the second-highest SOS in the country. All of UCLA was superior to the Wildcats. Pac-12 teams played eight of the top ten games and six of the top schedule strengths. All 12 teams in the league were ranked in the top 18.
In addition to nonconference schedules, the strength of the other teams in the conference had a major role in those positions. Arizona led the nation with 19 Quad 1 games played. This indicates that although the Wildcats played in the highest echelon of difficulty in 59 percent of their games, they were still able to win more than half of them and force a number of other elite teams to lose. The teams that defeated them had a NET average of 21.Since Pac-12 play ended, the Wildcats have moved up and down in the NET rankings. Out of the four league teams that were deemed to be on the bubble prior to the event, they are currently ranked No. 35, which is second. Although Washington State is ranked No. 29, the Cougars’ problems and the loss of Charlisse Leger-Walker will probably damage them. Although it’s a horrible way to lose out on a bid, personnel availability is one of the committee’s selection factors. To make a strong case for hosting the preliminary rounds two years ago, Arizona was required to provide documentation demonstrating that Cate Reese will participate in the competition. Washington and California were the other two league teams that were in the running. This season, Arizona went 2-1 versus the Huskies and swept the Golden Bears. It would seem to matter as head-to-head is a selection criterion. Cal trails both teams by a significant margin at No. 59 in NET, which also favors the Wildcats. Why is it important to know how Arizona compares to the other conference members? If the top league only received six spots, there would be a lot of controversy considering that lower-ranked leagues may receive up to nine.
