Sooners fair well on Selection Monday
Thoughts after Oklahoma landed the No. 1 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
(By the way, that’s every bit as good as it sounds for the Sooners.)
* OU is headed to Iowa City, which is a bit of a surprise.
“We weren’t thinking that,” Sooner coach Sherri Coale said after her team watched the selection show at her Norman home. “We were thinking somewhere south, maybe Albuquerque or Lubbock, but it doesn’t matter.”
That’s true. But with temperatures expected in the 70s and 80s in this part of the world, it would’ve been nice to stay south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Temperatures in Iowa City are expected to be in the 50s and 60s over the weekend, with lows in the 30s.
Got to pull those sweaters out one last time.
* The Sooners need to put the woes from their Big 12 Tournament loss to Texas A&M behind them, and it sounds as though they’re working on it.
“We tried to exercise some demons these last couple of days,” Coale said. “Contrary to popular belief, Connecticut wasn’t the only team that practiced today.”
That was a total dig at the Huskies, and Coale knew it. She and UConn coach Geno Auriemma are long time buddies, so her comment was meant in fun.
Still, the national love for the Huskies is too sugary sweet. In its selection show, ESPN fawned over the fact that everybody’s No. 1 was practicing right before the selection show. The network had a live look-in at the practice, and the announcers sounded in awe over what they were seeing.
It’s almost too much to stomach.
Speaking of that …
* Auriemma said during the selection show that hearing all the praise for his team was almost enough to make him sick.
We know the feeling.
“Geno hit it on the head — anybody who’s watching anywhere in America is so sick of Connecticut they could throw up,” Coale said. “He said it himself; he’s almost sick enough to vomit.”
The Huskies are great, maybe even a team for the ages, but all the praise is a bit much.
“If you’ve got to beat them five times, you might be in trouble,” Coale admitted. “But basketball is a really special sport. That’s why this tournament is a focal point for everybody in America. Every office in America is paying attention to what happens in March because anything can happen.”
* Coale didn’t seem the least bit upset about the Sooners potentially have to play Iowa on its home court in the second round. That is due, in part, to the fact that she got a behind-the-scenes look at the process earlier this year.
“I had the opportunity to go through the (NCAA) mock bracketing process back in February,” she explained. “At that particular time, it looked like we could end up in Duluth (Ga.) and maybe Georgia would be there. We talked about that scenario … and I understand that there is a dual purpose to what we’re trying to do here.”
The first purpose is to stage a fair and equitable championship.
The second, Coale said, is to grow the sport of women’s basketball.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” she said of her team being sent to Iowa City. “I don’t think it’s unfair. I don’t think it’s inequitable. I think it’s part of the process, and I think the committee’s doing a wonderful job of trying to grow our game.”
* Courtney Paris and her guarantee of a national championship were front and center during the selection show.
Her father, Bubba, also made an appearance. During a recent interview with ESPN, he said that this was OU’s year and that if the Sooners didn’t win, it was on Coale. (I suspect he got revved up and said what he did in fun, but still, it’s a soundbite, and we’re all going to hear it throughout the tournament.)
“My dad is crazy,” Courtney Paris said. “He’s a funny guy.”
Let the madness begin.
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