Why TCU women’s basketball is worthy of a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament | Opinion
After defeating Baylor for a third time to capture the program’s first Big 12 Tournament title, TCU sent a message to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The Horned Frogs (31-3) deserve to be a No. 2 seed in the tournament and it’s not hard to see why. Entering Sunday, most bracketologists had the Horned Frogs as a No. 3 seed.
That would be good enough to host first and second-round games in Fort Worth, but the Horned Frogs’ resume indicates they should be higher.
ESPN’s Charlie Creme, CBSSports’ Connor Groel and analytics site HerHoopStats.com all had TCU as No. 3 seed behind Notre Dame, North Carolina State and LSU.
The Horned Frogs own head-to-head wins over North Carolina State and Notre Dame, but let’s focus on the Wolfpack’s resume.
Before TCU’s win over Baylor, the Horned Frogs were eight spots ahead of North Carolina State in the NCAA Net Rankings. How about Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins?
The Horned Frogs are 8-3 in Quad 1 games and a 5-0 in Quad 2 games. The Wolfpack finished 8-6 in Quad 1 games after being defeated by Duke in the ACC Tournament final and 3-0 in Quad 2 games.
That’s right, TCU has a better NET, more Quad 1 and 2 wins plus a head to head advantage yet why does it feel like so many have capped the Horned Frogs’ ceiling at a 3-seed?
After Notre Dame’s loss in the ACC Tournament semifinals, Creme took to Twitter and said: “No seed change for Notre Dame. The Irish are still a 2-seed, but they are now No. 7 overall, passed by NC State. Duke still a No. 3 seed.”
That left many TCU fans puzzled including new athletic director Mike Buddie, who took to Twitter with a question for Creme and the other experts.
“Charlie…. What more does TCU need to do? Go 30-3?” Buddie tweeted. “Beat ND on neutral court? Beat NC State? How do you have TCU behind two teams they defeated??? Asking for a friend.”
Notre Dame’s resume also doesn’t stand up when you hold it side by side with TCU. The Fighting Irish have 15 combined Q1/Q2 wins, but nine of those are Q2 wins.
The Horned Frogs also beat the Fighting Irish on a neutral court and won their conference tournament while Notre Dame didn’t reach the final.
TCU also has a case over LSU as the Horned Frogs have a higher NET ranking and more Q1 wins than the Tigers plus a conference tournament title.
Only one major outlet had TCU as a 2-seed before Sunday and that was NCAA.com’s Autumn Johnson, who had TCU on the 2-line with NC State, Notre Dame and UConn.
But maybe the third win over the Bears will be enough to change the minds of more experts. It may not seem like a big deal as the Horned Frogs will still host games and will likely face one of the named teams regardless if they’re a 2 or 3-seed.
But the NCAA Tournament is all about matchups and a No. 2 seed likely means a better matchup. There’s a huge difference between facing UConn or Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen, but it’s also about the principle.
The body of work has to matter regardless of program history or branding. TCU has a better resume and has shown it’s a better team than Notre Dame and North Carolina State. Horned Frogs head coach Mark Campbell was optimistic that things would work out in TCU’s favor with seeding.
“I believe there are current teams like Notre Dame and NC State ahead of us, I don’t totally get how that works,” Campbell said. “But we don’t have a bad loss on our schedule in 34 games. I know there’s a committee out there that works really hard at trying to get it right.
“I believe the committee will get it right. We’ve handled our business. There’s not many teams that have won their league title, have won the conference tournament and don’t have a bad loss on their resume.”
In the hours after TCU’s win, Creme finally said on ESPN2 that TCU would move up to a No. 2 seed in his next projections.
The NCAA Tournament selection committee must do the same come Selection Sunday.
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM.
