After losing at South Carolina on Sunday to finish a grueling stretch where Ole Miss lost three of four games in a seven-day span, Coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin hoped her team wouldn’t get penalized by pollsters and bracketologists.
“I hadn’t seen any other team get punished after losing to South Carolina, so hopefully we don’t, and that’s for who needs to hear it, you know? … So if we move, I’m going to be shocked,” McPhee-McCuin said. “Obviously, the next two games are very important to us. I don’t think we can afford to drop those.”
While Coach Yo made a compelling case for the Rebels to project as a top 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the numbers simply disagree with her.
In USA Today Sports’ latest bracketology, Ole Miss is projected to be the 19th overall seed, firmly on the five-line.
Now, Coach Yo is right in one regard: The Rebels’ next two games are important. They can’t afford to lose to teams like Florida and Texas A&M who are not projected to be in the field of 68. And despite her complaints about the SEC Tournament, Ole Miss likely needs to win a game or two in Greenville, South Carolina, next week to bolster their chances of securing a top 16 seed for the first time since 1992.
“I do believe that we can make a run in March,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I’m not gonna let my team sit around and sulk. … You know, anybody who counts us out can’t count.”
Here’s USA Today Sports’ projection of the entire field of the NCAA Women’s Tournament as of Wednesday, Feb. 25:
Fort Worth 1
Storrs, Connecticut
1 UConn
16 Farleigh Dickinson / Howard
8 Oregon
9 Illinois
East Lansing, Michigan
5 Ole Miss
12 Gonzaga
4 Michigan State
13 Miami Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
6 Texas Tech
11 Syracuse / Mississippi State
3 Louisville
14 Green Bay
Iowa City, Iowa
7 Tennessee
10 Virginia
2 Iowa
15 Idaho
Sacramento 2
Los Angeles, California
1 UCLA
16 Cal Baptist
8 Iowa State
9 Princeton
Lexington, Kentucky
5 Minnesota
12 Troy
4 Kentucky
13 Louisiana Tech
Durham, North Carolina
6 Baylor
11 Columbia
3 Duke
14 Vermont
Nashville, Tennessee
7 NC State
10 Fairfield
2 Vanderbilt
15 High Point
Fort Worth 3
Columbia, South Carolina
1 South Carolina
16 Alabama A&M / Chattanooga
8 Washington
9 Villanova
College Park, Maryland
5 West Virginia
12 Richmond / Virginia Tech
4 Maryland
13 UC Irvine
Norman, Oklahoma
6 USC
11 Rhode Island
3 Oklahoma
14 Western Illinois
Ann Arbor, Michigan
7 Georgia
10 Clemson
2 Michigan
15 Navy
Sacramento 4
Austin, Texas
1 Texas
16 Eastern Kentucky
8 Nebraska
9 Oklahoma State
Columbus, Ohio
5 North Carolina
12 San Diego State
4 Ohio State
13 Murray State
Fort Worth, Texas
6 Alabama
11 Rice
3 TCU
14 McNeese
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Notre Dame
10 North Dakota State
2 LSU
15 Charleston
Bubble Watch
Last Four Byes: Villanova, Princeton, Virginia, Clemson
Last Four In: Syracuse, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Richmond
First Four Out: Colorado, Arizona State, South Dakota State, Stanford
Next Four Out: Utah, Kansas, Cal, James Madison
Clemson and Virginia each of them notched signature Quad 1 wins on Sunday. The Cavaliers went into Louisville and hung on to a two-point victory thanks to Romi Levy’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds left. Hannah Kohn sank a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give Clemson the edge over Duke, snapping the Blue Devils’ 17-game win streak.
Virginia now has two Quad 1 wins and Clemson has three. In Shawn Poppie’s second season with the Tigers, they’ve reached double-digit wins in ACC play for the first time since the 2000-01 season. That’s also the last time the Tigers defeated both NC State and Duke in the same season.
There are a few other bubble teams who could use marquee wins, but the opportunities are waning. Arizona State has a chance to get one on Sunday when it travels to Texas Tech. That would go down as the Sun Devils’ first Quad 1 victory of the season.
Both Arizona State and Colorado will likely need multiple victories in the Big 12 Tournament to improve their resumes.