Coach Karen Aston’s American Athletic Conference-leading UTSA Roadrunners will shoot for their 15th straight win at home today. Tipoff against Memphis is at 2 p.m.
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Coach Karen Aston’s UTSA Roadrunners have always dreamed of playing in the NCAA tournament, but not until this season have they won enough games through the middle of February to be regarded as the favorite in their own conference to claim a coveted bid.
In the last two years, the Roadrunners have made enough noise to this point in the season that they entered the NCAA discussion. But never have they achieved so much with five games remaining in the regular season to claim status as the team to beat.
UTSA hopes to burnish its reputation even further today.
Winners of 21 of 24 games on the season and 14 of their last 15 overall, the first-place Roadrunners host the Memphis Tigers at 2 p.m., wondering in the back of their minds what it would really feel like to see the name of their school in the 68-team NCAA bracket next month.
On one hand, they are faced with the here and now. The Roadrunners nearly lost at Memphis last month, winning 70-68 with a frantic fourth-quarter rally, so they know how hard it will be to beat a team like this for the second time in 32 days.
Then again, as far as the rest of the world in NCAA Division I women’s basketball is concerned, UTSA is in the driver’s seat in the American Athletic Conference. According to ESPN, the Roadrunners are favored to claim the AAC’s automatic bid into the 68-team field.
But here’s where it gets complicated. There are two avenues into the NCAA bracket, the automatic and the at large bid. For UTSA, the automatic is the one avenue upon which it can go about its usual business and control its own destiny.
If they stay hot and keep winning, and they win the AAC tournament in Fort Worth next month, they get the auto bid and the ticket to the Big Dance. Anything less than that, however, it’s a slippery slope toward being left out.
For instance, if the Roadrunners win the regular season title, claim the No. 1 seed in the AAC tournament and then lose in the finals, their fate will be in the hands of an NCAA committee to decide if they are deserving of an at-large bid.
At the moment, if the ESPN analysis is correct, it appears the second-place South Florida Bulls might be the conference’s only hope of snagging one of the at-large spots. The Bulls are the only team in the American on a list of teams ranked just outside the field of 68. They’re ranked 73rd.
Earlier this week, Aston was asked if she was coaching her team as if she believed it needed to sweep to the AAC postseason title to earn its way into the NCAA tournament, and she declined to comment directly, implying that she might have something to say on that front in about 10 days.
So, stay tuned.
Records
Memphis 6-17, 4-8
UTSA 21-3, 12-1
Coming up
Memphis at UTSA, today, 2 p.m.
UTSA at Rice, Saturday, Feb. 22, 4 p.m.
UTSA at Tulane, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Saturday, March 1, noon.
UTSA at East Carolina, Tuesday, March 4, 5 p.m.
(End of regular season)
AAC standings
(Women’s basketball)
UTSA 12-1, 21-3
South Florida 10-2, 17-8
North Texas 10-3, 18-7
Tulane 8-4, 15-8
Temple 8-5, 14-10
Tulsa 6-6, 12-12
UAB 6-7, 15-10
Rice 5-7, 12-12
East Carolina 5-8, 13-12
Memphis 4-8, 6-17
Charlotte 3-9, 8-15
FAU 2-10, 10-15
Wichita State 2-11, 8-18
Saturday’s games
Charlotte at East Carolina, 1 p.m.
South Florida at FAU, 1 p.m.
Memphis at UTSA, 2 p.m.
North Texas at Tulsa, 2 p.m.
Rice at Wichita State, 2 p.m.
Temple at Tulane, 3 p.m.