THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MARCH 13. 2012
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The Big 12 in the last six years has been by far the best women's basketball conference top to bottom."
PAGE 7
- Texas A&M coach Gary Blair (Big12sports.com)
Nine of the 10 Big 12 women's basketball teams finished above .500 in both conference play and overall record.
Big12sports.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Who was the last team to defeat Baylor?
A. Texas A&M in the 2011 Elite Eight on its way to the championship.
Big12sports.com
THE MORNING BREW What makes the Big 12 so unique
The Big 12 is generally accepted as the best and strongest conference in women's basketball. It is led by Baylor, a team that boasts a perfect 34-0 record and Brittney Griner, the frontrunner for National Player of the Year honors. Behind the Bears, you have Texas A&M, the defending national champion that has another good chance to go far in the NCAA tournament. Several teams from the Big 12 will go to the tournament and a couple more will make the WNIT for almost whole-conference participation in postseason play.
But the strength extends past the statistics and records. It extends past the All-Americans and national titles.
I believe the strength of a conference comes from the relationships between the players, coaches and programs. This has been strikingly true this season in Big 12 women's basketball.
The season started with bickering from Baylor coach Kim Mulkey and Texas A&M coach Gary Blair. With the Aggies leaving the conference, someone asked Mulkey if she would continue the Baylor-Texas A&M rivalry that has become one of the best in the nation.
"If a man wants to divorce me," Mulkey
said, "and says our relationship has no value to him, and then he asks me if he can sleep with me, the answer is no."
A couple speakers later, Blair quipped back that "it takes two to tango" and he would play anybody, anytime if it positively affected his team's RPI and recruiting.
These two have continued to go back and forth throughout the season, providing an underlying and entertaining story line.
However, the hostility quickly faded when just less than a month later, Oklahoma State coaches Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna died in a plane crash while on a recruiting trip. The Kansas women's basketball team attended the services along with other teams from across the conference and country. Since then, each coach has worn a small pin with an orange four on it
honoring Budke, Serna and the other two victims of the crash. This tragedy presented a unique challenge for the conference as the teams battled between sympathy and the importance of continuing the season in a somewhat normal fashion.
These teams showed up to support each other because they cared. Kansas junior guard Angel Goodrich grew up in Tahlequah, Okla., and attended Oklahoma State camps growing up, so she was especially passionate about attending the services. On the men's side, Kansas coach Bill Self stepped forward and offered his conidences as a former player and coach at Oklahoma State.
This is why geographical proximity is so important to the conferences and was the biggest loss through realignment. There are so many factors that bring teams and people together that go beyond the court. These teams have a history and a mutual respect that will hopefully not be lost or forgotten, but will inevitably fade when the competition ceases.
Now that conference play has closed and eyes turn to postseason play, Blair spoke up again. This time he announced after his team's 78-63 victory against Kansas that he wanted to lobby for the Jayhawks into
the tournament. This once again shows the mutual respect and support that exists in this conference. The teams look out for each other.
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson commonly refers to conference play as a roller coaster. This season has been a perfect example, from the hostility at the beginning to the unity they showed through tragedy and to the final, hopeful rallies of allies. That doesn't even touch on the many other story lines, such as Carolyn Davis' story. She suffered a season-ending ACL injury but was still voted Actor Team All-Big 12.
This conference has shown strength and resiliency throughout the season, but it's not over yet. The best way to end this roller coaster would be a national championship for one of the teams and various awards to individuals, but most importantly, to maintain the honor and respect they have shown this season.
This week in athletics
Edited by Max Rothman
Tuesday There are no athletic events today.
Wednesday There are no athletic events today.
Thursday
Men's Basketball
Detroit
TBA
Omaha, Neb.
Baseball indiana State Noon San Antonio
Friday
Women's Softball
Missouri
6 p.m.
Columbia, Mo.
Baseball
Notre Dame
Noon
San Antonir
Saturday
Women's Softball Missouri 2 p.m. Columbia, Mo.
Women's Basketball NCAA Tournament TBA Campus Sites
Sunday
Women's Softball
Missouri
2 p.m.
Columbia, Mo.
Baseball
TBA
11 a.m.
San Antonio
Monday
Women's Tennis
Bowling Green
TBA
Las Vegas, Nev.
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