KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It seems as though every time Mark Campbell steps off the floor after a game these days, the TCU women's basketball coach is asked about something his team has accomplished for the first time in school history.
Twenty-eight wins and counting, the most ever for the Horned Frogs. The Big 12 regular-season championship, the first title of any kind in any league for them since 2010, when they were still playing in the Mountain West.
Campbell and Co. would like to add another first this week: Big 12 Tournament champions.
The eighth-ranked Horned Frogs are the No. 1 seed when the tournament opens Wednesday with a quadruple-header at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. But thanks to conference expansion, they are among the top four seeds that received double-byes, which means TCU won't have to step on the floor until the quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon.
“We're going to go there and see if we can cut the nets down,” Campbell said after clinching the regular-season title over the weekend. “But this league is so doggone good. It's one-and-done. You win, you stay. You lose, you go home.”
More than just a Big 12 title is riding on the outcome, too. The Horned Frogs could climb to a No. 2 seed for the NCAA tourney with a good showing in the conference tournament, while an early loss could drop them to a No. 3 or 4 seed.
“There's a committee out there that studies you all season, but our body of work — that's 31 games. We're 28-3. This group hasn't had a bad loss, which is really hard to do,” Campbell said. “The body of work speaks for itself. This is one of the best teams in college basketball. So now you get to go and compete in Kansas City and see if you can win another championship, another title.
“This group is hungry,” he added. "They have a chip on their shoulder. They've had a chip on their shoulders all season.”
No. 17 Baylor earned the second seed, No. 21 Oklahoma State the third and No. 16 West Virginia the fourth seed, so those three will join the Horned Frogs in enjoying a couple of extra days of rest before playing their quarterfinals Friday.
No. 20 Kansas State, which spent time in the top 10 this season, struggled down the stretch and fell to the No. 5 seed. The Wildcats will open against the BYU-UCF winner in the second round Thursday, while No. 7 seed Iowa State — a top-10 team in the preseason Top 25 — will likewise begin play in the second round against the Cincinnati-Arizona State winner.
Arizona and Utah also earned byes. The Wildcats will play Colorado or Houston and the Utes will play Kansas or Texas Tech.
The semifinals are Saturday night and the championship game is Sunday.
“I don't know what to expect,” said Arizona coach Adia Barnes, whose team will join Arizona State and Utah in playing in the Big 12 Tournament for the first time. “It's a different season. If you have momentum and you're playing good, you'll keep playing.”
TCU'S title
The Horned Frogs (28-3, 16-2) clinched the regular-season title with a 51-48 win over Baylor on Sunday. It continued a massive turnaround for TCU, which started 14-0 last season before injuries spoiled everything. At one point, the Horned Frogs were down to six scholarship players and ran tryouts just to have enough players to survive the season.
“We always have something to prove,” TCU guard Madison Conner said. “All of us are new here. We're a unique group. None of us has been here for a long time. So we have goals set out for this team and we want to prove everybody wrong.”
K-State's star
Kansas State's late-season struggles coincided with the loss of star forward Ayoka Lee to a foot injury in January. She returned recently against Kansas but only played a few minutes before feeling discomfort again. So, the Wildcats are expected to hold her out of the Big 12 tourney to make sure Lee is healthy enough to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa State's roll
The Cyclones opened the season 10-6 and lost two of their first three Big 12 games. But coach Bill Fennelly's team caught fire over the past month, winning six of their last seven games, including an 85–63 rout of the Wildcats this past weekend.
“I feel like we're peaking at the right time,” Iowa State forward Addy Brown said. “Coach says we want to peak at the end and this is the end, and as long as we keep trending up, we're going to see good results.”
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