What to watch
NCAA Women's BasketballSelection Special
•6 tonight, ESPN (Cox 29)
Danielle Green and the Cowgirls await word on where and who they will play in the NCAA Women's Tournament. Selections are to be announced today BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Sites to behold
Women's first- and second-round sitesSaturday/Monday (March 22 and 24)Albuquerque, N.M: The Pit (18,018)
Baton Rouge, La: Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,394)
Des Moines, Iowa: Wells Fargo Arena (16,110)
Stanford, Calif.: Maples Pavilion (7,392)
Sunday/Tuesday (March 23 and 25)
Bridgeport, Conn.: Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard (10,000)
College Park, Md.: Comcast Center (17,950)
Norfolk, Va.: Ted Constant Convention Center (8,639)
West Lafayette, Ind.: Mackey Arena (14,123)
A bracket location that leads to Oklahoma City.
It's Selection Monday for the women, with the NCAA Tournament bracket due to be revealed at 6 tonight live on ESPN.
For the Cowgirls and Sooners, the selection process isn't about getting in, but going where, both initially and beyond. Both crave a spot in the Oklahoma City Regional, which would offer a chance – with first- and second-round wins – to reach the Sweet 16 at the Ford Center.
The thought is so appealing to OSU coach Kurt Budke, he'd gladly take a lower seed just for the opportunity.
"I'd rather be a 6 and have a chance to come to Oklahoma City,” said the Cowgirls coach.
One of the teams is all but assured of a spot in the Oklahoma City Regional. The NCAA is intent on increasing attendance in the women's tournament and geographical placement will be an emphasis.
There's also the possibility that both are placed on a path to the Ford Center, although each team's seed must allow it. The No. 4 and 5 teams in a region, most commonly projected for OSU and OU, would be on track to collide in the third round, which is one round sooner than NCAA rules allows for same-conference squads.
But there are other factors involved as well, most notably the integrity of the bracket.
Teams are ranked through every seed, with the lowest No. 2 paired with the highest No. 1, and so on.
So rigging the bracket to feature both state schools in the Oklahoma City Regional is out of the question. Still, differences in teams are often small. Geography could be a tiebreaker.
"We're still going to do the best we can to try to get everybody as close to their campus as possible,” committee chair Judy Southard said during a teleconference last week.
"And a lot of it depends on the makeup of the bracket and how many teams from each geographical location are landing along each seed line.”
Remember, too, that Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M, among others, also fit the geographical description this year.
"There will definitely be two Big 12 teams in the Oklahoma City Region,” said ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme, "but it won't just be blindly the two Oklahoma schools. One of them probably will be there though.”
So if it is just one, which one might the NCAA favor to boost attendance downtown?
There are arguments for each.
The Sooners have the better history of fan support, ranking third nationally in attendance with an average of 10,000-plus a game. OU fans flooded the Cox Center for the
