March Madness: Baylor women to host, men headed to North Carolina
For the 10th time in the last 11 postseasons, both the Baylor men’s and women’s basketball teams are going dancing!
The Baylor women will begin NCAA tournament play on Friday (2:30 p.m., ESPNU) — their 21st straight appearance! — and for the first time, will get to do so at Foster Pavilion! Head coach Nicki Collen’s squad finished the regular season at No. 14 in the AP poll, thanks to a 27-7 overall record (15-3 in Big 12 play) and runner-up finishes in both the Big 12 regular season and conference tournament. Baylor is led by six All-Big 12 honorees, including first-team selection Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and Sixth Player of the Year Yaya Felder, who together extended Baylor’s streak of NCAA appearances — the third-longest active streak in the country, behind only Tennessee (43) and UConn (36).
The Bears will face WAC champion Grand Canyon University in the first round. GCU enters the tournament leading the nation in wins (32) and riding the nation’s longest active winning streak (30). The Antelopes are making their first NCAA tournament appearance after sweeping both the regular season and conference tournament titles. If the Bears win their first-round match-up, they will face either Ole Miss or Ball State on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Tickets are on sale now for all games at the Foster — but they’re going quickly! Baylor students can receive free admission to this weekend’s games by showing their student ID at the Foster Pavilion ticket window starting one hour before tip-off.
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The Baylor men will start their NCAA tournament run Friday in Raleigh, N.C. (11:15 a.m., CBS) as a No. 9 seed against No. 8 seed Mississippi State. The Bears enter the tournament as the No. 35 overall seed (MSU is No. 32). Head coach Scott Drew’s squad has battled through injuries (and one of the nation’s toughest schedules) to compile a 19-14 overall record, 10-10 in Big 12 play. Led by Big 12 Freshman of the Year VJ Edgecombe and first-team All-Big 12 selection Norchad Omier, the Bears are into the tournament for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.
Baylor will face a Mississippi State team that finished 21-12 overall but just 8-10 in the SEC — one of 14 SEC teams to make this year’s tournament. The Bulldogs are led by sophomore guard Josh Hubbard, a second-team All-SEC selection who tops the team in scoring at 18.7 points per game. The winner of the BU-MSU game will likely face No. 2 overall seed Duke on Sunday for a berth in the Sweet 16.
Sic ’em, Baylor men’s & women’s basketball!