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BYU Women’s Basketball: Cougars crack the field in latest Bracketology

By Shaun Gordon

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 01: A 165-foot tall NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket is seen on the JW Marriott Indianapolis leading up to the 2015 Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 1, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The bracket is 44,000 square-feet. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 01: A 165-foot tall NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket is seen on the JW Marriott Indianapolis leading up to the 2015 Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 1, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The bracket is 44,000 square-feet. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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BYU Women’s Basketball is off to a strong start this season, and their unbeaten start in WCC play has landed them a spot in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.

While the men are getting more attention for their rocky season, BYU Women’s Basketball has quietly put together a solid one.

And they’re getting recognition for it, at least by ESPN. In his latest Bracketology released on Monday, ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the Cougars in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

Last week BYU was among the “First Four Out” of his prediction, but two road wins moved the Cougars into the field as one of the “First Four In.”

Right now they’re predicted as a No. 10 seed in the Chicago region, taking on No. 7 seed Miami in Starkville, MS.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that they’re in the field right now based on their resume. They’re 14-3 on the season and 6-0 in West Coast Conference play, giving them a half-game lead over No. 13 Gonzaga. The two unbeaten teams will face off in the Marriott Center this Thursday at 7:00pm MT.

BYU’s RPI is No. 28 nationally, well within the range of teams that would fight for at-large berths, and they’ve taken advantage of a schedule boost due to a slew of improved WCC teams. Four teams have Top 100 RPIs and only two are below 200.

The Cougars beat both Pacific and St. Mary’s on the road last week, and they’re the other two teams with double-digit RPIs in the conference. If BYU can knock off Gonzaga on Thursday they would likely cement themselves in the at-large discussion barring a drastic fall in the last 11 games of the season.

They’ve definitely exceeded expectations to this point. This is a young Cougar team with only two seniors and five total upperclassmen, and as a result they were picked third in the conference’s preseason poll.

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