Why the door isn’t completely shut on TCU women’s basketball making the NCAA Tournament

TCU women’s basketball will play postseason basketball, it’s just a matter of which tournament the Horned Frogs will be able to qualify for after the Big 12 Tournament this week.

It may be easy to assume that TCU’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament are slim after a rash of injuries took out the team’s best players for significant portions of the schedule, but there still remains a possibility that the Horned Frogs (19-10, 6-12) can steal an at-large bid with a strong showing in Kansas City.

With leading scorers Sedona Prince and Madison Conner back in the lineup, TCU won four of their final five regular-season games. Despite missing significant time, Conner still broke TCU’s single season record for 3-pointers while Prince leads the team with 20.9 points and 10.4 rebounds.

After the Horned Frogs defeated Houston 59-49 on Feb. 24, ESPN analyst Charlie Creme weighed in on TCU’s chances.

“It would be better if they had another game against one of the upper echelon teams in the conference before the end of the regular season,” Creme said. “That makes the Big 12 tournament huge for TCU. Perhaps no team in the country has more to prove or showcase in their conference tournament.”

No pressure, right?

There’s optimism around the program that TCU could make the field without capturing the conference tournament title. How exactly would that work?

The first step is beating No. 8 seed Oklahoma State in the Horned Frogs’ opening round game at 1 p.m. Friday. That won’t be easy as Oklahoma State defeated TCU 67-59 on Jan. 6, but Prince missed the game.

That would set that stage for a massive quarterfinal game against top-seeded Oklahoma, the Sooners are also ranked in the top-20. The Sooners beat TCU 72-55 without Prince and Conner on Feb. 7.

If the Horned Frogs are able to knock off the Sooners, the hope would be No. 4 Iowa State or No. 5 Baylor would reach the semifinals for another marquee win opportunity. If all these things go in TCU’s favor, a win in the title game over potentially No. 2 Texas or No. 3 Kansas State might not be necessary.

Why? Because the committee is supposed to take into account injuries and will have to weigh the fact that the Horned Frogs were 16-2 in the regular season when Conner and Prince played and the hypothetical run in Kansas City where TCU would’ve upset three of the Big 12’s best.

That may be too much to ask of a team that will still be without starting point guard Jaden Owens to make this type of run in Kansas City, but if there’s one thing the Horned Frogs have shown this season, it’s how the team won’t back down from daunting odds even with their backs to the wall.

So whether it’s the NCAA Tournament or the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, TCU will be competing for a postseason title and that alone is enough to consider this season a success.