Why Jeff Mittie thinks K-State women have ‘good case’ to host NCAA Tournament games

Kansas State women’s basketball players Ayoka Lee and Gabby Gregory were able to keep things in perspective after the Wildcats lost to Texas 71-64 in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament earlier this week.

Rather than sulk about the defeat, they chose to look at the bigger picture.

“Even after the loss,” Lee said, “we put ourselves in a good position to continue to be playing this season.”

“Everything we want is still in front of us,” Gregory added. “So we’re going to get after it.”

Indeed, the most important part of the season is coming up next for the Wildcats, who have won more than enough games to be considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

Nobody in the K-State locker room will be sweating on Selection Sunday. But there will be some intrigue associated with the announcement. The Wildcats are hoping to host first-and-second round games at Bramlage Coliseum next week. Only the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament are designated as hosts. Have they done enough to earn that distinction?

For now, that topic is up for debate. K-State was not among the top 16 teams when the selection committee shared its final seed preview near the end of the regular season. But the Wildcats, who have won 25 games, have beaten Texas Tech and West Virginia since then.

The Wildcats also have a NET ranking of 14, which could help their cause when they are compared to other teams this weekend.

But ESPN projected K-State as a No. 5 seed in the Spokane, Washington sub-regional on Tuesday morning. So maybe the Wildcats need some help to move into the top 16.

In any case, K-State coach Jeff Mittie thinks his team has done more than enough to host games in the NCAA Tournament. There is no doubt in his mind that the Wildcats are one of the top 16 teams in the country.

“When I look at our victories, and I’ve looked at some of the projected stuff, Iowa looks to be a 1 or 2 seed. We’ve got a road victory there,” Mittie said. “We’ve got a road victory over Texas, who right now is kind of in that same boat. We’ve got a road victory at Baylor. I think we have a lot on our resume that a lot of people don’t have.

“This league has been very good. So I think that the overall body of work that we have put together is pretty good. Because of the unbalanced schedule in the Big 12, we played two games versus Texas, two games versus Oklahoma, two games versus Kansas, two games versus Iowa State.

“When you factor in the unbalanced schedule and you play seven of those games without Ayoka Lee, you see how dominant she was, I think we’ve got a good case.”