Power 4 Conference Tournament Roundup and Recap
NCAA Conference Tournament season is one of the best parts of college sports. The regular season is always important, but the conference tournaments are where dreams are realized. Winning your conference tournament means your team wins an auto-bid into the NCAA Tournament, or the Big Dance as it’s affectionately called. This is where the best teams flex their dominance, or an unknown Cinderella team will pull off a string of upsets and shock everyone. Here’s a recap of the Power 4 Conference Tournaments.
ACC Tournament (Champion: Florida State)
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Despite all the conference realignment, the ACC remains one of the top women’s soccer conferences in terms of depth. Four teams were ranked in the Top 10 of the national rankings, and those four teams made it to the semifinals with no major upsets.
North Carolina took on arch-rival Duke and would have their revenge after losing to them twice in the regular season. The Tar Heels upset the ACC tournament No. 1 seed with a come-from-behind win, scoring twice in the second half to win 2-1. In the other semifinal, Florida State would also avenge a loss from earlier in the season.
Wake Forest had defeated the Seminoles by a resounding 4-1 scoreline, but Florida State managed to force a 1-1 tie before winning in a penalty shootout, 3-1. The two prominent ACC programs squared off in the final, with Florida State asserting their dominance and winning a fifth straight ACC Tournament title. Taylor Huff and Wrianna Hudson scored less than five minutes apart in the second half to take control and win the final. This win makes Florida State all the more dangerous as they look to repeat as National Champions.
Big 10 Tournament (Champion: UCLA)
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The new Big 10 was a big change for everyone involved as a portion of the West Coast combined with the Midwest for the first time. The conference became incredibly deep across the board, with six teams ranked in the Top 25.
Penn State is a ranked team that somehow managed to finish tenth in the conference standings, highlighting how competitive the Big 10 was this year. There were some upsets in the quarterfinals and semifinals, which made the tournament even more exciting. Rutgers upset Michigan State in extra time, 2-1, following it up with an even bigger upset. The Scarlet Knights took out the No. 1 seed, the USC Trojans, in a penalty shootout. On the other side of the bracket, the Washington Huskies defeated a ranked Iowa team to face UCLA in the semifinals.
UCLA was dubbed the best team in the Big 10 in the preseason and fulfilled that prophecy by handling Washington 2-0 and then stomping Rutgers 5-0 in the final. The Bruins showed why they’re the best of the best, making it look easy and giving them the best chance of anyone to dethrone Florida State.
SEC Tournament (Champion: Texas)
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The SEC saw plenty of change, with Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas joining as new members. Texas was the only new member to qualify for the SEC Tournament, which saw a few upsets. Overall, it was still a great year for the SEC, with five teams ranked in the Top 25. The biggest surprise was that both Mississippi State and Arkansas did not make it to the final as the two best teams in the conference.
Texas and South Carolina pulled off upsets but with different results. Texas outlasted Arkansas with a 2-1 win in the second extra time, but South Carolina stunned Mississippi State, beating them 3-0. They just edged South Carolina in the final with a game-winner from Carly Montgomery in the 79th minute. Texas superstar Lexi Missimo provided the crucial assist as Texas captured their first SEC Championship. Could this be the year they make their breakthrough as a soccer program and get to the College Cup? Time will tell soon.
Big 12 Tournament (Champion: Kansas)
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Conference realignment impacted the Big 12 the most regarding its overall depth. By season’s end, TCU and Texas Tech were the only ranked teams in the Top 25, with West Virginia on the cusp of the rankings and BYU not too far behind. Amidst the chaos, an underdog emerged and went on a magical run to steal a bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Enter the Kansas Jayhawks who were 5-5-3 on the season as of October 10. The Jayhawks got hot at just the right time. It’s not about how you start the year but how you finish. Kansas won their last four games of the regular season, and by the time they reached the Big 12 Tournament, they were playing their best soccer.
The Jayhawks won four games in a little over a week with a 2-1 win over Arizona State, a 1-0 extra time win over West Virginia, a 2-1 upset over ranked Texas Tech in the semifinals before shocking No. 1 seed TCU in the final 1-0. Kansas isn’t flying under the radar anymore, so whoever matches up against the Jayhawks had better be careful.
Featured image via @nolessoccer
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