South Carolina and Texas look like two of the best teams in the country in women's college basketball. Each one is in the top five of the latest AP voting, each with a pass to secure the number one seed in the NCAA tournament, both rank very nationally on offensive and defensive metrics.
However, the Gamecocks and Longhorns finished the regular season with an identical 15-1 record in Southeastern Conference play. South Carolina defeated Texas in Columbia, and the Longhorns then revenge on Austin's Gamecock.
So there was a tiebreaker protocol when deciding who would win the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, which begins later this week in Greenville, South Carolina. Some meetings have several steps and metrics before making way for accidental and fate to decide on sowing. For example, there are five in ACC Tie break scenario Used for soccer. It's in the Big Ten Several parameters are laid out There's also a basketball tournament.
On the other hand, the SEC has a two-stage process when two teams tie occurs above the ranking.
- Direct results
- Winning records for two teams and number one seed (and 14 seed if necessary)
that's it. And the meeting quickly moved to the third option as South Carolina and Texas did not lose to other SEC games.
Yes, really. Here's how it unfolded on Sunday:
As expected, South Carolina celebrated while they felt Texas had been taken away. Specifically, Longhorns coach Vic Schafer was plagued by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey's claim that he practiced a coin flip for two hours.
“So what was he practicing? Was he practicing so that South Carolina could lift his head and Texas would be facing him?” Schafer told the Associated Press. “I mean, why do you have to practice for two hours? What are you trying to achieve?”
Using a coin flip to determine the number one overall seed in the 2025 Power 4 Conference Tournament feels at least lazy. There are many qualifying and statistics that can be used to determine the outcome.
Instead, here are some scenarios that the SEC could have used to understand this:
- Overall record (Texas wins)
- Winning margin (South Carolina wins)
- Record against Quad 1 opponent (South Carolina wins)
- Winning rate against the top 100 teams in the net (Texas wins)
But instead of doing all that math, Sankey and the SEC did their best. They all paid attention. They turned simple coin flips into television views. For a few minutes on Sunday, the SEC ordered consideration. Women's basketball fans tweeted about the coin flip, and the radio host had rants about it.
Certainly, it simply makes more sense.
So the mission was accomplished, Mr. Sankey.
But if you really want to drive your next rating, don't settle for a coin flip. Give a free throw contest or a game of horses between two teams tied together at the top. Online sportsbook runs the betting line.
Of course, Dawn Staley would have been my favourite.
Maybe Coinflip revealed how it was supposed to be after all.
