Women’s Bracketology: Where Will the Beavers End Up?

The Pac-12 Tournament is now in the rear view, and most other conference tournaments finished or close to wrapping up, it’s time to take one last look at where Oregon State stands headed into Selection Sunday Monday. In the last month, the Beavers have gone from being well outside the postseason picture to being solidly assured of a spot in the tournament. Here’s what the prognosticators are saying.

ESPN - 9 Seed

The Beavers have been inching their way up Charlie Creme’s ESPN brackets, but now seem to be pretty steadily set as a 9 seed. That puts them on the level of ESPN’s other 9 seeds; Florida State, North Carolina, and South Dakota State. ESPN currently has them meeting 8 seed Syracuse in the first round, The other 8 seeds in ESPN’s lineup are Iowa State, Marquette and Oklahoma State, so those are a few more names we could see the Beavers facing.

College Sports Madness - 8 Seed

College Sports Madness is even higher on the Beavers, bumping them up to an 8 seed over the weekend. Also at that level according to CSM are Florida State, Iowa State and Syracuse. College Sports Madness has the Beavers taking on North Carolina in the first round; with Marquette, Michigan State, and South Dakota State as the other nine seeds Oregon State could potentially be lined up against.

The Next - 11 Seed

Russell Steinberg at The Next is a little bearish on the Beavers, having them as only an 11 seed in his latest bracket. That puts Oregon State at the same tier as Houston, Mississippi State, and Rice. The Next has the Beavers facing 6 seed Georgia Tech in the first round, but the other six seeds OSU could potentially meet are Alabama, Northwestern, and South Dakota State.

Real Time RPI - No Tournament Bid

We’ll wrap things up with the bleakest projection. Real Time RPI has the Beavers missing the tournament field all together. This is far from surprising; Real Time RPI is 100% math based, and Oregon State’s math is not good. The Beavers are currently ranked 72nd in the nation by RPI, not good enough for an at large bid. This result seems unlikely, the NCAA’s selection committee will probably take the Beavers momentum over the last month into account. This is clearly a very different team then the one that played in December. Still, something to keep in the back of your mind.

Those are all of the bracket projections I’ve been able to track down. Personally, I think the Beavers will end up with a 9 seed, but I’d love to hear your comments below. We’ll find out where exactly Oregon State ends up during the NCAA’s Selection Show on Monday, March 15th. It will be broadcast at 4:00 PM PT on ESPN.