At-Large Possible?

The Lady Tigers officially locked up sole possession of third place in the ASC East standings Thursday night with a sweep of LeTourneau. That puts ETBU into its ninth straight conference tournament next weekend over in Irving at Southwest Park.

Question of the day for ETBU is this -- at 23-13 heading into Saturday's season finale twinbill against Ozarks at Taylor Field, have the Lady Tigers put themselves in position for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens next week?

Fact 1: Lady Tigers have wins over teams that were ranked No. 1 (UT Tyler) and No. 2 (Louisiana College) at the time. ETBU also has a win over Washington-St. Louis, which was ranked in the Top 25 at the time.

Fact 2: ETBU has been ranked or receiving votes in the NFCA Top 25 several times this season, most recently this week. The Lady Tigers have been ranked as high as No. 19.

Fact 3: ETBU plays in arguably the toughest conference in the nation, top to bottom. There are four teams with legitimate arguments (UT Tyler, Louisiana College, ETBU and Mary Hardin-Baylor) for NCAA postseason spots and another (Concordia Texas) with at least 25 wins on the bubble. And last season, three ASC teams: tourney champion Hardin-Simmons, East champion Mississippi College, and tourney runnerup Louisiana College, were given bids to the NCAA postseason.

Fact 4: The regional will be held just down the road at UT Tyler, a mere stone's throw for ETBU. As always, the NCAA is nothing if not cost-conscious when determing at-large bids or seeding, as fans of the Lady Tigers who have short memories can remember (2004).

Now here are some of the negatives:

Fact 1: The Lady Tigers have lost at least 13 games heading into the tournament, a high number for an at-large bid.

Fact 2: Since opening the season 9-1, the Lady Tigers have gone just 14-12. That's not exactly what you'd call a steamroll.

Fact 3: ETBU didn't win its division within the conference, finishing third.

Fact 4: You have to figure UT Tyler and LC are in, no matter what happens next week. If the ASC is to duplicate its three-team NCAA invite from last year, it most likely will come down to ETBU or UMHB unless something really crazy happens at the conference tournament. And remember, UMHB has a win over ETBU in the teams' only meeting so far this season, back at the First Pitch Tournament.

Since I'm giving my opinion on the blog, here's what I would think: it would be great for ETBU to finish the regular season with 25 wins, first. A loss to Ozarks -- although the Lady Eagles nearly swept UT Tyler Thursday night up in Clarksville -- would hurt the Lady Tigers' argument even further. Winning streaks are great for confidence and they also are very noticeable on the stat sheet.

I also think ETBU can improve its chances with a win or two at next week's conference tournament. The Lady Tigers have proven they can play with and even beat the nation's best the last couple of weeks. Catch lightning in a bottle for three days next week, and we won't even be talking about at-large bids. But I think ETBU must win at least one game to further enhance its argument.

The biggest plus for ETBU are those two wins against UT Tyler and LC. No one else in the country has victories over No. 1 and No. 2, at any time. The Lady Tigers have at least put themselves in position to be in the discussion, and that's a good thing.