All Four Oklahoma Schools Make Women's NCAA Tournament

The Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Oral Roberts basketball teams all heard their names called on Monday evening's Women's NCAA Tournament Selection show.

And not only is it a big deal for each school to be included in the Big Dance, it's also the first time all four Oklahoma schools have ever made it in the same season.

The Sooners and Cowgirls were already expected, but Tulsa and Oral Roberts' conference tournament victories over the weekend solidified the first-time accomplishment.

The best the state had previously done was three teams – OU, OSU and ORU – in 2007 and again in 2008. TU made the tourney for just the second time in school history; the other being in '06.

The first team announced was the Golden Hurricane, who drew a No. 16 seed for a first-round matchup against No. 1 seed Stanford in the Spokane, Wash. region on Sunday 4:20 p.m. Tulsa (17-16, 8-8 CUSA) will face Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. The Golden Hurricane locked up an automatic bid over the weekend by defeating Central Florida in the Conference USA championship game. TU has won five consecutive games heading into the postseason.

The second team announced was the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. OSU received a No. 7 seed and will face 10th-seeded DePaul in Durham, N.C. in the Norfolk, Va., regional. If OSU wins the first round it will likely face top-seeded Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. OSU went 21-10 and 9-9 in conference play and lost in the Big 12 tournament semis against No. 1 Baylor by just eight points. The Cowgirls face the Blue Demons on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The Sooners were awarded a No. 6 seed and will face 11th-seeded Central Michigan in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday at 10:10 a.m. The best news for OU (22-10, 11-7 Big 12) is it made the Oklahoma City regional and will return home if it qualifies for the Sweet Sixteen. Sherri Coale's team qualified for the tournament for the 15th-consecutive season.

Oral Roberts was the last announced and the Kevi Luper-led Golden Eagles earned a No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 seed Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Eagles (18-12, 13-5 Southland) won the conference tournament in their first season in the Southland Conference to earn the automatic bid.

The Big 12 was well represented as usual. Iowa State, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas and Baylor join the Cowgirls and Sooners in the Dance.

For fans interested in attending games, the Oklahoma City regional might be the most appealing. The regional features defending national champion Baylor and Brittany Griner, who received the top overall seed in the tournament. The No. 2 seed is Tennessee. The No. 3 seed is UCLA, who OU will have to get past in order to play in back in OKC.