wichita state looks to shock the valley

For the first time, Women's March Madness will hit Wichita.

Wichita State will host the first and second round games of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at the all-new Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita. The $205-million building opened on Jan. 2, 2010 and is the largest indoor arena in state of Kansas. First-round games will be played on March 20 and a second-round game is scheduled for March 22.

The new building hopes the Shockers will be playing in the tournament. If that happens, it will Wichita State's first trip to the NCAA tournament in program history.

But right now, the Shockers' chances of going to the Big Dance are slim. They have a 16-13 record with a 122 RPI.

So in order to go the tournament -- and to get a chance to play in front of their home fans -- Wichita State has to do one thing -- win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament this week.

The Shockers will play Creighton at 2:35 p.m. Friday in a first-round game at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Wichita State, the No. 5 seed, has to win the MVC tourney in order to get its first NCAA automatic bid.

New Mexico, Ohio State, Duke, Tennessee, Utah, Gonzaga, Stanford, Penn State, Auburn, Virginia, Xavier, Maryland, Louisiana Tech, Connecticut, Baylor also are hosting first and second-round games. Ohio State, Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Xavier and UConn will get to play their NCAA tournament games at home as they won their respective conference tournament championships. Even though it lost in the Big 10 finals, Penn State will likely play its NCAA tournament games at home. Maryland, which lost in the ACC quarterfinals, will likely get an NCAA at-large bid. Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Utah, Stanford, Baylor are in tournament action this week. Virginia (16-15) and Auburn (15-15) will not play in the NCAAs and are likely headed to the WNITs.

The Shockers also are looking to win the MVC tourney for the first time. They haven't been to the conference finals since 1997.

The MVC women's tournament has a history of upsets. Just ask Northern Iowa (2010), Evansville (2009), Drake (2007), Missouri State (2006) and Illinois State (2005). During the last six seasons, the No. 1 seed won the MVC tournament only once and that was in 2008, when Illinois State placed first in the tournament's first year at the Family Arena.

Last year, Northern Iowa won the tourney as the No. 5 seed. The year before, Evansville won the championship as the No. 9 seed.

On Friday, Wichita State will play a Creighton team that lost the MVC tournament final in three of the last four years. Creighton is the No. 4 seed.

The two teams split their two meetings this season. Creighton beat Wichita State 50-48 on Jan. 29 in Omaha and the Shockers beat the Bluejays 60-51 on Feb. 25.

Wichita State will enter the tournament on a roll. The Shockers have won their last five games, four of those wins were by double digits.

A trip to the NCAA tournament will be a good way to end Morgan Boyd's college basketball career. The only senior on the Wichita State roster, Boyd originally signed with Arkansas before a coaching chance forced her to sign with Middle Tennessee State. But after playing just one game at MTSU as a freshman, Boyd transferred to Arkansas-Fort Smith, where she earned honorable mention NJCAA All-American honors as a sophomore. She joined the Shockers last winter and played in all 33 games.

This year, Boyd is part of a Wichita State team with eight freshmen and sophomores and three juniors. Junior Haleigh Lankster, who is the Shockers' leading scorer at 12.9 points per game, earned all-MVC honors.

Big jump: North Carolina came up short of an ACC tournament championship as it lost to Duke 81-66 in the finals on Sunday.

But the Tar Heels have the biggest jump among the top 25 teams this week, moving up five spots from No. 19 to No. 14. North Carolina beat Clemson, Florida State and Miami in the first three rounds before losing to Duke in the ACC tournament and will take a 26-8 against Kennesaw State on Sunday as a tune-up game for the NCAA tournament next week.

Welcome aboard, Buckeyes and Jackets: After winning the Big Ten tournament title last week, Ohio State received another reward -- a spot in the top 25.

The Buckeyes are 22-9 after beating Iowa, Michigan State and Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. It's Ohio State's third consecutive Big Ten tournament championship.

Joining the Buckeyes in the top 25 is Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are No. 24 after reaching the semifinals of the ACC tournament. They beat Virginia Tech and Maryland in the first two rounds before losing to eventual champion Duke in the semifinals. Georgia Tech will enter the NCAA tournament with a 23-10 mark.