'They're Not A Cinderella Team': Oklahoma, Coach Jennie Baranczyk Not Overlooking No. 12 Seed FGCU

There are two teams in the country that have won 25 games in each of the last 14 seasons.

One is UConn, as many may have guessed. Florida Gulf Coast is the other.

The Eagles from Fort Myers, Florida are an offensive juggernaut under coach Karl Smesko, perennially among the nation’s leaders in 3-pointers per game. Smesko took the step this season of listing all his players at the same position: shooter.

And fifth-seeded Oklahoma knows the 12th-seeded Eagles will present challenges when the teams meet in an NCAA women’s opener Saturday.

“They’re not a Cinderella team,” Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “They’re not a team that’s sneaking up on anybody. They’re not a team that’s going to surprise anybody. They’re a very, very talented team. He’s done an incredible job for a long time.”

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Big 12 regular season champion Oklahoma tips off in March Madness on Saturday when it takes on 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in Bloomington, Ind. The Sooners (22-9, 15-3 Big 12) have made the NCAA Tournament in all three seasons under Jennie Baranczyk, appearing as a top-five seed each time.

OU tips vs. FGCU (29-4, 16-0 ASUN), who has won 22 straight games, at 3 p.m. CT on ESPNEWS. 

One of the most consistently dominant women's basketball programs since 2000, the Sooners are set to appear in their 24th all-time NCAA Tournament and 22nd since the turn of the century. After winning its second straight Big 12 regular season championship, and first outright since 2009, the Sooners make their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, as head coach Jennie Baranczyk has taken the program to the Dance each season since coming to Norman in 2021.

Oklahoma's first- and second-round games are played in Bloomington, Ind., at Assembly Hall, home of No. 4 seed and host Indiana. 

THE STARTING FIVE

1. The Sooners are 35-23 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and have won at least one game in 19 of the program's 23 previous appearances. Oklahoma has been to 10 Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and three Final Fours, finishing as the national runner-up in 2002.
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3. Oklahoma's No. 5 seed marks its third straight top-five seed of the Baranczyk era, marking the first time OU has been a fifth seed or better in three consecutive seasons since 2008-10. Oklahoma was a No. 5 seed last year and is 4-3 all-time on the No. 5 line. 
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5. The Bloomington Pod in the Albany 1 Region is the only first- and second-round site that features three teams in the AP Top 25, as No. 14 Indiana, No. 18 Oklahoma, and No. 25 Fairfield all appear in the latest edition of the poll. Those three, combined with FGCU's 29 wins, have combined for 106 wins this season, second most of any pod in the bracket behind Los Angeles' UCLA pod, which has 108. 
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7. AP All-America honorable mention Skylar Vann was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Year, becoming the first Sooner to win the league's top honor since Courtney Paris in 2009. Payton Verhulst was tabbed as the league's Newcomer of the Year, and Jennie Baranczyk was voted the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Vann and Verhulst were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Nevaeh Tot and Sahara Williams claimed All-Big 12 honorable mention accolades.
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9. The Sooners enter March Madness ranked 18th in the AP Poll and 21st in the WBCA Coaches Poll.

KNOW YOUR FOE

FGCU has won back-to-back first-round games in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 12 seed, defeating Virginia Tech in 2022 and Washington State in 2023. They're the all-time winningest 12 seed in NCAA Women's Championship history. 

The Eagles have won 22 straight games this season and boast a non-conference win over North Carolina earlier this year. FGCU, led by 22nd-year head coach Karl Smesko, has won seven Atlantic Sun Conference titles in a row and went 16-0 in league play before winning the conference tournament. 

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's meeting is the first all-time between Oklahoma and FGCU. 

Oklahoma is 4-0 all-time vs. ASUN teams (2-0 vs. C. Ark; 1-0 vs. E. Kentucky; 1-0 vs. Stetson). Oklahoma is 18-4 in the first round of the NCAA Championship and 30-8 overall vs. lower-seeded teams. The Sooners are 3-0 in the first round as a No. 5 seed.

UP NEXT

With a win, Oklahoma would advance to its third straight NCAA Championship second round, where it would face the winner of No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 13 Fairfield. Times for Monday's second round will be announced following the conclusion of first-round games.