Both UT Permian Basin basketball programs are in must win situations in the final week of the regular season. Men's Basketball is currently in a three-way tie for ninth in the Lone Star Conference with an 8-12 record. Women's Basketball is in a four-way tie for the final spot at 7-14 heading into this week. The Falcons are home this week with tough match-ups, playing Lubbock Christian on Thursday before hosting Angelo State on Saturday, which is also Senior Day.
According to LSC rules tiebreakers go as following:
- Head to Head record or records vs tied teams
- If head to head is tied, the team with the win over the highest seed wins the tiebreaker. Should teams be tied, it will continue to the next best win and so on until a tie is broken.
Women's Basketball
Heading into the final two games of the regular season, the Falcons are tied with three other teams for the last spot in the LSC Tournament. The Falcons are tied with Oklahoma Christian, Texas A&M International and Texas Woman's.
UT Permian Basin
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs #8 Lubbock Christian, Sat. vs Angelo State
Best Win: Eastern New Mexico (Tied-5)
Hold Tiebreakers Over: Oklahoma Christian
Oklahoma Christian
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs #3 Texas A&M – Commerce, Sat. vs UT Tyler
Best Win: UA Fort Smith/ Midwestern State (Tied-10)
Hold Tiebreakers Over: Texas Woman's, Texas A&M International
Texas A&M International
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs Tarleton, Sat. vs Texas Woman's
Best Win: Angelo State (Tied-5)
Hold Tiebreakers Over: UT Permian Basin
Texas Woman's
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. at Texas A&M – Kingsville, Sat. at Texas A&M International
Best Win: Tarleton
Hold Tiebreaker Over: UT Permian Basin, Texas A&M International (One game remaining)
What this means for UTPB
The Falcons must win at least once game this week to have a chance by virtue of Texas A&M International and Texas Woman's having a head to head game remaining, so someone will get to eight wins. Out of the four teams, the Falcons play the most difficult schedule, but can help their tiebreakers by winning. Oklahoma Christian plays the top and bottom teams in the conference at home. International has a difficult home game against Tarleton before hosting Texas Woman's in what could be a de facto play-in game. Texas Woman's is on the road, but they play Texas A&M – Kingsville on Thursday, one of three teams out of the playoff hunt.
Chances are the Falcons need a pair of wins to close the season. Should it come down just a head to head tiebreaker, they have it over Oklahoma Christian but not International or Texas Woman's. Should there be a three-way tie between the Falcons, Oklahoma Christian, and the winner between the other two schools, it will come down to the team with the win over the highest seed. In that situation, Texas Woman's currently has that with a win over fourth-seeded Tarleton. The Falcons have a chance against Lubbock Christian, who is currently tied for second.
Another possibility is a three-way tie between the Falcons, Oklahoma Christian and International. In such a situation, the tiebreaker could come down to whoever has the better record between Angelo State and Eastern New Mexico. Those teams are currently tied along with Cameron. Cameron and Eastern New Mexico still have to play this Thursday, but Eastern has the tiebreaker in such a situation by virtue of their win over Lubbock Christian.
This one could come down to multiple tiebreakers for mutilple teams but if the Falcons take care of business they have a great shot at playing next Tuesday.
Men's Basketball
Heading into the final week of the regular season the Falcons are among seven teams within a game of each other. The top-eight seeds are locked in, but the remaining four have yet to be decided. The Falcons are tied with Cameron and Oklahoma Christian for that spot, but St. Mary's, Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State and UA Fort Smith are still in the hunt.
UT Permian Basin
LSC Record: 8-12
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs Lubbock Christian, Sat. vs Angelo State
Best Win: DBU
Hold Tiebreaker Over: Cameron, Oklahoma Christian, Midwestern State
Cameron
LSC Record: 8-12
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. at Eastern New Mexico, Sat. at #3 West Texas A&M
Best Win: Texas A&M – Commerce
Hold Tiebreaker Over: UA Fort Smith
Oklahoma Christian
LSC Record: 8-12
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs Texas A&M – Commerce, Sat. vs UT Tyler
Best Win: Lubbock Christian
Hold Tiebreaker Over: St. Mary's
St. Mary's
LSC Record: 8-13
Remaining Schedule: Sat. vs #7 St. Edward's
Best Win: Texas A&M – Commerce
Hold Tiebreaker Over: Cameron, UTPB
Eastern New Mexico
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs Cameron, Sat. vs Midwestern State
Best Win: DBU
Hold Tiebreaker Over: UTPB, Oklahoma Christian, UAFS, St. Mary's
Midwestern State
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. at #3 West Texas A&M, Sat. at Eastern New Mexico
Best Win: Angelo State
Hold Tiebreaker Over: None
UA Fort Smith
LSC Record: 7-13
Remaining Schedule: Thurs. vs UT Tyler, Sat. vs Texas A&M – Commerce
Best Win: Angelo State
Hold Tiebreaker Over: UTPB
What this means for UTPB
Heading into the final two games, the Falcons are currently in a spot to play in the LSC postseason next Tuesday. Where they will go, that's a different question. Only Eastern New Mexico has better head to head tiebreakers; as Cameron, Midwestern State, Oklahoma Christian, and UA Fort Smith all play in the same division and split against each other.
With a win this week the Falcons would be in a great position for postseason play. Cameron and Midwestern State travel to Eastern New Mexico, where each team could knock another out, and have a stop at #3 West Texas A&M as well. UA Fort Smith and Oklahoma Christian take on Texas A&M – Commerce their final week, who is currently tied for seventh. The Falcons can control their destiny with a couple of wins as the rest of the six teams sorts itself out.
Both the men's and women's teams are very much alive heading into the final week of the regular season. Come out Thursday starting at 5:15 and Saturday at 2 to support the Falcons in their push for the postseason.
