Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk summed up the Sooners’ move to the SEC pretty simply: a dogfight.
She’s no stranger to the quality of basketball in the conference as Oklahoma begins a new era of the program’s history. So will Oklahoma compete right away with the big dogs?
That’s the goal for Baranczyk and company.
“We’re heading into a pretty high-expectation league,” Baranczyk said on the SEC Network. “And so, you know, I do think that we’ve had a great three years and you know, it was really fun to be part of the Big 12. We’re really excited to be able to compete against the best teams in the country and that’s what this conference is all about.”
As far as who Baranczyk wants to play most, it doesn’t matter because of that keyword she mentioned. A dogfight.
“I think we’re looking forward to playing everybody because honestly, I think every night it’s a dogfight,” Baranczyk said. “It’s new to us. I mean, I know we’re new to everybody, but there’s no familiarity and so that’s going to be really fun in itself. Especially that first year or two.”
The Big 12 has quality programs as well, but it seems like the SEC can be a different animal in certain sports. Baranczyk seems the same thing when it comes to women’s basketball.
“You know, I don’t necessarily know that yet,” she said regarding the differences between conferences. “But you know, the obvious one (is that) the teams (from the SEC made) the Final Four. So you’re playing an elite, not just an elite opponent, but you’re playing in elite environments. I think the fan bases in the SEC are incredible.
“I mean you talk about our sport and women’s basketball, it is obviously all the rage right now. And so I think from a viewership standpoint, from a fan base standpoint, I think the SEC has just really become elite.”
In three years at Oklahoma, Baranczyk is 74-26 with the Sooners, getting to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 each season. Also, she led the Sooners to back-to-back Big 12 regular season titles.
Overall, Baranczyk is 266-122 with Drake (2012-21) and Oklahoma in her coaching career. The former Iowa power forward will be on a new stage with the Sooners this winter as they make their SEC debut.
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