2023 Big 12s Day 2 Ups/Downs: Texas Men Go 18/4, WVU & Iowa State Women Battle For 2nd

2023 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, TX
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Texas (10x)
  • Men: Texas (26x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Day 2 Prelims Recap

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of three finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, places 9 through 16 the B final and places 17 through 24 the C final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.

In the Big 12, swimmers in the ‘C’ or “Bonus” final don’t score, which is different from other Power Five conferences.

With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups and “Downs” after each prelims session. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final,  and “Down” to swimmers in the B final.

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 1

1. University of Texas – 80
2. West Virginia University – 66
3. Iowa State University / Texas Christian University – 62
5. University of Kansas – 58

To no one’s surprise, it was an absolutely dominant preliminary session for the University of Texas Thursday morning in Austin, as the Longhorn women put 14 swimmers through to the ‘A’ final in just three events, adding four more into the consols. This included going 1-2-3-5 in the 500 free and 1-2-3-4 in the 50 free.

Texas will cruise throughout the meet, but the race for second is very much up for grabs.

West Virginia came out of last night’s relays up by four points on Iowa State, 66-62, and the two squads had very similar results this morning as they project to be within nine points of one another after tonight, not factoring in diving and the 400 medley relay.

The Mountaineers put four up (4/3), while the Hawkeyes went 3/5 to have one more scoring swim. Both teams put two swimmers into the 200 IM ‘A’ final, so who can claim the higher finish there will have a direct impact on the scoring at the end of the session.

DAY 2 UPS/DOWNS – WOMEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

SCORED PRELIMS — WOMEN

1. Texas, 235.0
2. West Virginia, 72.5
3. Iowa State, 67.5
4. TCU, 48.5
5. Kansas, 42.5

SCORED PRELIM + ACTUAL — WOMEN

1. Texas, 315.0
2. West Virginia, 138.5
3. Iowa State, 129.5
4. TCU, 110.5
5. Kansas, 100.5

MEN’S TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 1

1. University of Texas – 139
2. Texas Christian University – 116
3. West Virginia University – 75

On the men’s side, it was all Texas, as the Longhorns put six swimmers into each ‘A’ final, including claiming the top six seeds in the 500 free.

The race for second is very much alive and will likely be for the rest of the meet. TCU only beat WVU by 40 points to earn the runner-up spot last year, and now we’ve got the Horned Frogs up by 41 after just one night of action.

However, the Mountaineers project to pick up 15 points tonight in the pool, which would put them within striking distance heading into Friday.

DAY 2 UPS/DOWNS – MEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

SCORED PRELIMS — MEN

1. Texas, 299.0
2. West Virginia, 91.0
3. TCU, 76.0

SCORED PRELIM + ACTUAL — MEN

1. Texas, 438.0
2. TCU, 192.0
3. West Virginia, 166.0