It wasn’t easy, but the Odessa College men’s basketball team is, once again, back where it expects to be — competing for a national title at the NJCAA Basketball Tournament.
After a few nervous days following the Wranglers’ loss to No. 2 South Plains College in the Region V Tournament semifinals, Odessa College received an at-large bid in the national tournament which will start this weekend, lasting from March 24-30 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kan.
“The guys are excited,” Odessa College head coach Kris Baumann said. “We get an opportunity to play in the biggest tournament in junior college. One of our goals every year is to get to Hutchinson and these guys have done it. We have done it differently than in recent years but the destination is still the same. You have to get to Hutchinson. I’m really excited. The kids are really excited. We’ve had great practices all week.”
It’s the fourth consecutive year that the Wranglers are playing in the national tournament.
This year, the team will play in the first round, going in as the No. 13 seed, against a familiar foe in No. 20 seed Trinidad State (25-7) at 7:15 p.m. Sunday.
The winner of that game will face No. 4 seed Vincennes in the second round.
Odessa College lost to the Trinidad State Trojans earlier this season 81-71 back on Dec. 2 at a tournament in Roswell, N.M.
“We have a common opponent,” Baumann said. “We get to play Trinidad State who we’ve already lost to during the year. They have a good coach and a good team. We have our hands full. We’ve got a big game on Sunday night.”
Coached by Mike Folda, the Trojans come from Region IX, having punched their ticket to the national tournament with an 81-56 victory over Western Nebraska Community College in last week’s region championship.
It’s the third consecutive appearance in the national tournament for Trinidad State.
“This isn’t something new for them,” Baumann said. “Their coach has done a great job with them. That region is also really impressive. We have our hands full. We played them in Roswell in a tough game right before Christmas. I think this one will be a good game. They’re not as big or athletic as we are, but they are very well-coached. Across the board, they have a bunch of guys who can shoot the ball. We’re going to have to be good defensively. We’re going to have to score some points. We haven’t been scoring enough points to get to where we need to. We have to see if we can put some points on the scoreboard.”
Odessa College enters the tournament at 24-8.
At one point in the season, the Wranglers were 17-2.
However, losses to Clarendon College (twice), South Plains College (three times) and New Mexico Military Institute soon put the Wranglers on the bubble.
The Texans (31-2) went on to win the WJCAC and the Region V Tournament, defeating Clarendon College 100-98 in the final.
“We had a chance to take care of some stuff earlier in the year,” Baumann said. “We had a couple of setbacks, primarily, the New Mexico Military Institute game. We had a chance to move up in the polls that week and we lost and we dropped. That set us back.”
Baumann also knows just how difficult the WJCAC is each season.
“That says a lot about the strength of our league,” Baumann said. “Every year, we’ve known that when you play in this league, it’s the toughest league in the country.”
Case in point, there have been eight times where a team from the WJCAC made it to the NJCAA national championship since 2007.
Howard College won the national title in 2010, while South Plains College won it 2008, 2012 and 2018 while finishing runner-up in 2015. Midland College also won the tournament in 2007 while finishing runner-up in 2009 and in 2011.
Clarendon College was the odd-team out on Selection Sunday while the Wranglers and the Texans were selected from the Region V.
Even though the Bulldogs went 23-10, it wasn’t enough for them to get in.
“Clarendon College had a wonderful season,” Baumann said. “I just think their scheduling metrics is what caught up to them. I don’t think they had enough NJCAA Division I wins for the committee to go. But they still had a good season. My former assistant, Hunter Jenkins, did a terrific job with them. I thought the league was as tough as it’s been in the last five years. I think the committee awarded us because we went out and played real people. We do that every year. We put together a tough schedule and at the end of the day, it paid off for us.”
This year, the Wranglers are hoping to go further than last year.
Odessa College has made 13 appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament, but has yet to come home with a national championship.
Last season, the Wranglers were knocked out in the quarterfinals with a 79-75 loss in overtime to Indian Hills Community College.
“Last year was a tough pill for us to swallow because we were right there,” Baumann said. “But these guys are excited to go. We have 13 new guys and I’m excited to go in and see if we can make a run in this tournament.”
Barton Community College is the number one seed in the tournament while South Plains College is the number two seed.
South Plains College will await the winner of Panola-Jones in the second round at 7:15 p.m. Monday.
