2024 Big 12 Championships: BYU Men Make Big Push As Battle For 2nd Heats Up (Ups/Downs)

2024 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

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.

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

The University of Texas will have no trouble in rolling to another sweep of the Big 12 titles, but the team races below them continue to be intriguing.

Coming out of Wednesday night, TCU held onto the #2 spot for the women with a wild race developing for 3rd, while on the men’s side, WVU and Cincinnati are incredibly close in the battle for 4th and not out of striking distance of the top three. TCU and BYU were also only 31 points apart in the race for 2nd.

TEAM SCORES – THRU DAY 2

Women:

  1. University of Texas — 571 points
  2. Texas Christian University — 317 points
  3. University of Houston — 273.5 points
  4. Brigham Young University — 258 points
  5. University of Cincinnati — 257 points
  6. West Virginia University — 251 points
  7. Iowa State University & University of Kansas — 194 points

Men:

  1. University of Texas — 707 points
  2. Texas Christian University — 428 points
  3. Brigham Young University — 397 points
  4. West Virginia University — 344.5 points
  5. University of Cincinnati — 340.5 points

DAY 3 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS — WOMEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

All 100 Fly 400 IM 200 Free 1 mtr
TEX 15/1/2 3/0/1 3/0/1 4/0/0 5/1/0
UH 5/9/5 2/2/1 2/2/1 0/1/2 1/4/1
TCU 5/6/3 1/2/0 2/1/0 1/2/1 1/1/2
CINC 4/2/3 1/0/1 1/1/1 2/1/1 0/0/0
KANS 2/5/3 1/2/0 0/1/1 0/1/1 1/1/1
BYU 1/5/5 0/0/3 0/2/0 1/2/1 0/1/1
ISU 0/2/6 0/1/0 0/1/2 0/0/1 0/0/3
WVU 0/2/5 0/1/2 0/0/2 0/1/1 0/0/0

Scored Prelims — Women

  1. Texas, 431
  2. Houston, 276
  3. TCU, 230.5
  4. Cincinnati, 146
  5. Kansas, 143
  6. BYU, 105.5
  7. Iowa State, 67
  8. WVU, 46

Texas went big this morning as expected, bolstered by putting five divers into the top eight in the 1-meter event.

Houston and TCU were close in the pool this morning, but the Cougars really benefitted from getting five divers into the top 16.

Despite no diving points, Cincinnati makes a big move in the 200 free with two ‘A’ finalists to distance themselves from BYU in the race for 4th.

POINTS PER EVENT – WOMEN

TEX UH TCU CINC KANS BYU ISU WVU
100 Fly 92 82 52 32 53 14 20 17
400 IM 85 91 64 42 20 26 23 11
200 free 113.0 24.0 58.0 72.0 25.0 49 3 18
1 mtr 141 79 56.5 0 45 16.5 21 0

Day 2 Scores + Prelim Projections — Women

  1. Texas, 1002
  2. TCU, 547.5
  3. Houston, 498.5
  4. Cincinnati, 403
  5. BYU, 363.5
  6. Kansas, 337
  7. WVU, 297
  8. Iowa State, 261

Things are projected to spread out after tonight’s session, with some jockeying for position still possible in the spots between Cincinnati in 4th and WVU in 7th.

DAY 3 UPS/MIDS/DOWNS — MEN

Credit to Andrew Mering for running the numbers.

All 100 Fly 400 IM 200 Free
TEX 9/5/1 4/3/0 1/1/0 4/1/1
BYU 6/4/5 3/1/3 1/2/1 2/1/1
TCU 5/5/1 1/2/0 2/2/1 2/1/0
CINC 2/6/7 0/1/3 2/3/2 0/2/2
WVU 2/4/7 0/1/2 2/0/1 0/3/4

Scored Prelims — Men

  1. Texas, 326
  2. BYU, 230
  3. TCU, 205
  4. Cincinnati, 177
  5. WVU, 142

It was a strong prelim showing for the BYU men, as six ‘A’ finalists and 15 total second swims puts them back in the hunt for 2nd in the overall race. TCU was solid, however, and holds pace with five ‘A’ finalists including two apiece in the 400 IM and 200 free.

Cincinnati putting five swimmers into the top 16 of the 400 IM helped open up a gap on WVU in the race for 4th.

POINTS PER EVENT – MEN

TEX BYU TCU CINC WVU
100 Fly 151 103 56 30 22
400 IM 41 62 84 106 63
200 Free 134 65 65 41 57

Day 2 Scores + Prelim Projections — Men

  1. Texas, 1033
  2. TCU, 633
  3. BYU, 627
  4. Cincinnati, 517.5
  5. WVU, 486.5

Based on the three events this morning, there could be single-digit points separating TCU and BYU in the race for 2nd heading into the final day of racing, though a lot can happen in the evening session, especially with the 400 medley relay coming.

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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