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WBB Conference Standings

Saiem Gilani
@saiemgilani @saiemgilani

Source: vignettes/recipe-wbb-conference-standings.Rmd
recipe-wbb-conference-standings.Rmd
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The brief: the conference-recap newsletter wants the final SEC women’s basketball standings as an image, 1200 px wide, plus a 4:5 portrait cut (1080 x 1350) for Instagram, where a tall table fills the screen better than a square. Every team’s conference season should be visible at a glance, along with how its season ended in March. The games are ESPN’s through wehoop, and the table is gt with sdvplotR’s logos, team colors, theme and export helpers.

library(sdvplotR)
library(gt)
library(dplyr, warn.conflicts = FALSE)

season <- 2026 # the 2025-26 season, named by the year it ends
conference <- "SEC"
out_dir <- tempfile("sdvplotR-recipe-") # where the exports go; use your own folder
dir.create(out_dir)

1. Get the data

The schedule has one row per game; stacking the home and away sides gives one row per team per game. Conference membership comes from sdv_teams(), which lists each team’s ESPN id and conference. The ids are integers on both sides, checked before they are matched.

schedule <- wehoop::load_wbb_schedule(season) |>
  filter(status_type_completed)
members <- sdv_teams("wbb") |>
  filter(conference_id == "wbb:sec") |>
  transmute(team_id = as.integer(team_id), team_abbr = abbr)
stopifnot(is.integer(schedule$home_id), is.integer(members$team_id))

side <- function(me, opp) {
  transmute(
    schedule,
    game_date,
    conf_flag = conference_competition,
    notes = coalesce(notes_headline, ""),
    team_id = .data[[paste0(me, "_id")]],
    team = .data[[paste0(me, "_location")]],
    opponent = .data[[paste0(opp, "_location")]],
    pf = .data[[paste0(me, "_score")]],
    pa = .data[[paste0(opp, "_score")]]
  )
}
games <- bind_rows(side("home", "away"), side("away", "home")) |>
  inner_join(members, by = "team_id") |>
  arrange(game_date) |>
  mutate(won = pf > pa)

games |>
  filter(conf_flag) |>
  count(notes)
#> # A tibble: 9 × 2
#>   notes                                         n
#>   <chr>                                     <int>
#> 1 ""                                          216
#> 2 "Play4Kay"                                   20
#> 3 "Players Era Championship - Championship"     2
#> 4 "SEC Tournament - 1st Round"                  8
#> 5 "SEC Tournament - 2nd Round"                  8
#> 6 "SEC Tournament - Final"                      2
#> 7 "SEC Tournament - Quarterfinal"               8
#> 8 "SEC Tournament - Semifinal"                  4
#> 9 "We Back Pat"                                20

ESPN’s conference_competition flag is TRUE for any game between two conference members, and the notes show what that sweeps in: the conference tournament, and an early-season neutral-site final in which two SEC teams met. The themed games (Play4Kay, We Back Pat) are real conference games. Dropping every game whose note names a tournament or a championship leaves each team’s conference schedule, which the check confirms is the same length for everyone.

games <- games |>
  mutate(is_conf = conf_flag & !grepl("Tournament|Championship", notes))
stopifnot(n_distinct(count(filter(games, is_conf), team)$n) == 1)

round_name <- function(notes) {
  round <- sub(".* - ", "", notes)
  if_else(round == "National Championship", "final", round)
}

standings <- games |>
  group_by(team_abbr, team) |>
  summarise(
    conf_results = list(as.integer(won[is_conf])), # in date order, for the strip
    conf_w = sum(won & is_conf),
    conf_l = sum(!won & is_conf),
    w = sum(won),
    l = sum(!won),
    last_notes = last(notes),
    last_result = paste0(
      if_else(last(won), "W ", "L "), max(last(pf), last(pa)), "-", min(last(pf), last(pa)), " vs ", last(opponent)
    ),
    .groups = "drop"
  ) |>
  mutate(
    march = case_when(
      startsWith(last_notes, "NCAA") ~ paste0("NCAA ", round_name(last_notes), ": ", last_result),
      startsWith(last_notes, "WBIT") ~ paste0("WBIT ", round_name(last_notes), ": ", last_result),
      grepl("Tournament", last_notes) ~ paste0(conference, " Tournament: ", last_result),
      .default = ""
    )
  ) |>
  arrange(desc(conf_w), conf_l, desc(w), team) # team breaks a full tie the same way every run
standings |>
  select(team, conf_w, conf_l, w, l, march)
#> # A tibble: 16 × 6
#>    team              conf_w conf_l     w     l march                            
#>    <chr>              <int>  <int> <int> <int> <chr>                            
#>  1 South Carolina        15      1    36     4 NCAA final: L 79-51 vs UCLA      
#>  2 Texas                 13      3    35     4 NCAA Final Four: L 51-44 vs UCLA 
#>  3 Vanderbilt            13      3    29     5 NCAA Sweet 16: L 67-64 vs Notre …
#>  4 LSU                   12      4    29     6 NCAA Sweet 16: L 87-85 vs Duke   
#>  5 Oklahoma              11      5    26     8 NCAA Sweet 16: L 94-68 vs South …
#>  6 Kentucky               8      8    25    11 NCAA Sweet 16: L 76-54 vs Texas  
#>  7 Ole Miss               8      8    24    12 NCAA 2nd Round: L 65-63 vs Minne…
#>  8 Georgia                8      8    22    10 NCAA 1st Round: L 82-73 vs Virgi…
#>  9 Tennessee              8      8    16    14 NCAA 1st Round: L 76-61 vs NC St…
#> 10 Alabama                7      9    24    11 NCAA 2nd Round: L 69-68 vs Louis…
#> 11 Texas A&M              7      9    14    13 WBIT 1st Round: L 68-48 vs McNee…
#> 12 Florida                5     11    18    15 SEC Tournament: L 82-64 vs Oklah…
#> 13 Mississippi State      5     11    18    13 SEC Tournament: L 86-68 vs Flori…
#> 14 Missouri               4     12    17    17 WBIT 2nd Round: L 93-75 vs BYU   
#> 15 Auburn                 3     13    15    17 SEC Tournament: L 73-57 vs Ole M…
#> 16 Arkansas               1     15    12    20 SEC Tournament: L 94-64 vs Kentu…

2. The first draft

Hand the frame to gt as it is.

gt(standings)
team_abbr team conf_results conf_w conf_l w l last_notes last_result march
SC South Carolina 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 15 1 36 4 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - National Championship L 79-51 vs UCLA NCAA final: L 79-51 vs UCLA
TEX Texas 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 13 3 35 4 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Final Four L 51-44 vs UCLA NCAA Final Four: L 51-44 vs UCLA
VAN Vanderbilt 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1 13 3 29 5 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 1 in Fort Worth - Sweet 16 L 67-64 vs Notre Dame NCAA Sweet 16: L 67-64 vs Notre Dame
LSU LSU 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1 12 4 29 6 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 2 in Sacramento - Sweet 16 L 87-85 vs Duke NCAA Sweet 16: L 87-85 vs Duke
OU Oklahoma 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 11 5 26 8 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 4 in Sacramento - Sweet 16 L 94-68 vs South Carolina NCAA Sweet 16: L 94-68 vs South Carolina
UK Kentucky 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0 8 8 25 11 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 3 in Fort Worth - Sweet 16 L 76-54 vs Texas NCAA Sweet 16: L 76-54 vs Texas
MISS Ole Miss 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0 8 8 24 12 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 2 in Sacramento - 2nd Round L 65-63 vs Minnesota NCAA 2nd Round: L 65-63 vs Minnesota
UGA Georgia 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1 8 8 22 10 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 4 in Sacramento - 1st Round L 82-73 vs Virginia NCAA 1st Round: L 82-73 vs Virginia
TENN Tennessee 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 8 8 16 14 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 3 in Fort Worth - 1st Round L 76-61 vs NC State NCAA 1st Round: L 76-61 vs NC State
ALA Alabama 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 7 9 24 11 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship - Regional 3 in Fort Worth - 2nd Round L 69-68 vs Louisville NCAA 2nd Round: L 69-68 vs Louisville
TA&M Texas A&M 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 7 9 14 13 WBIT - 1st Round L 68-48 vs McNeese WBIT 1st Round: L 68-48 vs McNeese
FLA Florida 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0 5 11 18 15 SEC Tournament - 2nd Round L 82-64 vs Oklahoma SEC Tournament: L 82-64 vs Oklahoma
MSST Mississippi State 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0 5 11 18 13 SEC Tournament - 1st Round L 86-68 vs Florida SEC Tournament: L 86-68 vs Florida
MIZ Missouri 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 4 12 17 17 WBIT - 2nd Round L 93-75 vs BYU WBIT 2nd Round: L 93-75 vs BYU
AUB Auburn 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 3 13 15 17 SEC Tournament - 2nd Round L 73-57 vs Ole Miss SEC Tournament: L 73-57 vs Ole Miss
ARK Arkansas 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 1 15 12 20 SEC Tournament - 1st Round L 94-64 vs Kentucky SEC Tournament: L 94-64 vs Kentucky

Every number is there, but the reader gets ids, a list printed as text, two columns for every record and a raw ESPN note.

3. Shape it for a reader

Records read as “13-3”, not two columns, and sit under spanners. The raw note and the list go (the list comes back as a chart in the next step), and the March column gets a real label.

table <- standings |>
  mutate(
    conf = paste0(conf_w, "-", conf_l),
    overall = paste0(w, "-", l)
  ) |>
  select(team_abbr, team, conf, conf_results, overall, march)

draft <- gt(table) |>
  cols_hide(c(team_abbr, conf_results)) |>
  cols_label(team = "Team", conf = "W-L", overall = "W-L", march = "How the season ended") |>
  tab_spanner("Conference", conf) |>
  tab_spanner("Overall", overall) |>
  cols_align("center", c(conf, overall))
draft
Team
Conference
Overall
 How the season ended
W-L W-L
South Carolina 15-1 36-4 NCAA final: L 79-51 vs UCLA
Texas 13-3 35-4 NCAA Final Four: L 51-44 vs UCLA
Vanderbilt 13-3 29-5 NCAA Sweet 16: L 67-64 vs Notre Dame
LSU 12-4 29-6 NCAA Sweet 16: L 87-85 vs Duke
Oklahoma 11-5 26-8 NCAA Sweet 16: L 94-68 vs South Carolina
Kentucky 8-8 25-11 NCAA Sweet 16: L 76-54 vs Texas
Ole Miss 8-8 24-12 NCAA 2nd Round: L 65-63 vs Minnesota
Georgia 8-8 22-10 NCAA 1st Round: L 82-73 vs Virginia
Tennessee 8-8 16-14 NCAA 1st Round: L 76-61 vs NC State
Alabama 7-9 24-11 NCAA 2nd Round: L 69-68 vs Louisville
Texas A&M 7-9 14-13 WBIT 1st Round: L 68-48 vs McNeese
Florida 5-11 18-15 SEC Tournament: L 82-64 vs Oklahoma
Mississippi State 5-11 18-13 SEC Tournament: L 86-68 vs Florida
Missouri 4-12 17-17 WBIT 2nd Round: L 93-75 vs BYU
Auburn 3-13 15-17 SEC Tournament: L 73-57 vs Ole Miss
Arkansas 1-15 12-20 SEC Tournament: L 94-64 vs Kentucky

4. Logos, team colors and the conference season

Three helpers carry the team layer. gt_sdv_logos() turns the abbreviation column into logos. gt_merge_stack_team_color() stacks each team’s name over its overall record, the record in the team’s own color, so the logo, name and record read as one block. And gtExtras’ gt_plt_winloss() draws the list of conference results as a strip of pills, one per game in date order: a team’s conference season, wins up and losses down, in one glance.

with_teams <- draft |>
  cols_unhide(c(team_abbr, conf_results)) |>
  gt_sdv_logos(team_abbr, league = "wbb", height = 28) |>
  gt_merge_stack_team_color(team, overall, team_abbr, league = "wbb") |>
  gtExtras::gt_plt_winloss(
    conf_results,
    max_wins = max(lengths(table$conf_results)),
    palette = c("#2e8540", "#c0392b", "grey70"),
    width = 45 # mm: wide enough for 16 readable pills
  ) |>
  cols_label(team_abbr = "", team = "Team", conf_results = "Game by game") |>
  rm_spanners("Conference") |> # widen the spanner over the new column
  tab_spanner("Conference", c(conf, conf_results))
with_teams
Team
Conference
 How the season ended
W-L Game by game
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina
36-4
 15-1 NCAA final: L 79-51 vs UCLA
Texas Longhorns
Texas
35-4
 13-3 NCAA Final Four: L 51-44 vs UCLA
Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt
29-5
 13-3 NCAA Sweet 16: L 67-64 vs Notre Dame
LSU Tigers
LSU
29-6
 12-4 NCAA Sweet 16: L 87-85 vs Duke
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma
26-8
 11-5 NCAA Sweet 16: L 94-68 vs South Carolina
Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky
25-11
 8-8 NCAA Sweet 16: L 76-54 vs Texas
Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss
24-12
 8-8 NCAA 2nd Round: L 65-63 vs Minnesota
Georgia Lady Bulldogs
Georgia
22-10
 8-8 NCAA 1st Round: L 82-73 vs Virginia
Tennessee Lady Volunteers
Tennessee
16-14
 8-8 NCAA 1st Round: L 76-61 vs NC State
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama
24-11
 7-9 NCAA 2nd Round: L 69-68 vs Louisville
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M
14-13
 7-9 WBIT 1st Round: L 68-48 vs McNeese
Florida Gators
Florida
18-15
 5-11 SEC Tournament: L 82-64 vs Oklahoma
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State
18-13
 5-11 SEC Tournament: L 86-68 vs Florida
Missouri Tigers
Missouri
17-17
 4-12 WBIT 2nd Round: L 93-75 vs BYU
Auburn Tigers
Auburn
15-17
 3-13 SEC Tournament: L 73-57 vs Ole Miss
Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas
12-20
 1-15 SEC Tournament: L 94-64 vs Kentucky

5. Dress it in the champion’s colors

gt_theme_sdv_team() is the SportsDataverse table theme in one team’s colors: the title block takes the team’s primary color and the rule under the column labels its secondary. Here it is the regular-season champion’s. The title states the result, the subtitle how to read the strip, and the source note credits the data; a footnote owns up to the ordering, which is by conference record and not the conference’s tiebreaker.

leaders <- filter(standings, conf_w == max(conf_w), conf_l == min(conf_l))
champ <- leaders[1, ]
title <- if (nrow(leaders) == 1) {
  sprintf("%s won the %s at %d-%d", champ$team, conference, champ$conf_w, champ$conf_l)
} else {
  sprintf("%s shared the %s title at %d-%d", paste(leaders$team, collapse = " and "), conference, champ$conf_w, champ$conf_l)
}

final <- with_teams |>
  tab_header(
    title = title,
    subtitle = paste0(
      "Final ", season - 1, "-", season %% 100, " ", conference,
      " standings. Each pill is a conference game, in date order: up for a win, down for a loss."
    )
  ) |>
  tab_source_note("Data: ESPN via wehoop  |  Table: sdvplotR + gt + gtExtras") |>
  tab_footnote(
    "Ordered by conference record, then overall record; not the conference's tiebreaker.",
    locations = cells_column_labels(columns = conf)
  ) |>
  gt_theme_sdv_team(team = champ$team_abbr, league = "wbb")
final
South Carolina won the SEC at 15-1
Final 2025-26 SEC standings. Each pill is a conference game, in date order: up for a win, down for a loss.
Team
Conference
 How the season ended
W-L1 Game by game
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina
36-4
 15-1 NCAA final: L 79-51 vs UCLA
Texas Longhorns
Texas
35-4
 13-3 NCAA Final Four: L 51-44 vs UCLA
Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt
29-5
 13-3 NCAA Sweet 16: L 67-64 vs Notre Dame
LSU Tigers
LSU
29-6
 12-4 NCAA Sweet 16: L 87-85 vs Duke
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma
26-8
 11-5 NCAA Sweet 16: L 94-68 vs South Carolina
Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky
25-11
 8-8 NCAA Sweet 16: L 76-54 vs Texas
Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss
24-12
 8-8 NCAA 2nd Round: L 65-63 vs Minnesota
Georgia Lady Bulldogs
Georgia
22-10
 8-8 NCAA 1st Round: L 82-73 vs Virginia
Tennessee Lady Volunteers
Tennessee
16-14
 8-8 NCAA 1st Round: L 76-61 vs NC State
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama
24-11
 7-9 NCAA 2nd Round: L 69-68 vs Louisville
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M
14-13
 7-9 WBIT 1st Round: L 68-48 vs McNeese
Florida Gators
Florida
18-15
 5-11 SEC Tournament: L 82-64 vs Oklahoma
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State
18-13
 5-11 SEC Tournament: L 86-68 vs Florida
Missouri Tigers
Missouri
17-17
 4-12 WBIT 2nd Round: L 93-75 vs BYU
Auburn Tigers
Auburn
15-17
 3-13 SEC Tournament: L 73-57 vs Ole Miss
Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas
12-20
 1-15 SEC Tournament: L 94-64 vs Kentucky
1 Ordered by conference record, then overall record; not the conference's tiebreaker.
Data: ESPN via wehoop | Table: sdvplotR + gt + gtExtras

6. Export for the newsletter and Instagram

gt_save_crop() renders the table in headless Chrome, trims it with an even border and scales it to 1200 px. gt_social_crop() centers the same table on a canvas of any shape without cropping it; aspect_ratio = "4:5" with width = 1080 gives Instagram’s 1080 x 1350 portrait post.

newsletter <- gt_save_crop(final, file.path(out_dir, "sec_wbb_1200.png"), width = 1200)
portrait <- gt_social_crop(
  final, file.path(out_dir, "sec_wbb_1080x1350.png"),
  aspect_ratio = "4:5", width = 1080
)
magick::image_info(magick::image_read(c(newsletter, portrait)))[c("width", "height")]
#> # A tibble: 2 × 2
#>   width height
#>   <int>  <int>
#> 1  1200   1602
#> 2  1080   1350
magick::image_read(newsletter)

The finished SEC women's basketball standings table exported 1200 pixels wide for the newsletter.

The 4:5 portrait cut for Instagram:

magick::image_read(portrait)

The same table centered on a 1080 by 1350 pixel portrait canvas for Instagram.

Our Authors

Citation

To cite the sdvplotR R package in publications, use:

BibTeX Citation

@misc{gilani_carl_lee_kay_weatherman_sdvplotR,
  author = {Gilani, Saiem and Carl, Sebastian and Lee, Jared and Kay, Camden and Weatherman, Andrew},
  title = {sdvplotR: The SportsDataverse's R Package for Multi-League Sports Plotting.},
  url = {https://sdvplotR.sportsdataverse.org},
  year = {2026}
}