#1 seeds locked up

[Vowelguy]

Baylor with a beatdown on TX tonight.

And with that, I'd say the #1 seeds are locked in. The committee highly values the regular season, so even if any of these teams has a conference tournament loss, it's not going to take away from what theyve accomplished so far.

Also of note: these top 4 have 3 losses total -- 2 to UConn and 1 when Baylor didn't have PG Niya Johnson. Seems a definite line between the top 4 and the rest.

 

[Plebe]

These 4 teams have separated themselves like no other group of 4 that I can ever remember. To have only 3 total losses out of all 4 of them has gotta be a record. As you say, the lone hiccup was when Baylor was without Johnson, who IMO is all-American-caliber with her assist wizadry.

 

[Carnac]

The old adage is true............."The cream always rises to the top". UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Baylor are the 4 best teams in WCBB this year. Their records reflect it. Retired NFL head coach Bill Parcells once said "You are what your record says you are". Their records say that they are winners. The elite of WCBB.

There is a chasm between these four, and the rest of the field. #5 Maryland (27-3), is a good team, but I don't think they could defeat any of the top four. They lost to UConn, and #9 Ohio State twice. #6 Texas (26-3) lost tonight to Baylor by 26. #7 Louisville finished 24-6, losing 4 games to unranked teams. The gap is definitely there.

Don't look for a team ranked below the top 4 to pull any upsets. The top 4 will eliminate each other until there is one.

The envelope says.............UConn!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Louisville, if they're playing close to home in Lexington, would be a tough out.

 

[bballnut90]

These 4 teams have separated themselves like no other group of 4 that I can ever remember. To have only 3 total losses out of all 4 of them has gotta be a record. As you say, the lone hiccup was when Baylor was without Johnson, who IMO is all-American-caliber with her assist wizadry.

2010 looked similar to this entering the post season:
UCONN-undefeated
Nebraska-undefeated
Stanford-1 loss (road loss at UCONN)
Tennessee-2 losses (Stanford and one other game early in the year)

Nebraska would bow out in the Sweet 16, and Tennessee ran into a freshman phenom by the name of Brittney Griner.

In 2012, I don't recall what the exact records were but Baylor/UCONN/ND/Stanford really separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Baylor obviously went 40-0, UCONN lost to DePaul and I believe Notre Dame had a bad loss or two along the way. Stanford had a pretty sterling record that year if my memory is correct.

All that said, major hats off to all of the coaches of the #1 seeded teams this year. Geno has kept UCONN at a level above everyone else. Muffett has done a heck of a coaching job without Loyd/Reimer quitting midway/Patberg ACL/Turner injured first chunk of the year. Notre Dame has played a brutal schedule and to come out with a 10 point loss at UCONN without Turner is pretty remarkable. South Carolina has put together a heck of a year with just 1 loss at UCONN despite many close calls. And lastly, Baylor has had an amazing season with their terrific trio, strong supporting cast and outstanding freshman posts. Mulkey has done a great job this year.

All 4 teams excluding UCONN are projected to be stronger teams next year. UCONN will come back down to earth, but I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if these 4 rise to the top as the cream of the crop in WCBB next season.

 

[alexrgct]

2010 looked similar to this entering the post season:
UCONN-undefeated
Nebraska-undefeated
Stanford-1 loss (road loss at UCONN)
Tennessee-2 losses (Stanford and one other game early in the year)

Nebraska would bow out in the Sweet 16, and Tennessee ran into a freshman phenom by the name of Brittney Griner.

In 2012, I don't recall what the exact records were but Baylor/UCONN/ND/Stanford really separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Baylor obviously went 40-0, UCONN lost to DePaul and I believe Notre Dame had a bad loss or two along the way. Stanford had a pretty sterling record that year if my memory is correct.

All that said, major hats off to all of the coaches of the #1 seeded teams this year. Geno has kept UCONN at a level above everyone else. Muffett has done a heck of a coaching job without Loyd/Reimer quitting midway/Patberg ACL/Turner injured first chunk of the year. Notre Dame has played a brutal schedule and to come out with a 10 point loss at UCONN without Turner is pretty remarkable. South Carolina has put together a heck of a year with just 1 loss at UCONN despite many close calls. And lastly, Baylor has had an amazing season with their terrific trio, strong supporting cast and outstanding freshman posts. Mulkey has done a great job this year.

All 4 teams excluding UCONN are projected to be stronger teams next year. UCONN will come back down to earth, but I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if these 4 rise to the top as the cream of the crop in WCBB next season.

I'm not sure what loss to DePaul you're referring to. There has certainly been no such loss in 2012. Uconn almost lost to DePaul in 2008, but that was averted thanks to Maya Moore's miracle.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina loss to Uconn this season was played in Columbia and wasn't all that close. It was a 12-point victory by uconn that was a 20-point lead at one point.

Agree that Muffet and Kim are terrific HCs who are worth their weight in gold.

Uconn will experience some drop off after this season with departures of two all-timers and what rapidly turned into the probable departure of Tuck Norris. However, there is talent returning and talent joining forces with the Huskies. This all makes for a roster with depth, an intimidating skill set, and championship experience. I'm not predicting Uconn will win the NC next season, but another 2012-type season (including a run to the national semis and a #1 seed) would not shock me at all.

 

[Plebe]

2010 looked similar to this entering the post season:
UCONN-undefeated
Nebraska-undefeated
Stanford-1 loss (road loss at UCONN)
Tennessee-2 losses (Stanford and one other game early in the year)

Nebraska would bow out in the Sweet 16, and Tennessee ran into a freshman phenom by the name of Brittney Griner.

Wow, I'd totally forgotten about that special season of Nebraska's. I remember they lost in the conference tournament, which didn't bode well for their NCAA tournament. Seems like a distant memory now, with Nebraska having receded into mediocrity.

I also just realized that Baylor ended 2 of Pat Summitt's last 3 NCAA tournament appearances.

 

[easttexastrash]

That crazy witch in Waco has her team playing its way into a # 1 seed despite that horrendously weak schedule? That can't be true! It defies logic and reasoning

 

[JoePgh]

That crazy witch in Waco has her team playing its way into a # 1 seed despite that horrendously weak schedule? That can't be true! It defies logic and reasoning

Back when UConn-Tennessee was a rivalry between peers, someone here made the astute observation that (per the savants on the Summitt) if UConn beat a ranked team decisively, it proved that the opponent was overrated, and if UConn prevailed in a close game it proved that UConn was overrated. The symmetric relationship was true of Boneyarders in evaluating Tennessee wins over ranked teams.

But that does leave a question about last night's late game: Is Baylor better than most of us thought? Or is Texas worse? My bet would be on the latter. But one has to be impressed with the Baylor defense.

Things now seem to be shaping up for an Elite 8 game between Baylor and Maryland. I think that is almost a toss-up, and probably the most interesting and competitive game that will occur before the Final Four.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I think it's going to be UConn and ND again, unless they are on the same side of the bracket. UConn spanked Texas last year by 50+, beat OSU on their floor by 45, beat Maryland, beat South Carolina on their floor a few weeks ago, and Jeff Walz calls Geno his daddy.

 

[bballnut90]

I'm not sure what loss to DePaul you're referring to. There has certainly been no such loss in 2012. Uconn almost lost to DePaul in 2008, but that was averted thanks to Maya Moore's miracle.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina loss to Uconn this season was played in Columbia and wasn't all that close. It was a 12-point victory by uconn that was a 20-point lead at one point.

Agree that Muffet and Kim are terrific HCs who are worth their weight in gold.

Uconn will experience some drop off after this season with departures of two all-timers and what rapidly turned into the probable departure of Tuck Norris. However, there is talent returning and talent joining forces with the Huskies. This all makes for a roster with depth, an intimidating skill set, and championship experience. I'm not predicting Uconn will win the NC next season, but another 2012-type season (including a run to the national semis and a #1 seed) would not shock me at all.

I mean St. John's.....UCONN had 1 bad loss in 2012. I don't know off hand, but I believe ND had a bad loss or two as well that year.

 

[UcMiami]

ETT - Baylor while not playing a killer schedule, did in fact play a pretty decent one OOC this year with games against teams in the middle of the rankings - I would like to see them schedule tougher competition OOC because I really do think the Big12 is nothing like it used to be just five years ago - OK, OK State, have slipped a little, the rest of the field has slipped a lot TAMU is gone, and the only riser is a still learning TX.

JoePgh - I think TX may be a little over-ranked at the moment, but as other says, who is going to replace them in the top ten when no one else is really distinguishing themselves from he pack. I think it is more that they haven't yet learned how to play in the big games, and it is a learning curve for teams. They are probably better than they show against Baylor, but Baylor most definitely does have that big game experience down.

 

[Orangutan]

I mean St. John's.....UCONN had 1 bad loss in 2012. I don't know off hand, but I believe ND had a bad loss or two as well that year.

ND lost to West Virginia that year, which is the bad loss you are thinking of. Their other two pre-tournament losses that year were to Baylor in the regular season and UConn in the Big East tournament final.