Indiana & other top teams go down (merged thread)

[hoopsfan22]

The conference tournaments seem a little overblown. I’m not sure they’re really necessary.

True for all sports really. When you play enough games, you don't need a tournament or post-season to determine the best team. After playing all the teams twice over the course of 2 months, is there anyone that doubts UConn is the best team in the conference?

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Angel was ok until she extended her arm

I think that was. Our old friend Dee Kantner making the call

 

[Tonyc]

Those top team losses will allow a team who is not ranked to get a chance to make the NCAAs. That means some bubble teams may get knocked out. The top teams will still get a bid to the NCAAs. A team who may not have made it now have a chance to make it.

 

[Carnac]

At least Kim didn't go out on the court like she did in last year's Tournament walking out half way to yell at the ref. She should have been T'd up on it.

No. She just cried and whined on the sidelines in disbelief. The game was too close for her to put her team further in the hole by getting a technical foul. Kim is a lot of things, but she's not stupid.

IMO Kim is a very good coach. Many of the top players coming from high school want to play for her. She knows how to use the portal to her advantage. Look at what she did at Baylor, and look at what she's done at LSU in only 2 years. She took an LSU team that was on life support previously coached by Nikki Fargas, and turn it into a top 4 nationaly ranked program. Mulkey has 3 national championships (2005, 2012, 2019) hanging from her belt.

 

[Bone Dog]

Thing is, I think the panel should give more weight to recent games, the "what have you done for me lately" thing. And the conference tourney is what the teams have done lately.

I agree. But oddly, the NET is a measure of “what have you done for me lately.” Early in the season it’s wildly inaccurate, because teams haven’t done much of anything at all. But by the end of February, it has verged on a pretty good reading of what teams are right now. Not a perfect reading, but a pretty good one.

 

[Carnac]

Agreed. I remind you that "CRAP HAPPENS." If I remember correctly, Louisville knocked them out of a semi-final championship game by 2 points in 2013 by shooting close to 65% from the field led by Shoni Schimmel. Things don't always go as planned or forecast.

 

[MSGRET]

I think that was. Our old friend Dee Kantner making the call

Wow, she finally had a correct call in a Tournament game.

 

[Jokerman619]

Did I not call LSU and Maryland going down. Now Iowa takes out Ohio state, Louisville takes out Virginia tech. And calling Tennessee over SC. So that puts the Huskies in the driver seat and control of

 

[Jokerman619]

Did I not call LSU and Maryland going down. Now Iowa takes out Ohio state, Louisville takes out Virginia tech. And calling Tennessee over SC. So that puts the Huskies in the driver seat and control of

Of thier on destiny.

 

[Jokerman619]

I saw UConn was ranked 9th. Well that all changes now with Caroline and Azzi back and a 30 pt blowout. This UConn team isnt the team that lost 5 games. This is a different team and I think the next 2 games will show that. We must stay healthy. We have the shooters/scorers we were missing, we have the bench we were missing, we will have alot less TO's now and we have the power to score alot of points. It may take a couple of games for our walking wounded to get going. Remember we are playing in CT this weekend and next weekend which will give us time to rest and practice with a full squad. We are gonna be a very tuff team to play against. Really Tuff.

You are so right.

 

[Linart]

Conference tourneys where a "lucky" winner gets an AQ are good for the sport. Fans LOVE a Cinderella story. As a matter of fact, the knock against the women's game was that there were no cinderellas. It was always the same teams at the top. In the men's tournament, we have teams every year who come out of nowhere and have some success. UConn versus Butler for the national championship comes to mind.

 

[Jokerman619]

Conference tourneys where a "lucky" winner gets an AQ are good for the sport. Fans LOVE a Cinderella story. As a matter of fact, the knock against the women's game was that there were no cinderellas. It was always the same teams at the top. In the men's tournament, we have teams every year who come out of nowhere and have some success. UConn versus Butler for the national championship comes to mind.

So we punish those teams who work thier butts off. I love to see all teams have a chance. But I will not stop supporting my Huskies.

 

[JellyBean]

The Beauty of March. Some great basketball yesterday with some upsets. This time of year, with a long regular season, I am impressed when teams run the table from wire to wire and when teams, you never thought that they would make it to the finals of their respective conference, make it. Pretty awesome.

 

[HuskyNan]

Did I not call LSU and Maryland going down. Now Iowa takes out Ohio state, Louisville takes out Virginia tech. And calling Tennessee over SC. So that puts the Huskies in the driver seat and control of

Even if South Carolina loses, it will still be the overall #1. There is no one that deserves to be ahead of them

 

[Bone Dog]

Yup. An SC loss in the conference finals isn’t enough to make them not the top overall seed. It is enough to give the other contenders some hope though.

 

[MSGRET]

Yesterday evening on one of the local channel's they had one of the Sports Book guru's spouting about the Women's tournament games and they were asked about who he considers to be a good bet besides SC to make the final four. After today's games he stated UConn is the only team that he would say is a good bet to be in the final four. With the way they played for the first three quarters, UConn could have scored another 15 to 20 points more if they had played their starters the full game. They will not be a dark horse if they stay healthy for the rest of the BET and NCAA's.

 

[Bone Dog]

I got to watch the tOSU game and was reminded how much fun it is to watch Jacy Sheldon play. She's like a water bug skittering across the court at top speed, creating havoc wherever she goes. I'm so glad she's back!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well there you go. St. Louis with their 17-17 record is going to the Dance, won the A-10 tourney. Clearly a team who doesn't deserve a bid, they are going to take one away from a better team somewhere.

 

[Jds]

I doubt the committee thinks this way, but in my view you generally shouldn't be a number 1 seed unless you at least make the tournament finals in a strong conference, because it means at least two teams in your conference are playing better than you are (going into the NCAA tournament). Obviously a team as (mostly) dominant as South Carolina is an exception (or powerhouses like Connecticut and Tennessee in previous years): South Carolina could have lost their first SEC tournament game and wouldn't even have been pushed out of the #1 overall seed. And you need to have a strong enough resume up to that point (so forget Tennessee or Washington State).

The candidates still standing for 1 seeds in my opinion should be South Carolina (obvious), Iowa, Virginia Tech, Connecticut, Ohio State (injury issues there too in some of their losses); maybe even Texas, Oklahoma, and UCLA. To be honest the string of upsets opened the door wide open.

I think you are right. If you are a highly ranked team with multiple losses and lose before you conference tournament final that should hurt your seeding. It's another case if you have only lost once or not at all. In the case of LSU sos shold hurt them.

 

[Bone Dog]

I doubt the committee thinks this way, but in my view you generally shouldn't be a number 1 seed unless you at least make the tournament finals in a strong conference, because it means at least two teams in your conference are playing better than you are (going into the NCAA tournament).

I think this is exactly how the committee thinks. You’ve hit the nail on the head.

The candidates still standing for 1 seeds in my opinion should be South Carolina (obvious), Iowa, Virginia Tech, Connecticut, Ohio State (injury issues there too in some of their losses)

I’m with you here too. tOSU is currently getting a serious beat down from Iowa, which should confirm them as a 3 seed or lower. As for the overall seeding, SC is obviously the top seed. But since we beat Iowa decisively without Dorka, and did it by Nika and Aubrey taking Clark out of the equation for much of the game we should be ahead of them. She’s their claim to a 1 seed, and we showed we could contain her. This tells me we should be at least the #3 overall seed.

And since Va Tech is #10 in the NET, it’s hard to see how they could be ranked ahead of the #2 NET ranked team. The committee will move teams up or down from their NET rank, but not that far, especially since only UConn and Stanford have shown they can play SC close. I’d be really surprised if Iowa or Va Tech gets to the NC game and if they do, SC will blow either of them out. I suspect the result the committee would prefer to see is a competitive NC game.

 

[nwhoopfan]

especially since only UConn and Stanford have shown they can play SC close.

Simply not true. Ole MIss took them to OT. Mississippi St. lost to them by 7. They also had 9 and 10 point winning margins, that's reasonably close (UCLA and Georgia.

 

[Bone Dog]

Simply not true. Ole MIss took them to OT. Mississippi St. lost to them by 7. They also had 9 and 10 point winning margins, that's reasonably close (UCLA and Georgia.

Good point. But Ole Miss is not a contender for a 1 or even a 3 seed. Not Georgia either. UCLA maybe, but it seems like a long shot to me.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Good point. But Ole Miss is not a contender for a 1 or even a 3 seed. Not Georgia either. UCLA maybe, but it seems like a long shot to me.

Okay. But most of the teams in the running for a #1 seed didn't play South Carolina, so we don't know if they also would've played them close.

edit--they blew out Maryland, but several of the other contenders didn't play them

 

[Bone Dog]

Okay. But most of the teams in the running for a #1 seed didn't play South Carolina, so we don't know if they also would've played them close.

edit--they blew out Maryland, but several of the other contenders didn't play them

Yes, that’s fair. I thought I made it clear I wa speculating about how Iowa or Va Tech might do against SC. Do you see it differently?

My sense is Beal would contain Clark and Czinano would be dominated in the paint. Similarly, Kitley is not nearly assertive enough to contend with Boston and Cardoso, and Va Tech’s backcourt is not good enough to make up for this.