#2 Ohio State Goes Down

[MSGRET]

Some people on here are saying that Ohio State didn't have so and so. When UConn beat Iowa they not only didn't have Paige and Ice, they didn't have Dorka. They played only 7 with both Azzi and Nika going the full 40 minutes. Ohio State had yet to play a top 10 team until yesterday and they lost.

 

[npignatjr]

She's the best women's bb player on the planet bar none. Also, the only one I'd pay to watch play. After the horrific realization that the UConn game was not going to be televised where I could watch it, I turned to the Ohio State/Iowa game and was rewarded with another great performance by a woman who has no peer.
I was also reminded that the Huskies trailed Iowa by 14 points in quarter 3 last year, and that Azzi Fudd (remember her?) almost by herself erased that margin in a few minutes and set the stage for a UConn win. No slouch that Azzi either.

On the planet? This seasons game replay shows biggest lead was 11, scoring then was Azzi, Azzi, Ayanna, Ayanna, Azzi, 3 assists by Nika during the run, 13 total. Lou didn't have a big game, neither did Aubrey, Dorka didn't play. Clark 9-24. UConn's even without Azzi is better now. More focused, better defense, tougher.

 

[DefenseBB]

An okay schedule? Their schedule has been one of the better ones this season. Maybe they aren't top 3, but to pan their schedule in comparison to other programs isn't fair.

Let's revisit as the WCBB world stands right now.
Tennessee is unranked
Louisville is unranked
South Florida is unranked
Oregon is unranked
So who exactly have they beaten that is still ranked? Michigan, at home 66-57 and that's it.

I stand by my statement.

 

[HuskyNan]

An okay schedule? Their schedule has been one of the better ones this season. Maybe they aren't top 3, but to pan their schedule in comparison to other programs isn't fair.

Let's revisit as the WCBB world stands right now.
Tennessee is unranked
Louisville is unranked
South Florida is unranked
Oregon is unranked
So who exactly have they beaten that is still ranked? Michigan, at home 66-57 and that's it.

I stand by my statement.

Massey Ratings - Ohio State University Buckeyes

Ohio State University Buckeyes scores and predictions for each game of the season's schedule

masseyratings.com

 

[DefenseBB]

I

Massey Ratings - Ohio State University Buckeyes

Ohio State University Buckeyes scores and predictions for each game of the season's schedule

masseyratings.com

If you look at the main screen, you will see their "current played SoS is #13, their future SoS is #9 and if you look at their OOC as they can't control their conference schedule (and their conference is Excellent this year), the OOC has #21, #23 and #66 as the only 3 teams under #106 and the rest worse than #243. That is hardly great. Now the early part of their Big10 schedule is also littered with the runts of the pack, #90, #47, #96, #90, #53 with only Nebraska #38 and Michigan #15 being sort of noteworthy. Upcoming they have #5 Indiana, #10 Maryland twice and AT #15 Michigan and my guess is they lose 2 of those games.

So yeah, again I think they had a good schedule but nothing that warranted such lofty accolades. This team will not make the Elite 8. Still a great job by McGuff in coaching as he is often criticized for not coaching but just recruiting.

 

[MSGRET]

I actually see not only Ohio State losing more games, but I see ND losing more with Mabrey going down with the ACL tear. I just want to see how Charlie Creme handles it with the Bracketology down the road.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I

If you look at the main screen, you will see their "current played SoS is #13, their future SoS is #9 and if you look at their OOC as they can't control their conference schedule (and their conference is Excellent this year), the OOC has #21, #23 and #66 as the only 3 teams under #106 and the rest worse than #243. That is hardly great. Now the early part of their Big10 schedule is also littered with the runts of the pack, #90, #47, #96, #90, #53 with only Nebraska #38 and Michigan #15 being sort of noteworthy. Upcoming they have #5 Indiana, #10 Maryland twice and AT #15 Michigan and my guess is they lose 2 of those games.

So yeah, again I think they had a good schedule but nothing that warranted such lofty accolades. This team will not make the Elite 8. Still a great job by McGuff in coaching as he is often criticized for not coaching but just recruiting.

I think you missed the in depth article about Ohio State / McGuff in the Athletic (or one of its sister publications) the other day.

After falling short at the end of a season a few years back, he revamped his philosophy. Essentially, he is going to try to win with arguably less talent. Recruiting the right players, not the "best" players. It has resulted in a team that is very together, is very hard on each other (verbally as well) in practice, etc. Or so the article claimed.

I see no reason that tOSU can't make the Final Four. Like all teams not named UConn or South Carolina, there is probably a bit of "the luck of the draw" in the matter. Can you honestly say anyone besides UConn and South Carolina are lock-on favorites for the Final Four. I can't. I would favor Stanford over others, but not consider them a lock.

 

[dabears17]

Let's revisit as the WCBB world stands right now.
Tennessee is unranked
Louisville is unranked
South Florida is unranked
Oregon is unranked
So who exactly have they beaten that is still ranked? Michigan, at home 66-57 and that's it.

I stand by my statement.

Charlie Creme stated a week or two ago that UConn would be a #1 if Azzi was healthy. Beat Tennessee, have a good game against South Carolina, and UConn is a #1 seed. There is data out there to support different combinations of the top 8. Massey isn't perfect, but the one I use at this point in the season. They have UConn as #2.

Before yesterday's games someone on another board compiled this list of the top 10 teams and their wins against teams currently in the top 25:
AP Rank Team (Top 25 teams defeated)
1 South Carolina (3,8,10)
2 Ohio State (13, 22)
3 Stanford (8,9,17,19,25)
4 LSU (none)
5 UConn (10,16,20,24)
6 Indiana (10,15,22 twice)
7 Notre Dame (5,12)
8 UCLA (none)
9 Utah (14,25)
T-10 Iowa (13,18)
T-10 Maryland (5,7)

 

[oldhusky]

If we beat Tennessee, I can't see anyone in the AP thinking we don't rank in the top 4. The game against SC doesn't really matter for ranking or seeding. But the Tennessee game is important. And the Villanova game, too.

The real comedy is, whether they jump Iowa over us, they'll probably put LSU at #2

The only time I will be rooting for South Carolina is when they play LSU. I agree Tennessee is a key to getting a top 4 ranking. We can lose to South Carolina and still do it, if we run the table on the other games and the Big East tournament. We might need an additional loss or two from the other top contenders.

The Big Ten has so many really good teams that I think they will knock off each other enough that it will be hard for one team to only have a couple of losses. The ACC seems to also have plenty of teams at the top, so a similar situation there. LSU, however, might have a decent shot at wining all the games in their conference accept against South Carolina, so I think we need to root for South Carolina in those matchups. Tennessee might have a chance against them, but I think that is a longshot.

 

[Dillon77]

I

If you look at the main screen, you will see their "current played SoS is #13, their future SoS is #9 and if you look at their OOC as they can't control their conference schedule (and their conference is Excellent this year), the OOC has #21, #23 and #66 as the only 3 teams under #106 and the rest worse than #243. That is hardly great. Now the early part of their Big10 schedule is also littered with the runts of the pack, #90, #47, #96, #90, #53 with only Nebraska #38 and Michigan #15 being sort of noteworthy. Upcoming they have #5 Indiana, #10 Maryland twice and AT #15 Michigan and my guess is they lose 2 of those games.

So yeah, again I think they had a good schedule but nothing that warranted such lofty accolades. This team will not make the Elite 8. Still a great job by McGuff in coaching as he is often criticized for not coaching but just recruiting.

What's excellent for you? Top 10 in the entire country? Top 20? Playing the 13th-rated schedule isn't that far off. And to address an earlier post, Louisville and Tennesse who are yo-yo'ing this season, are back on the upswing (which probably helped contribute to that #13).

By "lofty" I assume you're referring to the AP rankings and/or (perhaps) the Creme bracketology? I think the undefeated string had as much to do with that as anything. Let's see how they do with the admittedly very hard part of their schedule coming up.

BTW, OSU lost a tough Sweet 16 match to Texas by 3 last year. Could they do better? Perhaps, but I think only with Sheldon back in the lineup.

 

[Dillon77]

but I see ND losing more with Mabrey going down with the ACL tear. I just want to see how Charlie Creme handles it with the Bracketology down the road.

??? Do you want to see if Charlie Creme adjusts where he rates ND based on Mabey's injury? Or on the losses that are going to happen based on Dara being out?

Dara was/is the fiery heart of the ND, which is expected of a Mabrey and was somewhat necessary on a team where a lot of key players don't wear their hearts on their sleeves (Westbeld, Citron). However, Dara's main other contribution was long-range shooting and she was in midst of one her worst slumps. She was under 30% from three for this year and was averaging 9.3 ppg.
While she has improved her man-on-man defense, she wasn't a great zone defender.

It will be interesting to see what Coach Ivey does. It's not so much who starts in her place, because Ivey will play whatever combination is working best for her that evening as the game progresses. But who will step? We know Miles will, but the two keys to me will be:

• have Maddy Westbeld be consistent, game in and game out.
• make Sonia Citron "selfish" in a good way. She shoots more than 50% from the field, nearly 50% from three and 86% from the line. She went 6 for 7 from three in the UVA game: let it rip.

We'll see the fallout soon enough: FSU and Duke are coming to South Bend soon.

 

[MSGRET]

??? Do you want to see if Charlie Creme adjusts where he rates ND based on Mabey's injury? Or on the losses that are going to happen based on Dara being out?

Dara was/is the fiery heart of the ND, which is expected of a Mabrey and was somewhat necessary on a team where a lot of key players don't wear their hearts on their sleeves (Westbeld, Citron). However, Dara's main other contribution was long-range shooting and she was in midst of one her worst slumps. She was under 30% from three for this year and was averaging 9.3 ppg.
While she has improved her man-on-man defense, she wasn't a great zone defender.

It will be interesting to see what Coach Ivey does. It's not so much who starts in her place, because Ivey will play whatever combination is working best for her that evening as the game progresses. But who will step? We know Miles will, but the two keys to me will be:

• have Maddy Westbeld be consistent, game in and game out.
• make Sonia Citron "selfish" in a good way. She shoots more than 50% from the field, nearly 50% from three and 86% from the line. She went 6 for 7 from three in the UVA game: let it rip.

We'll see the fallout soon enough: FSU and Duke are coming to South Bend soon.

I think it's a little of both, he keeps on coming up with reasons why on UConn even though they keep winning. I just want to see if he does the same with others.

 

[Florida Fan]

I

If you look at the main screen, you will see their "current played SoS is #13, their future SoS is #9 and if you look at their OOC as they can't control their conference schedule (and their conference is Excellent this year), the OOC has #21, #23 and #66 as the only 3 teams under #106 and the rest worse than #243. That is hardly great. Now the early part of their Big10 schedule is also littered with the runts of the pack, #90, #47, #96, #90, #53 with only Nebraska #38 and Michigan #15 being sort of noteworthy. Upcoming they have #5 Indiana, #10 Maryland twice and AT #15 Michigan and my guess is they lose 2 of those games.

So yeah, again I think they had a good schedule but nothing that warranted such lofty accolades. This team will not make the Elite 8. Still a great job by McGuff in coaching as he is often criticized for not coaching but just recruiting.

McGruff let his team go one on one down the stretch, so the passing stopped and Iowa pulled away; from my view, not good coaching.

 

[Alydar]

Tennessee is unranked

Correct. The media is over-hyping what in reality is a game between a highly ranked team and an unranked team. But there are a lot of pre-season voters who thought Tenn was a FF team and so if LSU beats them it will be Mulkey's "signature win" and CC will say "they are now locked into a one seed".

 

[Kaizen]

UConn beat Iowa on a neutral court but Iowa will probably move ahead of the Huskies in the poll

Not likely, Iowa is 16-4, and UConn is 18-2. Iowa may move to #4-5 and UConn #3-4. Just my opinion.

 

[Dillon77]

I think it's a little of both, he keeps on coming up with reasons why on UConn even though they keep winning. I just want to see if he does the same with others.

Got it, thanks.
If I've read correctly, the actual seeding committee (supposedly not just Charlie Creme ) can factor in who will be available or not when they're doing the actual seeding, so UConn (Fudd, Ducharme), ND (Mabrey), Ohio State (Sheldon) and others in a similar situation have some time to either get those players back and/or show "we're doing fine now, thank you very much."

 

[browns]

Charlie Creme stated a week or two ago that UConn would be a #1 if Azzi was healthy. Beat Tennessee, have a good game against South Carolina, and UConn is a #1 seed. There is data out there to support different combinations of the top 8. Massey isn't perfect, but the one I use at this point in the season. They have UConn as #2.

Before yesterday's games someone on another board compiled this list of the top 10 teams and their wins against teams currently in the top 25:
AP Rank Team (Top 25 teams defeated)
1 South Carolina (3,8,10)
2 Ohio State (13, 22)
3 Stanford (8,9,17,19,25)
4 LSU (none)
5 UConn (10,16,20,24)
6 Indiana (10,15,22 twice)
7 Notre Dame (5,12)
8 UCLA (none)
9 Utah (14,25)
T-10 Iowa (13,18)
T-10 Maryland (5,7)

I agree..theTenn game is huge..beat them and a lost to SC won't matter Uconn should win the rest of their games and get a #1 seed

 

[cancontent]

Let's revisit as the WCBB world stands right now.
Tennessee is unranked
Louisville is unranked
South Florida is unranked
Oregon is unranked
So who exactly have they beaten that is still ranked? Michigan, at home 66-57 and that's it.

I stand by my statement.

These teams were ranked when they played them at the time, with the exception of South Florida (I think). It was also was assumed Tennessee, Louisville and Oregon had the advantage when they played them, and they won these games. It doesn't take away what they've accomplished to date.

 

[Cuango]

Ohio State staying undefeated so long without arguably their best player for the last month or two has been really impressive. McGuff is a good coach. That said, this isn't a surprising loss, they were due to drop one. They will be a F4 contender when Sheldon comes back.

Agreed! Ohio State has definitely shown they are a team to be reckoned with. Guff has the mixture right with this team for sure. I don’t think this loss will affect them much either unless they lay an egg against Indiana.
I think the biggest beneficiary from this game is probably Clark’s Player of the Year candidacy. A triple double against the number 2 team in the country will earn her some votes she otherwise might not have gotten. I believe that award is hers to lose now. Barring a collapse on her part or, God forbid, an injury, it’s difficult to imagine anyone overtaking her at this point. Though a very long shot, I think our own Aaliyah is approaching competitive status for that award. If she really shows out against Tennessee and SC, she could make this a race.

 

[Carnac]

View attachment 83366

THIS is the way I want ALL of our girls to enter the game Thursday. With the same exact determination and resolve that Caitlan Clark had in that game. She showed up ready to kick some a**, and take some names, but no prisoners. Clark was ALL business that night.

 

[Carnac]

Who suffers their first loss first........South Carolina or LSU?

 

[MSGRET]

Considering that LSU plays the team in Orange prior to UConn playing SC, I say LSU.

 

[bballnut90]

Correct. The media is over-hyping what in reality is a game between a highly ranked team and an unranked team. But there are a lot of pre-season voters who thought Tenn was a FF team and so if LSU beats them it will be Mulkey's "signature win" and CC will say "they are now locked into a one seed".

Tennessee is trending up in a big way, I think they're a lot better than #26 right now. In hindsight they faced arguably the toughest non conference schedule of any team (Stanford, Ohio State, Indiana, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Gonzaga) and lost to all of them, but have gone 16-0 against the rest of their foes, and played Stanford/VaTech/Gonzaga extremely close. As a team they've really stepped up their effort and chemistry after losing Key and having Jackson get suspended. Rickea has played lights out since the Stanford game too which has really elevated them. Team effort isn't a question anymore which was a big problem in games early in the season. For the UCONN game specifically, the biggest question mark is the health of Jordan Horston. If she's not able to go or isn't 100% I don't think Tennessee has a good shot to beat UCONN since they just don't have enough offense to realistically compete, and UCONN is playing extremely well right now.

 

[Bone Dog]

Tennessee is trending up in a big way, I think they're a lot better than #26 right now. In hindsight they faced arguably the toughest non conference schedule of any team (Stanford, Ohio State, Indiana, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Gonzaga) and lost to all of them, but have gone 16-0 against the rest of their foes, and played Stanford/VaTech/Gonzaga extremely close. As a team they've really stepped up their effort and chemistry after losing Key and having Jackson get suspended. Rickea has played lights out since the Stanford game too which has really elevated them. Team effort isn't a question anymore which was a big problem in games early in the season. For the UCONN game specifically, the biggest question mark is the health of Jordan Horston. If she's not able to go or isn't 100% I don't think Tennessee has a good shot to beat UCONN since they just don't have enough offense to realistically compete, and UCONN is playing extremely well right now.

I agree about the upward trend. I'm not sure if I'd characterize what they're doing as "team effort," since they don't seem to play as a team for long stretches. Kellie harper seems to struggle to get all of them to accept the team concept. But Horston, Puckett, and Jackson have upped their games individually.

 

[bballnut90]

I agree about the upward trend. I'm not sure if I'd characterize what they're doing as "team effort," since they don't seem to play as a team for long stretches. Kellie harper seems to struggle to get all of them to accept the team concept. But Horston, Puckett, and Jackson have upped their games individually.

I'd say they're playing with a much better team effort overall compared to early in the season. Hustle, body language, overall defense, and taking care of the ball have all improved over the season. Part of that I think is fueled by adversity they've faced and I think they've settled into their roles after coming in with a ton of hype and flailing badly to start the season.

 

[Alydar]

Tennessee is trending up in a big way, I think they're a lot better than #26 right now. In hindsight they faced arguably the toughest non conference schedule of any team (Stanford, Ohio State, Indiana, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Gonzaga) and lost to all of them, but have gone 16-0 against the rest of their foes, and played Stanford/VaTech/Gonzaga extremely close. As a team they've really stepped up their effort and chemistry after losing Key and having Jackson get suspended. Rickea has played lights out since the Stanford game too which has really elevated them. Team effort isn't a question anymore which was a big problem in games early in the season. For the UCONN game specifically, the biggest question mark is the health of Jordan Horston. If she's not able to go or isn't 100% I don't think Tennessee has a good shot to beat UCONN since they just don't have enough offense to realistically compete, and UCONN is playing extremely well right now.

Massey has Tenn ranked 21st, offense- #16; defense - #38
UConn ranked 2nd, offense- #5; defense #3

Despite all the injuries UConn is playing their best basketball of the year right now. It should be a great atmosphere at TBA but I think UConn will win.