3-4 seed???

[FanFromMaine]

I see a lot of hand-wringing about a 3-4 seed for UConn this year. Why? That would mean that 9-15 teams were better than the Huskies. Where are they?

Good old Massey presently gives UConn the 4th highest power rating behind SC, NC State and Stanford and in front of Louisville, Texas and UT.

Where are these hidden behemoths of basketball beauty???

 

[Monte]

I see a lot of hand-wringing about a 3-4 seed for UConn this year. Why? That would mean that 9-15 teams were better than the Huskies. Where are they?

Good old Massey presently gives UConn the 4th highest power rating behind SC, NC State and Stanford and in front of Louisville, Texas and UT.

Where are these hidden behemoths of basketball beauty???

They LOST to Louisville!

 

[hoopsfan22]

Not being a top seed is a good thing because then they can just stick us in the Bridgeport region without much controversy. When you're one of the four number one seeds then all hell breaks loose in terms of justifying who goes where. If you're not a 1 or 2 seed, you tend to be placed in the region closest to home to maximize attendance and reduce travel costs unless there are other mitigating circumstances.

 

[Vowelguy]

UConn is in the 3-4-5 seed zone.
Depends on results rest of the way, and if the team gets PB & back and is playing demonstrably better.

 

[darkstar1]

It would be tough, I think, for the NCAA to make UConn less than a 2 or at worst 3 seed if Paige and Azzi are back and all others healthy before the tournament starts. Can you imagine being a 1 seed and having to play UConn to get into the regional final?

 

[Happydad745]

By March, if PG comes back and Azzi doesn't prove to be a dud, UConn will be a number 2 seed.

 

[LoboDays]

It will depend on the Tennessee game. A win and they are a 2. A lose and they are a 3….assuming they don’t lose a BE game.

 

[Dooooooomed]

The 1 seed that gets a healthy 4 seed UConn is gonna be pissed.

 

[Lorcan]

You'd almost wonder whether the NCAA would send UConn to a different region just to make it "fair" to the #1 in Bridgeport. Providing a #3 or #4 seed UConn with what is essentially a home court advantage in Bridgeport in my mind is tough to justify, but I fully admit that is the skeptic in me. I don't really know how you fairly seed UConn this season given the adversity that the program has faced. I would grant that anyone who wins the national championship does have to go through a gauntlet of games -- but if I could get a #4 Seed in Oklahoma, I'd much prefer that to having to face UConn in Bridgeport. I understand that UConn fans are willing to travel to Bridgeport, and that the NCAA does tend to reward the flagship programs who provide revenue. UConn also benefits in this instance from having a weaker conference that doesn't have other teams that would prohibit them from going to Bridgeport -- which is what tends to happen to other teams in the ACC, Big 10, Pac-12 as the closest regional typically goes to the best team from the conference. In 2019, Stanford was shipped off to Chicago as a #2 seed due to this instead of getting to play in Portland.

I wouldn't say that it's necessarily true that teams end up in the regional closest to them. In 2019, #5 seed Gonzaga was placed in the Albany regional despite Portland being available. There are certainly examples where this is true. Also in 2019, #6 DePaul and #5 Marquette were placed in the Chicago region. #9 North Carolina managed to get placed in Greensboro.

All this is to say that the committee has some tough decisions ahead -- and we don't really get any insights into their thinking beforehand as I'm not aware of them doing a Top 16 reveal this year AFAIK.

 

[bballnut90]

I see a lot of hand-wringing about a 3-4 seed for UConn this year. Why? That would mean that 9-15 teams were better than the Huskies. Where are they?

Good old Massey presently gives UConn the 4th highest power rating behind SC, NC State and Stanford and in front of Louisville, Texas and UT.

Where are these hidden behemoths of basketball beauty???

Every other team on the 1, 2, 3 or 4 seed line has better wins than UCONN or has a better record (BYU). UCONN is likely a 4 seed right now and could potentially drop to a 5 seed depending on how the rest of the season unfolds. The problem for the Huskies is that they just don't have any marquee wins. In order to be viewed as a top 10-15 team, you have to beat other top tier teams. The Huskies are 1-4 vs. teams that are likely top 4-5 seeds. Their win over Notre Dame is good (5 seed), but besides that the only wins over likely tournament teams are Arkansas (bubble team), Creighton (bubble team), UCLA (bubble team), and South Florida (8 seed). That's not a strong resume. A win over Tennessee in a couple of weeks would cement UCONN's spot as a 3 or 4 seed IMO since it'd give UCONN a signature win over a top 10 team.

The committee could give some leeway to UCONN if Paige comes back and it appears that UCONN is firing on all cylinders, but even with Paige there weren't any marquee wins for UCONN, so it's hard to give them credit as a top 10 team without any wins over strong opponents.

 

[mhshuskies]

The 1 seed that gets a healthy 4 seed UConn is gonna be pissed.

So true!

 

[Plebe]

I see a lot of hand-wringing about a 3-4 seed for UConn this year. Why? That would mean that 9-15 teams were better than the Huskies. Where are they?

Good old Massey presently gives UConn the 4th highest power rating behind SC, NC State and Stanford and in front of Louisville, Texas and UT.

Where are these hidden behemoths of basketball beauty???

At this time, a 3 seed is quite optimistic.

Massey is not a factor in seeding. Recall that North Carolina was in the top 3 of Massey quite recently and is currently at #9. Again, completely irrelevant to the committee's deliberations.

UConn's best wins are over Notre Dame and South Florida. And those were with Paige. If god forbid Paige doesn't come back, the committee will likely discount if not disregard those two wins. After that, our best win may turn out to be over DePaul, unless we can somehow manage to beat Tennessee, which at this time seems improbable.

 

[Zinethar]

I often wonder why some here claim to be UConn fans when they constantly sell them so short. I guess there is no pleasing everyone. Seedings are very subjective. Everyone knows UConn is short handed with 4 of their best players missing the last couple of games or more. The games where they looked the worst were with unexpected players missing and no time to prepare for their absence. Voters cut you a break on that. In half of their losses (to top teams) they were ahead in the 4th quarter. Assuming the missing (except unfortunately Aubrey) will be back UConn will work their way back into the top 10 easily as others lose.

 

[LETTERL]

The 1 seed that gets a healthy 4 seed UConn is gonna be pissed.

And what would you want to bet that 1 seed would be NC State?

 

[Bald Husky]

If UConn gets everyone back with enough time to work out the chemistry kinks, the committee will have a tough time making a decision on their seeding. The committee looks at the whole body of work, but pays particular attention to the last 10 games played. When they play Tennessee, Paige will not be back so it would be a tall order to beat them. That would be the last chance for them to show that they are a top 4 seed, but of course Paige returning afterwards would really muddy the waters concerning their selection status. If at full strength, it would be unfair to the real 1 seed if they had to play us before the elite 8. A 3 seed is where they will end up if we are whole and playing well. If the committee bends to public pressure that they don't deserve a seed that high, then a six should satisfy the critics and still avoid a game with the 1 seed. The point is, the committee will do everything possible to avoid screwing the 1 seed if they are in UConns region, and this I agree with.

 

[jchusky]

And what would you want to bet that 1 seed would be NC State?

it is currently the current bracketology. I don't think Nc st is afraid of Uconn tho. This region is insane, they have Arizona a 2, Texas a 3, Maryland a 6 and even Iowa an 8. Before we start talking about "1 seed would be mad to face Uconn" first they have to get through the rd of 32 matchup which could be Iowa again.

 

[Blakeon18]

'Tis annoying but LadyVol is in the mix for a one seed. Only loss to Stanford.
I am guessing that they play South Carolina only once in the regular season.
A split with SC...assuming they meet in the SEC tourney would not hurt them...might even help them.
They could get bumped off a couple of times in the regular season beyond the SC game....notably against
the Good Guys up here...hopefully CW and Azzi will be back for that one.

LadyVol in Bridgeport...whatever their seed? We get there too...might make for a rather juiced crowd.
If I were a LadyVol fan, I would be delighted they are playing....but I would only consider them 'back' if they make the final four. Last made in 2008...yikes! A modest wager on that long stretch of no final fours would have made you a tidy sum...
especially if you went down to Knoxville in a UConn outfit and hung around their gym looking for takers...they would have bum-rushed you with cash in hand to make that bet.

 

[bballnut90]

I often wonder why some here claim to be UConn fans when they constantly sell them so short. I guess there is no pleasing everyone. Seedings are very subjective. Everyone knows UConn is short handed with 4 of their best players missing the last couple of games or more. The games where they looked the worst were with unexpected players missing and no time to prepare for their absence. Voters cut you a break on that. In half of their losses (to top teams) they were ahead in the 4th quarter. Assuming the missing (except unfortunately Aubrey) will be back UConn will work their way back into the top 10 easily as others lose.

I don't think anyone is selling UCONN short or saying they think UCONN doesn't have a shot to make a deep tournament run (or to even win it all), they're just predicting where the committee will place them. Seed placement is what a team had earned based on their body of work from the regular season and conference tournament. It doesn't take history and polls into consideration.

 

[visitingcock]

Win out, including Tennessee, get Paige back for the BE tourney and you have a shot as the last #2 seed.

Lose to Tennessee, but win out otherwise #3 seed.

Lose to Tennessee and BE teams 4 seed

 

[Waquoit]

I think some fans here are experiencing the real world for the first time. The goal is to be hitting on all cylinders in mid-March not mid-January. A few losses now doesn't mean squat if they lead to a cohesive unit in a couple of months. Heck, I remember the year an undefeated team met a 10-loss team in the finals and lost by double digits.

 

[Rixxx]

1997 TN, I think.

 

[oldhusky]

It will depend on the Tennessee game. A win and they are a 2. A lose and they are a 3….assuming they don’t lose a BE game.

If you assume that Uconn is not yet ready to beat SC, then Tennessee is the only game left on the schedule where we could dramatically improve our status. Unfortunately the challenging part of our schedule has come and gone, just the opposite of teams in the Power 5 conferences.

Other than Tennessee our chances to improve our ranking will be based on winning games by 30 instead of 20 for example with more players healthy. We are expected to beat everyone in the Big East so running the table on them even by bigger margins helps, but only the Tennessee game can be a big difference maker and we probably need to win that without Paige and maybe Azzi. Teams ahead of us will probably lose a few more and we can increase that way, but the ability to achieve a 1 seed is out of our control, and a 2 seed might require a Tennessee win and running the table in the Big East.

 

[meyers7]

If we end up a 4 seed or above, that'll be fine. The important thing is getting healthy and some time to gel after everyone gets back.

 

[visitingcock]

From Creme's Bracketology:

All the metrics suggest that UConn is at worst a No. 4 seed and would host a pair of games in the NCAA tournament if it were to start today. But does the NCAA selection committee see the Huskies that way? That's one of the answers we will get Thursday when the NCAA reveals it current top-16 teams, the first look into how the committee evaluates the season so far. The No. 1 seeds should be South Carolina, NC State, Stanford and Tennessee -- in that order -- but there are bigger storylines: The front-loaded but now more competitive Big 12 could put anywhere from two to five teams on the list. BYU, the lone contender outside of the Power 5 conferences and the Big East, should also make the top 16.

Didn't realize that Thursday is the first committee reveal:

 

[CTBballfan243]

I would love it if UConn is a 6 seed or lower, and then just dummies everyone in their bracket and makes it to the final 4.