5 teams that could beat UConn (clickbait & a bit weird)

[bags27]

5 teams with a chance of beating UConn in the NCAA Women’s Tournament

I realize that, on any given night, blah, blah, blah.

but if everyone's healthy and the refs don't need new glasses, only 1 of these 5 that I truly fear....

 

[Plebe]

1. Golden State
2. Cleveland
3. ...

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't buy Washington or Oregon State.

I think Cuse is under-seeded, but they would need to play a perfect game to win. They would need 20 TOs from UConn and 15 threes. We beat them by about 30 last year, even counting a 16-0 run on their part.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Syracuse might have the best chance, only because they're the most likely to actually play us. They're actually badly underseeded at 8, I think this matchup was set up intentionally.

Stanford and ND are legit.

Washington scares me zero -- Geno will gameplan to shut down Plum, and our athleticism will neutralize Osahor.

Oregon State doesn't scare me either, too new to the big stage (despite the FF last year).

I would replace those with Maryland and Baylor.

 

[UConnNick]

Yawn. I refuse to be click baited into looking at any of these ridiculous lists. If Syracuse is one of the teams, the credibility of whomever put the list together is less than zero.

 

[tomcat]

A bad list by a semi-literate writer who contributes "content," paid by the word.

 

[LO TRADER]

I don't buy Washington or Oregon State.

I think Cuse is under-seeded, but they would need to play a perfect game to win. They would need 20 TOs from UConn and 15 threes. We beat them by about 30 last year, even counting a 16-0 run on their part.

I would have defended OSU before, but not after what I saw today. I think Rueck is a fine coach, but I'm not sure about some of his coaching (lack of coaching) during the games. Apart from Rueck, nobody from OSU could hit an open shot today, I mean nobody. If we had played a top 4 seeded team today, it would have been the end of the road. I can only hope they can turn it around vs Creighton on Sunday.

 

[Plebe]

I would have defended OSU before, but not after what I saw today. I think Rueck is a fine coach, but I'm not sure about some of his coaching (lack of coaching) during the games. Apart from Rueck, nobody from OSU could hit an open shot today, I mean nobody. If we had played a top 4 seeded team today, it would have been the end of the road. I can only hope they can turn it around vs Creighton on Sunday.

I will say, although OSU should've handled LBSU more easily, the Beach is a tough stylistic matchup for OSU. This game had a similar feel and dynamic to the OSU-Marquette game early in the season, which OSU lost. Marquette was also undersized and similarly used its speed and 3-point shooting to stay close.

 

[j66kicker]

I would have defended OSU before, but not after what I saw today. I think Rueck is a fine coach, but I'm not sure about some of his coaching (lack of coaching) during the games. Apart from Rueck, nobody from OSU could hit an open shot today, I mean nobody. If we had played a top 4 seeded team today, it would have been the end of the road. I can only hope they can turn it around vs Creighton on Sunday.

Hey - you know what counts this time of year? You won. And you won when your best shooters couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. That's a good thing. Take the win and move on to fight another day.

 

[Plebe]

In all seriousness, I am not so haughty that I think that UConn can't lose. The margin of safety is smaller this year than it has been for four years.

And I don't think it takes a genius to come up with the 5 teams with the best chance against UConn:
1. Baylor
2. Notre Dame
3. South Carolina
4. Maryland
5. Stanford / Florida State (tie)

UConn might have to play 3 of these teams to win this year. But that will make this magical season that much more gratifying.

 

[Plebe]

Hey - you know what counts this time of year? You won. And you won when your best shooters couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. That's a good thing. Take the win and move on to fight another day.

I was gonna say as well, just when I thought OSU had perfected the art of winning ugly, they just win uglier. It really is who they are.

 

[Kaizen]

Watched Oregon State barely beat #15 seed LBSU 56-55 today.
No way Oregon State can reach final 4 ...

 

[JordyG]

I would have defended OSU before, but not after what I saw today. I think Rueck is a fine coach, but I'm not sure about some of his coaching (lack of coaching) during the games. Apart from Rueck, nobody from OSU could hit an open shot today, I mean nobody. If we had played a top 4 seeded team today, it would have been the end of the road. I can only hope they can turn it around vs Creighton on Sunday.

Slow your pulse and pump the breaks. Shouldn't be a problem. Teams have bad shooting days.

The thing is when you reach a certain level, a participant in the NCAA finals level, you find that every night you get the other teams best shot. Suddenly awful teams play wildly over their heads. When your team is playing less than well, well, it's a perfect storm. It's a hard and sometimes fatal lesson for a team to learn. Some team's for many reasons can't handle success. It's easy being a contender. It's hard to become champion. It's harder to remain so. Building a consistent winning culture is the hardest thing to do. That's what Rueck is try to do there, the hardest thing to do in sports. Every good team, every great team goes through it. Have patience my friend. It is my hope that when Geno does kiss the hardwood goodbye that it's Rueck that fills the void. Out of Covallis. But he has lots to learn. The administration has lots to learn. There's a ton of stuff you all need to go through before it happens. It's all incremental. But if Rueck stays the course through good and bad, and there's still a truck load of bad coming, he'll get there.

 

[LO TRADER]

I appreciate the support for winning ugly, and for our coaching staff. I honestly think it is Rueck that has the most to learn when it comes to coaching during the game. He has a superstar in Wiese, and every opposing coach is creating defenses that stop Wiese first, and are making the other Beavers beat them. LBST played a box & 1, basically a defender stuck with Wiese everywhere & 4 played zone. Rueck needs to be creative on how OSU handles various defensive schemes (in game). The good news is that we had Katie McWilliams back yesterday (sick during the PAC-12 tournament) to play the point. She is a rangy 6' 2" guard that is a great passer, and ran the point beautifully. Hopefully Rueck sees how successful McWilliams was yesterday (which takes pressure off of Wiese), and uses McWilliams at the point in the 4th quarter as needed.