#8 in new AP Poll

[visitingcock]

South Carolina is good this year. Worthy of a number one ranking this year? Yes.

BUT

We are not some unstoppable juggernaut. We have not blown everybody away. Duke, UNC, Utah, and LSU have pushed us to the final minutes this year. UConn is better than those teams.

LSU didn’t have a “closer”. UConn does. Paige has already proven she can wield the final minutes dagger against a Dawn coached team. If y’all can hang around the whole game, Geno will prevent the mistakes that LSU made in the stretch run on Thursday.

I don’t think Kamilla will be there. And I think her primary backup, Watkins, will be in foul trouble down the stretch. Even if she is in the game at the end, she has been known to make mistakes when under pressure

We both have sim games to play before we meet. Good luck!

No. It will not be a miracle upset if you beat us. It will just be a mild upset.

 

[visitingcock]

Sorry. A court (sort of) awarded the Acronym “SC” to the Trojans in sports even though it is the official designation of our state.. More people in California say “SC” when referring to the Trojans than “USC.”

It’s best to avoid the stupid controversy by using SCar or the Gamecocks. We will also answer to Cocks. Of course “Carolina” brings in the UNC folks.

 

[FanInNC]

I’ll defer to any gamecock fans here, but living in NC all my life USC has been perfectly acceptable. I guess life as a gamecock is unique in the sense that two of the most commonly used names for your school also invoke other schools, USC and Carolina. Obviously anytime I hear Carolina I think of the baby blues so it’s hard for me to use that term - but if it gets in UNC-CH’s craw maybe I should start referring to the Cocks as Carolina always .

And I agree with the sentiment that South Carolina isn’t unbeatable. But I do think they are a cut above the rest right now.

 

[HuskyNan]

if UConn were somehow to win this game, (actually it should be), if SC were somehow to lose this game, at home, with a fully healthy roster, as the undefeated #1 ranked team in the country, it would be one of the greatest upsets of all time!

I can’t really come up with a greater mismatch in all the time I’ve followed women’s basketball! I know Louisville beating Griner’s Baylor team was a big one but at least Louisville had a full roster for that game! Stanford losing to the 16 seed Harvard was another memorable upset but, there again, a fully healthy roster for Harvard! This game makes David and Goliath look like even odds!

Not even close. UConn is a Top 10 team with the 2021 National player of the year, an All American HM, and a bunch of top 15 ranked players. The greatest upset of all time would be Butler beating SCarolina, not UConn

 

[LETTERL]

That's not egregious. It's comparable to, or better than, the current SOS rank of many other top 25 teams, e.g.:

Texas 47
NC State 43
LSU 65
Notre Dame 63
Baylor 41
Virginia Tech 57
Louisville 48
Michigan State 42
West Virginia 111
Oregon State 62

Where are you getting those SOS rankings from? Warren Nolan shows NC State with a SOS of 13. And NC State is tied with Creighton and Wake Forest for fewest Quad 4 games played to date (1).

 

[HuskyNan]

Where are you getting those SOS rankings from? Warren Nolan shows NC State with a SOS of 13. And NC State is tied with Creighton and Wake Forest for fewest Quad 4 games played to date (1).

Massey is close with an SOS of 16 to date

Massey Ratings - College Basketball Women's : NCAA D1 Ratings

Computer ratings and rankings for CBW (College Basketball Women's), with links to team predictions, scores, and schedules.

masseyratings.com

 

[Plebe]

Where are you getting those SOS rankings from? Warren Nolan shows NC State with a SOS of 13.

I'm using the NET SOS rankings. This is what the selection committee uses.

NCAA Statistics

stats.ncaa.org

Warren Nolan's SOS numbers are based on RPI, which I don't consider a good or important measure.

 

[Plebe]

And NC State is tied with Creighton and Wake Forest for fewest Quad 4 games played to date (1).

Again, you're basing this information on Nolan's use of the RPI, which is outdated.

Per the NET team sheets, NC State has played two Quad 4 games; UConn has played one; Creighton has played none.

The NET Nitty Gritty Report for NCAA Women's College Basketball | WarrenNolan.com

The NET Nitty Gritty Report for 2024 NCAA Women's College Basketball. This Is a Duplication of the Report Used by the Tournament Selection Committee to Determine At-Large Teams with Quadrants

www.warrennolan.com

 

[LETTERL]

Again, you're basing this information on Nolan's use of the RPI, which is outdated.

Per the NET team sheets, NC State has played two Quad 4 games; UConn has played one; Creighton has played none.

The NET Nitty Gritty Report for NCAA Women's College Basketball | WarrenNolan.com

The NET Nitty Gritty Report for 2024 NCAA Women's College Basketball. This Is a Duplication of the Report Used by the Tournament Selection Committee to Determine At-Large Teams with Quadrants

www.warrennolan.com

I am going to bookmark that NCAA site page. Thank you.

 

[Plebe]

I am going to bookmark that NCAA site page. Thank you.

You bet. It's a good one. Be sure to check the drop-down box at the top of the page to be sure the most recent date is selected.

 

[DefenseBB]

As the Trojans have largely been absent from the minds of WCBB fans for 40 years, the BY (not TBY or tBY) calls South Carolina SC and the “other one” USC….so as the phrase goes “when in Rome…” so @FanInNC as the newbie should acclimate themselves to the Boneyard Lexicon and any attempt to resist will be akin to Don Quixote tilting a sword at windmills.

 

[Cuango]

C’mon. The (NET) number 2 beating the NET number 1 would be only a mild upset.

Yeah, you can say what you will about NET or any other set of letters! South Carolina is a huge, prohibitive favorite in this game! They are fully healthy with the most talented roster in all of women’s basketball! (We might be close if we were healthy, but we’re not) we basically are playing them with five players! Ice & Q are clearly unreliable at this point! They are at home, undefeated, they have an unbelievable size advantage, and their one traditional weakness, their outside shooting, has not only been addressed, but they are now the best three point team in the country! If all that doesn’t add up to prohibitive favorite, I guess there’s nothing left to say! This would be one of the great upsets of all time if we were to somehow win!

 

[dabears17]

Massey has South Carolina #1 and UConn #2. Predicts South Carolina with a 73pct chance to win 73-65. South Carolina is suppose to win, so technically it will be an upset if UConn wins, but not a shocking upset.

 

[visitingcock]

Massey has South Carolina #1 and UConn #2. Predicts South Carolina with a 73pct chance to win 73-65. South Carolina is suppose to win, so technically it will be an upset if UConn wins, but not a shocking upset.

Right!

If Vandy beats SCar on Sunday, that’s a shocking upset. UConn would not be. Let’s say it would be (at most) a “newsworthy upset.”

 

[FanInNC]

Yeah, you can say what you will about NET or any other set of letters! South Carolina is a huge, prohibitive favorite in this game! They are fully healthy with the most talented roster in all of women’s basketball! (We might be close if we were healthy, but we’re not) we basically are playing them with five players! Ice & Q are clearly unreliable at this point! They are at home, undefeated, they have an unbelievable size advantage, and their one traditional weakness, their outside shooting, has not only been addressed, but they are now the best three point team in the country! If all that doesn’t add up to prohibitive favorite, I guess there’s nothing left to say! This would be one of the great upsets of all time if we were to somehow win!

A top 10 team beating the #1 team can’t be one of the greatest upsets of all time.

ND is ranked 15 (for now) and is 15.5 point underdogs today against UConn. ND beating UConn would be a bigger upset than UConn beating SC ( @DefenseBB see what I did there?). That’s not to diminish the hypothetical upset if it were to happen - it would be a fantastic win. But UConn isn’t some middling bubble team coming in as a 25 point dog.

 

[TN-Gamecock]

C’mon. The (NET) number 2 beating the NET number 1 would be only a mild upset.

EXACTLY!!! Maybe UCONN fans are doing the poor mouthing thing like some football coaches I know.....ala Saban, Spurrier and Holtz... Spurrier and Holtz would try to convince fans that Wesleyan University in Conn. could beat us by 6 touchdowns.

 

[Cuango]

South Carolina is good this year. Worthy of a number one ranking this year? Yes.

BUT

We are not some unstoppable juggernaut. We have not blown everybody away. Duke, UNC, Utah, and LSU have pushed us to the final minutes this year. UConn is better than those teams.

LSU didn’t have a “closer”. UConn does. Paige has already proven she can wield the final minutes dagger against a Dawn coached team. If y’all can hang around the whole game, Geno will prevent the mistakes that LSU made in the stretch run on Thursday.

I don’t think Kamilla will be there. And I think her primary backup, Watkins, will be in foul trouble down the stretch. Even if she is in the game at the end, she has been known to make mistakes when under pressure

We both have sim games to play before we meet. Good luck!

No. It will not be a miracle upset if you beat us. It will just be a mild upset.

Right!,,,

 

[maple]

C’mon. The (NET) number 2 beating the NET number 1 would be only a mild upset.

Agreed. UConn might have a depleted roster but they’re still one of the handful of teams that the casual fan would “expect” to be able to beat SC.

It would be an upset but most people would not be completely shocked.

 

[Cuango]

Not even close. UConn is a Top 10 team with the 2021 National player of the year, an All American HM, and a bunch of top 15 ranked players. The greatest upset of all time would be Butler beating SCarolina, not UConn

Yeah, call me when another team is playing 5 on 12 on the road with the undefeated #1 team in the country. It’s not the talent disparity in this case but rather the fact that we’re playing the #1 team in the country, on the road, with effectively five players, only one of which is above 6 foot, while they have 12, five of which are over 6’2” And whose guards, traditionally their weak spot, are now number one in the country on three point percentage! You say we have “a bunch of top 15 players” but I’m only seeing five that are likely to have any kind of major effect in this game.

Yes, we have played way beyond the sum of our parts, because as good as those parts are, there are not very many of them. We’ve been able to avoid the one mishap that would negate the skill of our players and the unbelievable job that Geno and his staff have done. What is that, you ask? Well, it’s foul trouble, especially on Aaliyah and/or Paige! How have we managed to avoid the foul problem? Because, since Geno went to the current lineup, we really haven’t had to face any highly skilled bigs, much less five of them on one team and of course, our players are relentlessly trained to avoid fouls!

That is exactly why, imo, this would be such a huge upset. Not the skill, we have the best player I’ve ever seen on our team! I just don’t think our undermanned team, as good as they are, as courageous as they are, will be able to avoid foul trouble against such an overwhelming advantage in skilled numbers! Obviously, most of the teams we’ve played, and beaten, also had more players than us. None of them, however, were South Carolina! I think Dawn, as she should, will attempt to make this into a very physical game that will directly attack our biggest weakness, which of course, is our depth.

She already showed us this strategy in the recent game with LSU where they were able to foul out Angel Reese which effectively won the game for them. We have way less margin of error than LSU did, so I think it’s pretty clear Aaliyah is going to be in for a tough night. Now, she is very good at avoiding foul trouble but I‘m just not sure she’ll be able to overcome the sheer numbers they will throw at her.

I want us to win, I desperately hope we win, but realistically, it’s just not very likely. I am somewhat encouraged though, by the fact that our South Carolina friends here are trying very hard to present this game as if it were very close and could go either way. So, they are either legitimately concerned or, more likely imo, just covering their bases on the off chance of an upset. (I’m hoping for “legitimately concerned” obviously)
Either way, I still say it would be a huge upset were we to beat SC in this game. Glorious for us of course!

 

[Drfla]

Good defense while Muhl was in. Her dumb fouls really hurt. Defense awful once Ice Brady in for Nika.
This team will not sniff the Top 10 the rest of the year, no matter how many 30 point Big East wins they get

 

[Darwin]

South Carolina is good this year. Worthy of a number one ranking this year? Yes.

BUT

We are not some unstoppable juggernaut. We have not blown everybody away. Duke, UNC, Utah, and LSU have pushed us to the final minutes this year. UConn is better than those teams.

LSU didn’t have a “closer”. UConn does. Paige has already proven she can wield the final minutes dagger against a Dawn coached team. If y’all can hang around the whole game, Geno will prevent the mistakes that LSU made in the stretch run on Thursday.

I don’t think Kamilla will be there. And I think her primary backup, Watkins, will be in foul trouble down the stretch. Even if she is in the game at the end, she has been known to make mistakes when under pressure

We both have sim games to play before we meet. Good luck!

No. It will not be a miracle upset if you beat us. It will just be a mild upset.

Uconn is not better than LSU.