AAC in the WNIT

[trisailin]

Tulane took care of business last night winning 53-52 over Alabama. A game which should NOT have been that close

 

[Nuyoika]

Tulane took care of business last night winning 53-52 over Alabama. A game which should NOT have been that close

I'm sure it was real ugly. Tulane only made 17 FG.

 

[EricLA]

Boy I'll say. Alabama was 0-11 in their conference and 15-15 on the year. Doesn't speak very well to how good Tulane is at all.

In other notes, Memphis takes on Tenn Martin today, Temple takes on Drexel tomorrow, and it looks like Rutgers accepted the bid (was there word that they might not? I know Duke did not accept a bid...)

 

[Nuyoika]

Hmm Duke did not accept the bid... I wonder why? I know C. Viv in the past has been reluctant to accept but in more recent years that hasn't been the case with her decreasing contract sizes.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Hmm Duke did not accept the bid... I wonder why? I know C. Viv in the past has been reluctant to accept but in more recent years that hasn't been the case with her decreasing contract sizes.

Duke tweeted that it was due to a depleted roster. Mentioned in another thread. Not necessarily true.

As to Rutgers, also mentioned in another thread, Vivian never wanted to go because, in the end, if you were not good enough to make the NCAA's (the goal) then why would you take the consolation prize like it meant something? I don't think going 2 years ago or this year have anything to do with her contract size, rather, I suspect the AD said "you are going". This year in particular, if fans are correct in assuming that she will be retained for the last 2 non-guaranteed years of her contract (and thereby getting to the 1000 win plateau) then any extra wins along the way will be good, since RU lacks star recruits.

 

[JRRRJ]

Boy I'll say. Alabama was 0-11 in their conference and 15-15 on the year. Doesn't speak very well to how good Tulane is at all.

In other notes, Memphis takes on Tenn Martin today, Temple takes on Drexel tomorrow, and it looks like Rutgers accepted the bid (was there word that they might not? I know Duke did not accept a bid...)

Why would such a team be invited to a post-season tourney?

 

[EricLA]

Why would such a team be invited to a post-season tourney?

Oh, you know, because it's the SEC and they are just THAT good...

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Why would such a team be invited to a post-season tourney?

Because the WNIT is a "for profit" venture. After they invite the mandatory "best remaining in conference" invitees across the board, I suspect the next group is any P5 team with a .500 or better record.

For the record, IIRC, the expansion of the field to 64 teams was tied into the NCAA's requirement that conferences all be represented.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Why would such a team be invited to a post-season tourney?

Actually they were 4-12 in their conference. Still a lousy team, but not quite as dreadful as Eric
would have it.

Your question is still relevant, and I expect Eric's answer is probably the right one.
They did beat Tennessee if that's worth anything.

 

[EricLA]

Not sure where I got 0-11. I should have known since teams usually play about 16 or so league games. I wish I could say it was the drugs, but I'm not on any LOL...

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Actually they were 4-12 in their conference. Still a lousy team, but not quite as dreadful as Eric
would have it.

Your question is still relevant, and I expect Eric's answer is probably the right one.
They did beat Tennessee if that's worth anything.

That just doesn't hold water. There are 6 B1G teams in the WNIT - all that good? Nah.

Basically, every P5 team that was .500 or better and not in the NCAA's is in the WNIT unless they (presumably) declined. Duke admitted it, USC almost certainly declined (they have and admitted to it in the past). Vanderbilt likely declined as well, as they were the designated SEC automatic bid..

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Not AAC related but Rachel Banham dropped 48 points in Minnesota win.

I know I know I am gonna get schooled on RPI and top wins but I would have rather seen Banham and one of the top team in the BIG10 in the tourney than 9 teams from the SEC.

 

[Fightin Choke]

That just doesn't hold water. There are 6 B1G teams in the WNIT - all that good? Nah.

Basically, every P5 team that was .500 or better and not in the NCAA's is in the WNIT unless they (presumably) declined. Duke admitted it, USC almost certainly declined (they have and admitted to it in the past). Vanderbilt likely declined as well, as they were the designated SEC automatic bid..

Actually, Arkansas received the automatic bid from the SEC, but they declined the it.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Not AAC related but Rachel Banham dropped 48 points in Minnesota win.

I know I know I am gonna get schooled on RPI and top wins but I would have rather seen Banham and one of the top team in the BIG10 in the tourney than 9 teams from the SEC.

Minnesota certainly would have been entertaining and I would rather have seen them myself, but Minnesota sunk their ship by have a truly pathetic OOC schedule (212th) and then losing some games they shouldn't have lost. They weaker the OOC schedule, the less margin for error you have. Their RPI rank was 77, well below the last at-large bid (Purdue at 67). And frankly, I see no reason to include Purdue either. The next worst RPI for an at-large team was 57th (Auburn).

 

[MilfordHusky]

Tulane took care of business last night winning 53-52 over Alabama. A game which should NOT have been that close

So an AAC team beat an SEC team.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Not AAC related but Rachel Banham dropped 48 points in Minnesota win.

I know I know I am gonna get schooled on RPI and top wins but I would have rather seen Banham and one of the top team in the BIG10 in the tourney than 9 teams from the SEC.

Congrats to Rachel! She had 23 points in the 3rd quarter and 35 in the second half. (In how many quarters did Tennessee fail to score 23 as a team?) She set the arena scoring record, male or female. She also set the WNIT record.

In scoring 48, Rachel reached 3,056 career points. In that one game, she passed Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw, Maya Moore, and Elena DelleDonne. Not too shabby! With 67 more points--2 games?--she can become the 3rd all-time leading scorer, behind only Jackie Stiles and Brittney Griner.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Griner scored that many points, I'm surprised