Do you think so many top ranked losing recently is a coincidence?

[blkkirk]

Interested in everyone's thoughts. I have a feeling that the accumulated stress of Covid is sinking in. Being able to be so focused and on point must be incredibly difficult.

 

[geordi]

It's a coincidence of schedule. Lots of to ranked teams lose at the same time in late March too, when they have to play each other.

 

[Kaizen]

No, the women basketball has been improved significantly during the last few years. More talent players have been discovered. So no more super strong schools and every school can beat the others. This is good for women basketball.

 

[southofnorth]

I would think it’s a combination of the weird season and more teams being better. It’s typically UConn and everyone else, with everyone else losing to teams you’d expect them to beat easily. This year just happens to be a year when UConn was on the wrong end of an upset. Certainly makes the tournament more interesting!

 

[huskeynut]

Well one thing is sure, there is no "favorite" to win it all this season.

Why - the whole season is off kilter. Inconsistent game schedule due to COVID pauses. No fans or some fans - depends on states, isolation of players and coaching staff. Completely abnormal existence for these players.

 

[hoopsfan22]

It's the parity everyone wanted so badly for WCBB. Personally I was happy with the UConn plus everyone else regime, but hey, I realize that's probably a minority position.

 

[CocoHusky]

No. There this COVID thing + the top 5-10 teams are more closely matched than they were even just a year ago.
This will make for a very interesting tournament if we get that far. The tournament winner could be any team ranked 1-15.

 

[Argonaut]

I think a little bit of it, too, has to do with the lack of depth for upperclassmen. You have really strong freshmen and sophomore classes around the country, but they obviously lack experience. So you're seeing experienced teams that may not be as good night in and night out finding ways to beat young, really talented teams that are more prone to jitters.

 

[uconnever]

COVID-19 mostly. I don’t think we lose to Arkansas during a regular season. I dont care what anyone says. Dungee went off and won that game for her team but I think we are more cohesive in a regular season. You can say that for any team, but UConn more so than any other team. I think COVID has pulled us back to the pack. I can feel it in the demeanor of the team and coaches.

 

[Zinethar]

I agree it is mostly due to COVID-19 interruptions of schedule and practice and wild difference in the number of games played. Arkansas had played close to double the number of games as UConn when they played and had a much more experienced team experience wise. That contributed in the loss we are all familiar with but I susp[ect the same sort of things play into other teams losses too.

 

[diggerfoot]

I recall when, even during our most dominant seasons, @HuskyNan would point out to angst-ridden posters what happens every season around this time, that there is a dip in consistency and sharpness. The college season is long for nonprofessionals. Keeping mentally in the game, every game, is very much something that needs to be conditioned over time. This is not unique to UConn.

UConn was so dominant at times that it prevented the consequences of such dips in consistency midseason. For merely great teams, including UConn this year, inconsistency could mean a loss if it did not coincide with a dip in consistency from a worthy opponent at the same time. If anything, a Covid season makes these dips in consistency even greater.

I agree with all the others that think there are a number of teams who could win it all and not too much should be read into a loss midseason. The two most salient factors to me right now is that UConn is usually a team that performs at its best in March. The other is that SC's loss came early season, like last year, and NC State's loss came with Cunane out. That may indicate that at least those two teams also will perform at their best during March as well. We shall see.

 

[JordyG]

I recall when, even during our most dominant seasons, @HuskyNan would point out to angst-ridden posters what happens every season around this time, that there is a dip in consistency and sharpness. The college season is long for nonprofessionals. Keeping mentally in the game, every game, is very much something that needs to be conditioned over time. This is not unique to UConn.

UConn was so dominant at times that it prevented the consequences of such dips in consistency midseason. For merely great teams, including UConn this year, inconsistency could mean a loss if it did not coincide with a dip in consistency from a worthy opponent at the same time. If anything, a Covid season makes these dips in consistency even greater.

I agree with all the others that think there are a number of teams who could win it all and not too much should be read into a loss midseason. The two most salient factors to me right now is that UConn is usually a team that performs at its best in March. The other is that SC's loss came early season, like last year, and NC State's loss came with Cunane out. That may indicate that at least those two teams also will perform at their best during March as well. We shall see.

I absolutely agree with your post. The major problem with this season is players across the country cannot establish any sort of rhythm with their game. They've barely put in the number of repetitions necessary to play with any efficiency on either end of the court. By this time last year UConn had played 22 games. This season they've played a sputtering 12 games. Even with that it's not the number, but its intermittency, and that applies to every team in the country.

I've stated early and often that the Championships should be delayed at least a month. I think by March teams are going to have varying degrees of mental and physical readiness and preparedness for the tournament, and this isn't quite fair. These losses that we're seeing by top teams seem to me to be evidence of this lack of preparedness. At this point after 12 games coaches like Geno barely know what they have. By the way, let's add early arrivals like Saylor Poffenbarger to the mix. By June you're going to see entire teams that are COVID inoculated, and that would make a big mental and physical difference.

 

[DEpup]

Its called COVID. Covid impacted summer preparation, fall practice, preseason, OOC portion, and now teams are going in and out of pauses with games scheduled within hours... this chaos all leads to chaotic results.

 

[CL82]

Conspiracy Kitty says:
There are no coincidences.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

The NCAA tournament is up for grabs this year IMO. I think in order to win
you are going to need some luck. Luck in being paired with an opponent that
you match up well with. Luck in catching an opponent when they're having an
off night. Luck in having some lesser team knock off a tough opponent on
your side of the bracket (ala Louisville v. Baylor some years back).

UConn can win it all or lose in the sweet sixteen.

 

[Jim]

Azzi hasn't arrived and UConn isn't bad for basketball....yet.

 

[freshler40]

I think a little bit of it, too, has to do with the lack of depth for upperclassmen. You have really strong freshmen and sophomore classes around the country, but they obviously lack experience. So you're seeing experienced teams that may not be as good night in and night out finding ways to beat young, really talented teams that are more prone to jitters.

The women's game is getting like the men's. Look at Duke, KY, Louisville, lots of first rounders but no consistency in the play and perhaps hard to coach some of these players. These players are on their way to some place else, the pros. Another factor is the number of transfers and how coaches fit them in to their playing plans.

In last nights NCS game, their point guard was a 5th year transfer with lots of true experience over many freshmen. With the new transfer rules and one more year of eligibility, the top teams will be offered lots of opportunity to acquire top players or keep existing ones for another year of playing. Next year will be an amazing higher level of play. A third factor is the financial one facing the WNBA with one year of lost admissions greatly hurting them. Thus they won't be in position to offering much to recent grads so the potential grads may stay another year in college.

 

[Bigboote]

If the whole covid thing wasn't so horrible, I'd say this season is an absolute blast. I love the unpredictability and the fact that rather than three or four teams, there are more than 10 that could get hot or lucky and win it all.

 

[Argonaut]

The women's game is getting like the men's. Look at Duke, KY, Louisville, lots of first rounders but no consistency in the play and perhaps hard to coach some of these players. These players are on their way to some place else, the pros. Another factor is the number of transfers and how coaches fit them in to their playing plans.

In last nights NCS game, their point guard was a 5th year transfer with lots of true experience over many freshmen. With the new transfer rules and one more year of eligibility, the top teams will be offered lots of opportunity to acquire top players or keep existing ones for another year of playing. Next year will be an amazing higher level of play. A third factor is the financial one facing the WNBA with one year of lost admissions greatly hurting them. Thus they won't be in position to offering much to recent grads so the potential grads may stay another year in college.

I don't think the women's game is quite there -- the number of players who have been three and done will never be equivalent to the number of one and done players in the men's game. The extra year of eligibility will entice some players who are on the draft bubble and just need an extra year of coaching, but I don't see it having a huge impact for the top tier. Definitely agree that we're going to see some of the best in WCBB the next four years.

But as for the WNBA? The CBA takes care of any issues with salary, so I don't think the players will feel it in their bank accounts. My bigger fear is franchises folding when there is already not enough roster space for the talent that's out there.

 

[Vowelguy]

Losing a lot of talented players to graduation surely has something to do with it.
Just last year we had two pretty dominant teams.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I agree it is mostly due to COVID-19 interruptions of schedule and practice and wild difference in the number of games played. Arkansas had played close to double the number of games as UConn when they played and had a much more experienced team experience wise. That contributed in the loss we are all familiar with but I susp[ect the same sort of things play into other teams losses too.

True about the game differential, Arkansas has played among the most games for any team. Which, BTW, requires a bit of luck. But all things being equal, even though some of the games OOC for them were not particularly high quality, they were experience that other teams don't have. And as someone mentioned, "graduation", or departing players, on a team by team basis affects things with less time than usual to "gel".

Arizona has been a bit "off" by all reports this year, before their current "pause". Its rather inexplicable in some ways (key players returning, new players and transfers high quality) but the Covid protocols that affected practice and the erratic and limited game schedule undoubtedly played a part - and each team is going to respond differently.

All of that said, I don't really put the over-all upsets we have seen, both major and minor, as any "pattern"; it is a combo of the team's Covid experience affecting their readiness and the fact that a lot of teams don't have a lot of talent differential.