ESPN "Experts" make their picks

[UConnCat]

All agree Albany is the toughest region.

Women's NCAA basketball tournament 2019 bracket expert picks

 

[Shenandoah]

I think that releasing the brackets ahead of the scheduled show on ESPN, it was a slap in the face to WCBB. The whole idea of having the bracket release show is supposed to be "Where is my team, and who is in our bracket?", and "What is our path to the final four?". By releasing the brackets 2 hours ahead of the scheduled show, they made the entire show irrelevant.

 

[UConnCat]

Quinnipiac plays South Dakota State in the first round in Syracuse. The Bobcats vs the Jackrabbits. Go Bobcats.

 

[IWearShoes]

I think that releasing the brackets ahead of the scheduled show on ESPN, it was a slap in the face to WCBB. The whole idea of having the bracket release show is supposed to be "Where is my team, and who is in our bracket?", and "What is our path to the final four?". By releasing the brackets 2 hours ahead of the scheduled show, they made the entire show irrelevant.

They had to since the brackets were mistakenly shown on ESPNU too early and were all over the internet.

 

[meyers7]

Quinnipiac plays South Dakota in the first round in Syracuse. The Bobcats vs the Jackrabbits. Go Bobcats.

They could be a real interesting game. Hope they show it around here.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Graham has us beating the Ducks in the title game. I'll take that!

All are surprised that UConn was a 2 seed and pick Louisville as the first 1 seed to lose.

 

[LoTrader]

Graham has us beating the Ducks in the title game. I'll take that!

All are surprised that UConn was a 2 seed and pick Louisville as the first 1 seed to lose.

Graham has us beating the Ducks in the title game. I'll take that!

All are surprised that UConn was a 2 seed and pick Louisville as the first 1 seed to lose.

Graham has us beating the Ducks in the title game. I'll take that!

All are surprised that UConn was a 2 seed and pick Louisville as the first 1 seed to lose.

I would have liked them telling us which game they thought Louisville would be eliminated?

 

[Bama fan]

They could be a real interesting game. Hope they show it around here.

I hope they are all on ESPN3

 

[Striper69]

SDSU in the Elite Eight.

You heard it here first.

 

[Striper69]

I think that releasing the brackets ahead of the scheduled show on ESPN, it was a slap in the face to WCBB. The whole idea of having the bracket release show is supposed to be "Where is my team, and who is in our bracket?", and "What is our path to the final four?". By releasing the brackets 2 hours ahead of the scheduled show, they made the entire show irrelevant.

It sukked.

I like watching the girls go nuts right after they're picked to go to the Big Dance.

 

[Wbbfan1]

I am surprised that the three experts picked UConn to make the Final Four. I presume they're picking Louisville to lose to UConn in the Elite 8 game as they all predicted Louisville to be the first #1 seed to lose. Along those lines two have Oregon in the Final Four, which means Miss St is also going to lose before the Final Four. I think Oregon has the size to beat Miss St if they're hitting their shots.

 

[meyers7]

I hope they are all on ESPN3

Yea, I'm pretty sure they all will be. Or ESPN+

 

[eebmg]

SDSU in the Elite Eight.

You heard it here first.

dont tell Quinnipiac.

 

[Triad]

I think that releasing the brackets ahead of the scheduled show on ESPN, it was a slap in the face to WCBB. The whole idea of having the bracket release show is supposed to be "Where is my team, and who is in our bracket?", and "What is our path to the final four?". By releasing the brackets 2 hours ahead of the scheduled show, they made the entire show irrelevant.

Sometimes a mistake is just a mistake. The first person who can stand up and say he/she never made a mistake-stand up for lying
The only people really hurt was the ESPN people. The big "reveal" wasn't so big. It changed nothing The bracket were as they were.
Few teams are ever really surprised.
The number 2 of UConn was fair, maybe accurate. We complain about the Vols even getting in--supposedly on their NAME, Uconn is Uconn while ranked Number 2 --we fan know we are and shall remain No. 1

 

[JoePgh]

I am surprised that the three experts picked UConn to make the Final Four. I presume they're picking Louisville to lose to UConn in the Elite 8 game as they all predicted Louisville to be the first #1 seed to lose. Along those lines two have Oregon in the Final Four, which means Miss St is also going to lose before the Final Four. I think Oregon has the size to beat Miss St if they're hitting their shots.

There is no ambiguity about the fact that all three "experts" are expecting UConn to beat Louisville (or Louisville to lose before that, perhaps to Oregon State), since they all predict UConn being in the Final Four.

What I find mysterious is that if UConn is the top #2 seed, does that imply that Louisville is the bottom #1 seed? (Maybe not, since the G -- for Geography -- trumps the S.) If Louisville were the bottom #1 seed, then you would expect the winner of the Albany region to face the overall #1 (Baylor) in the National Semifinal. But the bracket shows instead that the Albany winner will meet the Chicago winner. That seems to suggest that Louisville is indeed #3 overall, and is matched up with #5 overall (UConn) because of geography.

It does appear that for UConn to win NC #12, they will probably have to beat exactly the same three teams that they have already faced in their OOC schedule: Louisville, ND, and Baylor. As we all know, they were 1-2 against these teams in the regular season.

 

[CMC'72]

First No. 1 seed to lose
Creme: Louisville
Hays: Louisville
Voepel: Louisville

Love Geno's favorite waiter, Jeff Waltz, but afraid Louisville will be served up first.

 

[eebmg]

The UConn program still looms large over the landscape. I did not expect unanimous agreement for UConn into the F4 and Hays has us beating OU in the NC game.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The demise of UConn WCBB is greatly exaggerated. Wishful thinking on the part of some jealous coaches. 31-2 in a down year.

 

[Jmsdawg]

My take: MSST will play UConn in the NC game. MSST has a superb interior game (McCowan and Howard), the transition game (Jazz and Jo), decent outside game (AEH and Bree), and the best defense amoung the contenders. I think MSST will win the NC.

 

[Zanzman]

Lol

 

['nuff sed]

Quinnipiac plays South Dakota State in the first round in Syracuse. The Bobcats vs the Jackrabbits. Go Bobcats.

Should be very interesting

Tall order for Q on paper, but Q plays the kind of D that might throw SDSU off. Limit possessions and limit Miller and they have a shot here. Mid Major ratings are #1 SDSU vs #7 Q - on paper.

Go Jen Aryn Paula

 

[nwhoopfan]

Always interesting when a pairing like that occurs. Limits the potential of mid majors taking out P5 teams if you make them eliminate each other.

 

[Bayloralum]

My take: MSST will play UConn in the NC game. MSST has a superb interior game (McCowan and Howard), the transition game (Jazz and Jo), decent outside game (AEH and Bree), and the best defense amoung the contenders. I think MSST will win the NC.

Baylor has pretty good damn defense too!! It’ll be cool to see cox and brown vs McCowan and Howard!

 

[Jmsdawg]

Baylor has pretty good damn defense too!! It’ll be cool to see cox and brown vs McCowan and Howard!

Yes, that is a matchup I would love to see. If it happens I believe the winner of that game will be the National Champions.

 

[Bayloralum]

Yes, that is a matchup I would love to see. If it happens I believe the winner of that game will be the National Champions.

For sure! May the best team win! So ready for the tournament to begin

 

[j66kicker]

My take: MSST will play UConn in the NC game. MSST has a superb interior game (McCowan and Howard), the transition game (Jazz and Jo), decent outside game (AEH and Bree), and the best defense amoung the contenders. I think MSST will win the NC.

Sorry - Baylor will take out Miss St, and UConn will take out Baylor for all the marbles

 

[SimpleDawg]

Ehhh... I'm not that quick to predict that we'll win the National Championship. I don't make these type of predictions anyways.

But I think a final four with Baylor-UConn-Mississippi State-Notre Dame is as heavyweight as it gets. Probably if we go by paper, those will be the most "logical" bets.

But..... I can just smell tons of upsets. Not quite like 2015-2016 where it was upset-city - UConn the only 1 seed to make it to the Final Four. But I can just imagine scenarios in this tournament where there'll some major upsets coming our way.

...

 

[Jim R]

Ehhh... I'm not that quick to predict that we'll win the National Championship. I don't make these type of predictions anyways.

But I think a final four with Baylor-UConn-Mississippi State-Notre Dame is as heavyweight as it gets. Probably if we go by paper, those will be the most "logical" bets.

But..... I can just smell tons of upsets. Not quite like 2015-2016 where it was upset-city - UConn the only 1 seed to make it to the Final Four. But I can just imagine scenarios in this tournament where there'll some major upsets coming our way.

...

Concur, but the long pole in the tent is officiating....more so for Miss St than others. Without McCowan in the middle, they are much less effective.

 

[JoePgh]

My take: MSST will play UConn in the NC game. MSST has a superb interior game (McCowan and Howard), the transition game (Jazz and Jo), decent outside game (AEH and Bree), and the best defense amoung the contenders. I think MSST will win the NC.

You might want to look at the 538 article referenced on this forum, which contains a graph showing the offensive and defensive efficiency of each of the tournament teams. Surprisingly, UConn's defensive efficiency in that graph looks better than their offensive efficiency this year.

Mississippi State has a place of honor on that graph, but not where you might expect. Its offensive efficiency exceeds UConn's and Notre Dame's, and is second only to Oregon. However, its defensive efficiency is below both UConn's and Baylor's -- Baylor is the most defensively efficient team in the tournament by a significant margin, according to the graph. The Bulldogs are only slightly better defensively than Notre Dame, which is not too much of a compliment.

Of course, the input to this graph is influenced by strength of schedule, and (IMHO) it's pretty obvious that because of the strength of their conferences, ND and Oregon have played tougher overall schedules than UConn, Baylor, and Mississippi State. So ND is perhaps shown unfavorably on this graph in comparison to the latter three schools. Oregon's top offensive efficiency score is magnified by the strength of the PAC-12 conference against which they earned those numbers.

The graph suggests that UConn should make quick work of Louisville if they should meet in the Elite Eight. But of course, that conclusion is distorted by the effect of competition (ACC vs. AAC) on the statistics of both teams.

 

[Jmsdawg]

You might want to look at the 538 article referenced on this forum, which contains a graph showing the offensive and defensive efficiency of each of the tournament teams. Surprisingly, UConn's defensive efficiency in that graph looks better than their offensive efficiency this year.

Mississippi State has a place of honor on that graph, but not where you might expect. Its offensive efficiency exceeds UConn's and Notre Dame's, and is second only to Oregon. However, its defensive efficiency is below both UConn's and Baylor's -- Baylor is the most defensively efficient team in the tournament by a significant margin, according to the graph. The Bulldogs are only slightly better defensively than Notre Dame, which is not too much of a compliment.

Of course, the input to this graph is influenced by strength of schedule, and (IMHO) it's pretty obvious that because of the strength of their conferences, ND and Oregon have played tougher overall schedules than UConn, Baylor, and Mississippi State. So ND is perhaps shown unfavorably on this graph in comparison to the latter three schools. Oregon's top offensive efficiency score is magnified by the strength of the PAC-12 conference against which they earned those numbers.

The graph suggests that UConn should make quick work of Louisville if they should meet in the Elite Eight. But of course, that conclusion is distorted by the effect of competition (ACC vs. AAC) on the statistics of both teams.

My opinion is based upon watching the teams play. I admit MSST bias but I really see team defense amoung the elite as 1. MSST, 2. Baylor, 3. Stanford, 4. UConn, 5. ND, 6. Louisville. I only saw one Stanford game, tournament championship, against Oregon, they were awesome defense in that game. I consider rebounding to be a vital component of defense and that certainly is a strong point of both MSST and Baylor. This tournament will answer a lot of questions for me, must admit I would not place money down on any team to win NC today.