Felisha Legette-Jack merged thread

[AnonChoice]

The men's tournament at neutral still draws I think 1st & 2nd round women's games at neutral sites would not draw well

I am assuming the cost of neutral sites plus decreased revenue are factors in the current set up to play 2 rounds on home courts

The issue is the gap between the top 4-8 teams and the rest of women's basketball Most !st,2nd round games would probably be blowouts wherever they were played. Syracuse would most likely have been blown out last night even if the game was at Syracuse.

Correct. The structure of the women's tournament, with top seeds hosting two home games, is because neutral-site regionals would not draw well for the women in those first two rounds. And yes, the real underlying issue is the huge gap between the top teams and everyone else. It is what it is. The Syracuse coach's public outcry here, of taking this as though she/her program have been personally singled out, must indicate there's something else underneath all this, for her.

 

[meyers7]

With all of those issues, UConn has been the most successful program in the history of college basketball. Why even use the least amount of energy to dislike a school that’s not even in UConn’s area code? With all due respect, it’s just a little bit petty.

That's what being a fan is. Hating other teams is just as important, maybe more important at times, than cheering for your team.

People who do not hate other teams, are not real fans.

 

[AnonChoice]

What this boils down to is: "UConn makes us look worse than we [think we] are, therefore we shouldn't have to play them." If this coach is so very competitive, how does that message make her team better and more actually competitive? It doesn't. It says they can't handle top competition. Which, to be honest, most teams can't.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Syracuse isn’t a small newbie. They were in the National Championship game 8 years ago and Legette-Jack is trying to get them back there.

SU and UConn have been in the same bracket 5 of the last 7 years. I’d be tired of it too

A once proud program is now crying that they deserve a 10 seed instead of an 8 seed. Incredible.

 

[meyers7]

Syracuse isn’t a small newbie. They were in the National Championship game 8 years ago and Legette-Jack is trying to get them back there.

SU and UConn have been in the same bracket 5 of the last 7 years. I’d be tired of it too

I AM tired of it. I don't want to play Syracuse....again. Get us somebody new/different. A BIG reason I wish Iowa St had won.

 

[meyers7]

oh yeah, and the orange thing. which reminds me, i forgot my annual tradition of playing rocky top when tennessee gets knocked out.

 

[meyers7]

One would think that the committee would consider that fact - that Syracuse had been in UConn’s bracket in 4 of the last 6 years going into the 2026 tournament - before they placed them in a bracket. But I have the feeling that they are more focused on the upcoming potential matchups like mentor (Geno) vs mentee (Shea) than that.

Yeah, which make them more stupid. They could have had Princeton instead of Syracuse. A school closer AND with a mentor/mentee game.

 

[ucbart]

Syracuse isn’t a small newbie. They were in the National Championship game 8 years ago and Legette-Jack is trying to get them back there.

SU and UConn have been in the same bracket 5 of the last 7 years. I’d be tired of it too

As a UCONN fan that lives in Syracuse and was raised under the shadow of the Carrier Dome, I think FLJ was 100% correct in what she said. There is ZERO reason, besides proximity, that they should be put with UCONN every single NCAAT they play in. That would never be done in the mens tournament. Now, I realize that location is a massive factor, but it's tired at this point.

 

[Kolumbo]

I see her comments have already been posted. Here's DP

 

[msf22b]

One would think that the committee would consider that fact - that Syracuse had been in UConn’s bracket in 4 of the last 6 years going into the 2026 tournament - before they placed them in a bracket. But I have the feeling that they are more focused on the upcoming potential matchups like mentor (Geno) vs mentee (Shea) than that.

Except that…that is one stat that they probably don’t have or consider if they do and with all the new people on the committee, experience is meaningless...

So coach Jack is rightfully (or wrongly) calling it to their attention.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[PacoSwede]

I

WHY is that, Mr. Patrick? put 'em in another region and they would NOT have to face uconn until the FF (if they both reached it -- and maybe not until they met for the NC).

why should syracuse face uconn repeatedly before then? justify that, sir.

 

[Kolumbo]

WHY is that, Mr. Patrick? put 'em in another region and they would NOT have to face uconn until the FF (if they both reached it -- and maybe not until they met for the NC).

why should syracuse face uconn repeatedly before then? justify that, sir.

I checked tape. 2019 #3 cuse was in #1 Mississippi State's region and lost to #6 south dakota state in the second round. it's a cuse problem. as a 9 seed this year cuse wasn't getting past the 2nd round anyway, per usual.

 

[Dogstar]

While I agree that Coach Legette-Jack should have kept her frustrations to herself, here’s the deal she faces. When the Selection Committee fills the 68 team bracket there are a number of guidelines to space out the top schools from each conference. But when your team is a 9-seed, you are going to be placed with one of the #1 seeds. So if Syracuse wasn’t at UConn, they would have been at SC, TX or UCLA.

With that in mind, 2 things occurred that resulted in the matchup yesterday between Syracuse and UConn. Whenever possible, the Selection Committee attempts to accommodate fans. Syracuse fans could drive to UConn for the games, as opposed to flying to SC, TX or CA. The 2nd thing that happened was a good thing for Syracuse. They played a nice game in upsetting 8-seed Iowa St to get to the 2nd round.

Coach Legette-Jack’s statement is born from an embarrassing beat down by UConn yesterday. Through the years many coaches who’ve faced UConn have felt exactly the same way. That Coach Legette-Jack talked about her frustration should not in any way make a UConn fan “angry.” It should be a source of pride that no one really wants to play us.

Absolutely positively True...Sorry but being a 9 seed they were going the guillotine sooner than later, you can blame the judge, jury or the executioner but their fate would've been carried out in any region tht they would've been placed

 

[Phil]

Yeah, which make them more stupid. They could have had Princeton instead of Syracuse. A school closer AND with a mentor/mentee game.

And they are orange (if that was a consideration

 

[my2cents]

Her poor me rant is all over Sports media today and is not paying well for her and her program.

 

[oldude]

Her poor me rant is all over Sports media today and is not paying well for her and her program.

Unfortunate for Syracuse. It’s OK to think it. But don’t say it out loud to the cameras, particularly before the portal opens. It sends the wrong message to your kids, i.e. your freshman star who might just be wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else. It also sends the wrong message to anyone from another school who might just consider transferring to Syracuse. We can’t win big here because the NCAA is screwing us.

 

[RowdyFan]

It’s actually downright disrespectful to suggest that Syracuse would’ve had a better chance at UCLA or at Texas or at South Carolina. They would’ve been hammered by 30 minimum by each team. She might as well have said “we’re not good, might as well get a mini-vacation out of it!”

If you had to survive a winter in Lower Canada, you bet your boots you'd want to go somewhere warm in March 😎. My brother is a Syracuse alum(crew coxswain scholarship) and he couldn't wait to go to Henley-on-The-Thames because it was ~~~warmer there.

 

[RowdyFan]

one of my favorites!

 

[FanSince17]

Unfortunate for Syracuse. It’s OK to think it. But don’t say it out loud to the cameras, particularly before the portal opens. It sends the wrong message to your kids, i.e. your freshman star who might just be wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else. It also sends the wrong message to anyone from another school who might just consider transferring to Syracuse. We can’t win big here because the NCAA is screwing us.

Or they’re excited as heck to play in Gampel, which must be high on the list of campus venues.
Hey, many of us are old farts on here, could this be a case of Mr Wilson yelling at Dennis, “get the bleep off my lawn’.
Bad look, bad timing, a bit rude toward a great team led by an iconic coach who has been a lifelong ally.
Write a letter with the Univ President and AD’s endorsement or request a meeting with NCAA selection brass.

 

[my2cents]

Unfortunate for Syracuse. It’s OK to think it. But don’t say it out loud to the cameras, particularly before the portal opens. It sends the wrong message to your kids, i.e. your freshman star who might just be wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else. It also sends the wrong message to anyone from another school who might just consider transferring to Syracuse. We can’t win big here because the NCAA is screwing us.

Exactly. Who wants to go to a program that the NCAA Committee is out to get.?

 

[jaundicedeye]

This is a well-thought-out and positively framed tweet from coach Legette-Walker. No hint of the NCAA tournament committee "victim" take today. If only she hadn't been so quick with her emotions yesterday.

 

[OldSchooler]

Syracuse isn’t a small newbie. They were in the National Championship game 8 years ago and Legette-Jack is trying to get them back there.

SU and UConn have been in the same bracket 5 of the last 7 years. I’d be tired of it too

My reference to "small newbies" was not a reference to Syracuse. I should have started a new paragraph with that sentence.

 

[packwrap]

I think then Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer handled a similar beat down much more diplomatically after losing by 60 in the NCAA regional against UConn when he said at his presser after the game, “They are like piranhas at a roast. You can’t get that bone out of there fast enough.” I watched that clip many times, and had a good laugh each time. 🤣

Coach Schaefer also fixed this the old fashioned way, by improving and changing that MOV from -60 to +1 the next time they played.😰

On Syracuse the humor here is that the committee believes they are doing the Orange a favor each year by assigning them to a game site close to home...only a bus ride away in Storrs, CT instead of shipping them out West somewhere.

Who knows, Syracuse on the cusp of hosting first round games if they continue their upward trajectory. By Murphy's Law we can already pencil in their first eventual Sweet 16 opponent at the neutral regional site - the UConn Huskies.😁

 

[FanSince17]

I take back everything I said before. What she did last night was 3-dimensional chess.
1. She abruptly diverted attention away from her team and their poor performance.
2. She totally stood behind her players. She had their backs and they deserved some tougher words.
She only took questions about her team. We only want to hear opposing coaches lauding our players.
3. Her complaint was about playing UConn. That is the ultimate compliment to UConn. Would she complain about
Playing SC, UCLA or someone else. She’s giving Geno props. Geno knows. He’ll back her totally.

 

[oldude]

As this thread has gone on and I’ve seen several videos criticizing Coach Legette-Jack’s postgame remarks, it strikes me that this is both sad and unfortunate. I think most people know that Geno reached out to the Syracuse AD when the job was open, to strongly endorse Coach Legette-Jack for the job, based on his long relationship with her and the battle her Buffalo team put up when they visited Storrs during the tournament several years ago.

During the second half of the game Geno basically gave her a gift by taking off the press and pulling his starters before the 4th qtr. Had she thought about it she could have credited UConn as a great team, suggested they were not ready at the start of the game, but then take some pride in the fact that Syracuse played UConn evenly in the 2nd half at 33-33.

While that would have ignored the fact that UConn took their foot off the gas, it would have been a gracious, face saving way of dealing with the embarrassment of the first half. Unfortunately, Coach Legette-Jack let her disappointment get the better of her and she vented with some very unfortunate remarks.

 

[greenday61892]

The S-curve really only applies to the top 16, with the exception of trying to avoid conference matchups in the early rounds.

I thought the committee takes top 16 teams' preferred regional site into account before S curve?

 

[oldude]

I thought the committee takes top 16 teams' preferred regional site into account before S curve?

The S-curve comes first. Then you adjust for conference affiliation, separating any top 4 conference seeds from each other. After that, there may be some consideration for geography, usually just for the #1 and #2 seed, but I’m not entirely certain anymore.

Years ago, whenever UConn was a #1, you could pretty much guarantee they would be close to home when the regional was in either Bridgeport or Albany. Once they went to only 2 super regionals all that changed. This year, TX was penciled in to go to Sacramento until they beat SC in the SEC championship game. That got them a ticket to nearby Ft Worth.

 

[packwrap]

More fun...by virtue of being the overall #1 seed...we are assigned to the closest regional in Ft Worth, TX. 😁

 

[oldude]

More fun...by virtue of being the overall #1 seed...we are assigned to the closest regional in Ft Worth, TX. 😁

There are a bunch of UConn fans in TX. 😁