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Message: [QUOTE="Carnac, post: 2377549, member: 5798"] We're looking at two sides of a coin here, or glass half empty/half full. It's perception. The bottom line is this game was viewed differently by each team and their fan base. Having beaten them by 65 points the year before, UConn did NOT take MS St. seriously. They did not view them as much of a threat as they did [B]Baylor, South Carolina, [/B]or[B] Notre Dame [/B]that year. Those 3 games were circled on UConn's calendar, and they were ready to play those games!!! So in my opinion, this was a [B]trap game[/B] for UConn. I can guarantee you that Mississippi State DID NOT look past UConn. This was the biggest game they played to date that season. NO TEAM opened up a can on them that year like UConn did to end their season in 2015. When your season ending loss is by [B]65 points[/B], you go back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong, then make corrections and adjustments. Look at how UConn has reacted to their 2 point over-time loss to end their season 7 months ago. They've moved on, but none of them have forgotten the bitter/sour taste that lingered in their mouths and the despair they felt for months afterwards. Everyday in practice, that game comes to mind at least once, and serves as motivation to get better individually, and collectively. Time heals all wounds, but memories last forever!!! :mad: I'll bet the team would rather open the season with [B]Mississippi State [/B](on the road if they had to) with a fresh 40 minutes, and the score reset to zero, rather than Stanford. Call it unfinished business or redemption, which ever you prefer. Similar to what [B]Notre Dame[/B] does every time they play the Huskies. They're still bent on exorcising those demons from years past. :) From my vantage point, Schaefer had his team more ready to play that evening than Geno did. Not that Geno didn't try. If you remember early in the season, Geno said [I]"they need to get their asses kicked, and soon[/I]". He knew what the impending result would be, and he wanted them to experience a loss, realize that they are not invincible, and go through the rest of the season with the determination and resolve a loss would bring. The loss came, but it came too late. MS came out hard and fast, hit the Huskies in the mouth, and did not step back. UConn was slow to counter, and played from behind the entire game. Something they were not use to. The Huskies picked a bad time to have an "off day". They could not get stops when they needed to, nor could they put sustained runs together. One more free throw in regulation, and UConn wins...........in regulation. They did not play well enough to win. In short, UConn lost their mojo for one night. I have not watched a replay of that game, and I won't. No need to, nothing to be gained. UConn got upset by a "dark horse" that [U]no one[/U] anticipated would get that far after the brackets were announced in early March. Mississippi State was not a #1 seed that was expected to reach the final four. That distinction went to [B]UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame [/B]and [B]South Carolina[/B]. MS ST was a #2 seed assigned to the Oklahoma City Region. Like last year, only one of the #1 seeds made it to the championship game. I'm like "[B]eebmg[/B]", I don't like "horror" movies. :confused:, so I don't watch them. IMO, this game falls in that category, from beginning to end. That season is over................R.I.P. The new season begins in 11 days. I'm looking forward, not back. :) Go Huskies, fulfill your destiny. [/QUOTE]

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