Indiana Daily Hoosier having a sip whine before the game

[tchalla1]

Wasn't Oklahoma on their home court when they gave up 105 points to a very young Notre Dame team who have mostly never been to an ncaa tournament before? The okies had many fans screaming for them to prevail. People say that Stanford has a home court advantage all the way up in Spokane, Washington. It must be close to 1,000 miles north of their campus and two states away. Uconn hardly ever plays in Bridgeport and the court there is the same size as the one in Indiana. Suck it up buttercup.

And don't forget Creighton knocking off Caitlyn Clark and Iowa right in the middle of the Hawkeyes' home court.... And LSU buried by OSU on their homecourt.. Homecourt isn't automatic...

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Stanford will only have an advantage the year Regionals are in Sacramento. Sacramento is about the same distance from Stanford as Bridgeport is from Storrs.

Portland is about the same distance from Stanford as Storrs is from Greensboro.

Spokane is about 900 miles away, and Seattle about 840 miles, from Stanford.

Actually, I forgot about other PAC teams that might be in that regional. I sort of know the distances, I don't fly so we have driven from Arizona to Spokane, Portland and Sacramento. All cool places.

My wife and I don't mind the NCAA trying this BUT we thought it was ridiculous to put the "west" site actually on the west coast. Vegas? Denver? I don't know, but in that regard this is an odd decision - the so called east sites are not all on the coast, even though the first 2 are close.

 

[PJCLaw]

Putting South Carolina in Greensboro, North Carolina is giving them a Home court advantage. Anyone who tries to argue otherwise is not being honest. Should people complain about South Carolina? Would it be more fair to have South Carolina in Bridgeport and UCONN in Greensboro?
Also what is the big deal about the home court.... It did not help Baylor, Iowa, and others.
Lets just play the game...

Exactly. In fact, North Carolina will have more of an advantage than even S.C. because Chapel Hill is only 50 miles from Greensboro, yet no one is talking about that!! I guess because no one expected that N.C. would make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

 

[Steve Frohock]

"if Indiana doesn't win the game"

Sorry, should read "when". IU is a mediocre team and got very lucky to beat Princeton.

 

[housekeys]

A home team gains two major things from a "home court". 1) There is a sense of familiarity/comfort level players get. 2) The crowd will "favor" the home team. That's it.

Bridgeport is not the UConn home court. UConn does not play in Bridgeport, so there is nothing gained in terms of familiarity. UConn does gain the favor of the crowd.

Iowa fans favored their team winning, but the Iowa team did not (as it turned out) take "advantage" and lost. Oklahoma, the same. UConn did not take "advantage" being the crowd favorite when they lost to Villanova at home. The US Men's soccer team plays at home in Texas but the crowd favors the opponent Mexico. Who has the advantage? Is it a "home field" advantage?

The crowd will favor UConn, that is it. UConn players have to make the baskets and Indiana was given the right to have referees who will "try" and make the rules apply the same to both teams. What's the problem?

 

[Tonyc]

Its gonna come down to UConns defense and weak side help. We have a bunch of really good guards and alot of depth at every position. The only way I see UConn being beat is if they beat themselves. This game could get ugly pretty quickly if UConn comes out on fire. The one thing we have been waiting for since Paiges return is to see Paige get back to where she was before she got hurt. This weekend we may see that.

 

[mbr33ct]

I don't think we would have beaten UCF if we weren't playing at home....or close to it.

One will never know, perhaps UConn could have won by a greater margin "if" UConn did not play at home ...or close to it. Funny, "if" works both ways.

 

[Argonaut]

Well, NC State coach Wes Moore actually did cryptically call it the 'Geno Invitational' when he was informed of the regional brackets. I'd say he might have an issue with it.

NC State had the opportunity to win their way into the Wes Invitational Greensboro regional.

In 2019, he was in Greensboro with Baylor, Iowa, and SC. Both NC State and SC lost pretty handily on the first day.

Pack your bags and play your games.

And I know that people are flustered, but the pairing with NC State legitimately followed the S-curve and Bridgeport is their closest available regional site. It might suck, but there isn't really anything too eyebrow raising.

 

[uconnsouth]

Just a reminder that in NCAA Baseball/softball, all games before the college World Series are played on the campus of the top seed.

Massive home field advantage.

This whole UConn hole court advantage is ridiculously overblown

 

[mbr33ct]

Indeed. If the regional were held in Albany, for instance, do you think they would still complain ? They would

I think the whiners don't want UConn anywhere close to the Northeast Region.

 

[hoopsfan22]

I think the whiners don't want UConn anywhere close to the Northeast Region.

View attachment 74804

Any site north of a Buffalo to Philly line is going to be considered a "home game" for UConn by the whiners. UConn has a larger footprint than any other school when it comes to WCBB, and the whiners consider that an unfair advantage whether they are whining about tourney sites or media coverage. You see the complaints all the time from fans of other teams when ESPN tweets about UConn, but not their team. Or UConn gets the prime time TV slot, but not their team. It's just jealousy I guess, but interesting in that they never consider UConn's mid-major status as a disadvantage.

 

[Urshurak]

So, If IU makes the final 4, they will be playing 589 miles from home. I think that might make them closer to home court advantage then anyone else. Need to look at a map...........

Wonder if the same writer will whine if that happens?

 

[Littlemin]

So after reading 6,982 posts about how important it was to get to Bridgeport, how it was unfair if Uconn didn’t, if this team lost and this team won, Uconn gets to Bridgeport, etc., etc., etc.
Now, it doesn’t matter and is no advantage?

 

[Charliebball]

Sorry, should read "when". IU is a mediocre team and got very lucky to beat Princeton.

sometimes they are mediocre and sometimes they can beat almost anybody......I hope it's the former on Saturday......

 

[azfan]

It's convenient for people to forget that around the country the womens game did not get the support from fans so tournament sites were picked to maximize ticket sales. It's why games are played at home courts and the regionals were placed where people would buy tickets. There is also a directive to minimize travel costs as most programs lose money. Most of this whining forgets the economics of the women's game.

As for advantages, many of the higher seeds, including IU were upset or pushed to the wire on their home court. iirc Home is worth a basket in most betting schemes.

The issue of neutral court versus home court for seeded teams in the postseason it's one that can keep us engaged, conversing, commenting and arguing for a long time.

Coach Abe articulated the neutral court perspective, one that has a significant contingent and a number of strong arguments.

Adia Barnes in her post game presser after the loss argued for the opposite with equal strength and analysis.

For the WBB fan without a horse in the race (NAU Lumberjacks) I think the case for neutral courts might be persuasive. Although I must admit as a Husky fan I absolutely love home courts.

Obviously for fans with a rooting interest the breakdown is along ranking lines. Fans of the higher ranked team love the opportunity to go to a home court contest. Fans of the lower ranked team would probably be equally passionate in their view for neutral court.

The one issue that rings in my mind is one of in court attendance. I would suspect that attendance would dip if games were all held on a true neutral court.

So for those of us who would like to see a higher profile for WBB, more energy and engagement, more attendance, and ultimately a movement toward equal exposure and resourcing I think this is a complex and extraordinarily important issue.

I would say right now to achieve the above goals we would want to continue to see home courts such as Iowa State, iowa, South Caolina, Tucson, and of course Connecticut. Those huge involved crowds really are an exemplar of what we'd like to see all across the sport.

But perhaps just perhaps if we take a long-term perspective locating the tournament at a true neutral side might offer opportunities for increasing interest in viewership and broadening the base. I think the rabid fans in our sport will always remain attached. I think the challenge is broadening that base to general sports fans or more casual fans. I'm not sure what the answer is but wouldn't it be great if those fans became more engaged. I know it would certainly help the game.

I think this is an extremely worthwhile topic and an important argument. Also it seems to be one on the by in which there's animated and informed discussion on both sides while still maintaining civility and collegiality. That may be one of the reasons I'm so engaged with it.

 

[Patty Bailey]

So after reading 6,982 posts about how important it was to get to Bridgeport, how it was unfair if Uconn didn’t, if this team lost and this team won, Uconn gets to Bridgeport, etc., etc., etc.
Now, it doesn’t matter and is no advantage?

Well personally, I just wanted my great seats I bought months ago to be worth it. No UConn, then I'm working instead of going to the games (tax season).

 

[jchusky]

Sorry, should read "when". IU is a mediocre team and got very lucky to beat Princeton.

Princeton beat Kentucky who just beat SC, I think you are underestimating Princeton. If we using this logic, "Uconn only won by 5 at home vs Ucf."

 

[Littlemin]

Well personally, I just wanted my great seats I bought months ago to be worth it. No UConn, then I'm working instead of going to the games (tax season).

And that circumstance is certainly not what I was addressing, I would feel the same way obviously. My bad for not caveating my comment.

 

[triaddukefan]

Exactly. In fact, North Carolina will have more of an advantage than even S.C. because Chapel Hill is only 50 miles from Greensboro, yet no one is talking about that!! I guess because no one expected that N.C. would make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

The only advantage NC has over SC is fewer minutes spent on a bus, so they will have fresher legs I presume. I'd bet anyone on here a New Haven Pizza that NC will have less fans than SC.

On second thought, I guess NC has the advantage of being more familiar with the rims.... but since they only spent 45 minutes of on court shooting in Greensboro on their last visit.... won't be that much of an advantage.

 

[freshler40]

I don't think we would have beaten UCF if we weren't playing at home....or close to it.

How do we miss so many lay-ups on our home court advantage???? Perhaps it's too much pressure to perform in front of the home fans???? Home house isn't always an advantage, golfers don't always win on their home course, there are too many variables like the other team being an underdog etc etc.

 

[oldude]

So, If IU makes the final 4, they will be playing 589 miles from home. I think that might make them closer to home court advantage then anyone else. Need to look at a map...........

Wonder if the same writer will whine if that happens?

Nope. The South Dakota Coyotes from Vermilion, SC are a mere 298 miles from Minneapolis. Of course they would need to get by Michigan and the winner of the Louisville/Tennessee game to earn a ticket to Minneapolis.

 

[oldude]

UConn fans always travel well. If the Huskies make it to Minneapolis I figure half the fans will be UConn fans and the other half will be Paige Bueckers fans..

 

[ProSkeptic]

I remember reading somewhere that oddsmakers give 3 points to visiting teams.

That’s the case in football. I think home court generally gets more weight in bball. You can see this in Massey’s matchups, where a lesser team is actually favored to win, or lose less miserably, based on hone court advantage. Of course, when at least half the fans are supporting UConn in an away game, that would kinda change things…