losing in the national semifinals...sometimes an omen?

[alexrgct]

What has followed uconn's six losses in the national semifinals? Well, 1991 was a building block season, whereas 1996 and 2011 only brought more disappointment on top of disappointment in ensuing seasons.

Having said that, I've been thinking about 2001, 2008, and 2012. Those were three devastating defeats that converted those three seasons into ones that got away. But..just think about what followed!

2001- a three-peat, a 70 game winning streak.
2008- a two-peat, a 90--game winning streak
2012- a three-peat, the possibility of a four-peat, 47 and 54-game-and-counting winning streaks.

I've talked a lot about the winning streaks here. Having said that, four of the top five winning streaks the sport has produced, as well as eight of ten national championships, began with three of the six national semifinals defeats suffered by Uconn.

Pretty crazy to think about. Is there something special about losing in the national semis, or is it just a coincidence?

At any rate, if we make and lose in the national semifinals this season, I'd feel as despondent as I did in 2011...

And if. we made and won the national semifinals game this season, I'll be thinking about the 10-0 record in NC games!

 

[UcMiami]

I think for a lot of teams the goal is to 'get to the final four' which is why Geno and CD both talk about the elite 8 game being the hardest game in the tournament. Once you win that elite eight game you have sort of 'arrived' at the goal, and with all the distractions of final four week and the satisfaction of having arrived, it can be harder to actually focus on the next game in the same way that you did for the previous one. Geno said that was a real problem in 1991, and the coaches learned a lot from that experience.
For Uconn - 2001 was the year after a an NC and the loss was likely a direct result of injuries. The team was returning TASS for the 2002, but they also had already been there in 2000. The two players that really talked about the experience were DT and Maria who were freshman, and sat in the locker room after the semi loss and discussed how they never wanted to experience that feeling again - but I think that had effect on 2003 and 2004 than 2002. TASS drove 2002.

In 2008 - absolutely buy into this - first time back to the FF since 2004 so a whole new team and one that had failed in the elite eight the last two years. That elite eight game in 2008 was a BIG deal, and I think they did not play their best game in the FF loss for the above sort of reasons - having focused so much energy on just getting there.

2012 - not buying it - they were in the middle of this current streak of 8 final fours - they just weren't good enough, and the next year they had improved. (Having added Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck certainly didn't hurt!)

 

[alexrgct]

No need to buy or not buy anything here. Just saying in three of the national semifinals losses, they were followed by three of the amazing runs in Uconn WBB lore. Not really worth debating. Just interesting to me as a fan.

I will say that in 2012, had Uconn stolen that game from ND, the Huskies might not have the unblemished record in NC games. They could be 10-1.

 

[bballnut90]

I think for a lot of teams the goal is to 'get to the final four' which is why Geno and CD both talk about the elite 8 game being the hardest game in the tournament. Once you win that elite eight game you have sort of 'arrived' at the goal, and with all the distractions of final four week and the satisfaction of having arrived, it can be harder to actually focus on the next game in the same way that you did for the previous one. Geno said that was a real problem in 1991, and the coaches learned a lot from that experience.
For Uconn - 2001 was the year after a an NC and the loss was likely a direct result of injuries. The team was returning TASS for the 2002, but they also had already been there in 2000. The two players that really talked about the experience were DT and Maria who were freshman, and sat in the locker room after the semi loss and discussed how they never wanted to experience that feeling again - but I think that had effect on 2003 and 2004 than 2002. TASS drove 2002.

In 2008 - absolutely buy into this - first time back to the FF since 2004 so a whole new team and one that had failed in the elite eight the last two years. That elite eight game in 2008 was a BIG deal, and I think they did not play their best game in the FF loss for the above sort of reasons - having focused so much energy on just getting there.

2012 - not buying it - they were in the middle of this current streak of 8 final fours - they just weren't good enough, and the next year they had improved. (Having added Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck certainly didn't hurt!)

I never think of the Elite 8 game as being difficult for UCONN. Since 2009 they haven't had a competitive game in the tournament until the Final Four (sans Georgetown in 2011).

 

[UcMiami]

I never think of the Elite 8 game as being difficult for UCONN. Since 2009 they haven't had a competitive game in the tournament until the Final Four (sans Georgetown in 2011).

I thought the Nebraska regional was really pretty tough in 2014 - BYU and TAMU were neither 'walkovers'. No easier than many of the FF games. And Dayton wasn't exactly easy either.