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FACT CHECK:
The comment in question:
I left out all SEC opponents, which would be scheduled by the conference office and not by either coaching staff:
Stanford: 1-5 (1-4) - 2 games were NCAAT games (1-1), the other 4 were scheduled very early in Staley's time at USC [08-09 - Staley's 1st year as HC: a home and away was already scheduled under the Susan Walvius regime, and this was the final game of that series (the 1st was played at Stanford in the 06-07 season), but due to their relationship another H & A was scheduled for 10-11 and 12-13, with a NCAAT SS played in 11-12, and 2 FFs played in 16-17 and 20-21]
Connecticut: 1-9 (1-8) - another series that was begun prior to Staley by the Walvius Regime, the 1st game played in 07-08, then the 2nd played in Staley's first year as HC. But Staley would schedule annually from 14-15 through 20-21, with 1 NCAAT EE game played in 17-18
Oregon: 2-0 (0-0) - both games prior to Staley, but Staley DID have a game scheduled with Oregon to open the 20-21 season, that was cancelled due to covid-19, by all media reports.
Texas: 2-2 (2-0) - Both games under Staley were not games her staff would have scheduled - a SEC-Big12 Challenge game in 16-17, and a NCAAT EE game in 20-21.
Arizona: N/A - We've played 0 games against Arizona - we've played 4 against Arizona St., with 2 of those under Staley.
Oregon State: 2-1 (2-1) - Two NCAAT 2nd RD gms in 13-14 and 20-21 around a 18-19 early-season tournament game - Staley's staff has to schedule those tournaments, so Staley's staff schedules those games.
Maryland: 2-2 (2-1) - All 3 games under Staley were regular-season schedules. As with Oregon, there was preliminarily a game scheduled for the 20-21 season that was cancelled due to covid-19.
UCLA: 2-1* (2-0) - (* 80-81 win by then 10th-ranked Gamecocks was forfeited due to NCAA sanctions for ineligible player, and is officially recorded as a loss for USC) - both wins were due to a H & A series scheduled by Staley in 15-16 & 16-17. This was after USC's A'ja Wilson 2014 class which was ranked #2 nationally, behind UCLA's #1 class.
Others not mentioned:
North Carolina: 8-11 (2-4) - all games under Staley were played on neutral courts, the last two were NCAAT SS games in 13-14 and 14-15. The other games were in a USC-UNC rivalry game held in Myrtle Beach, SC. The first two of those UNC was a top 10 ranked team, top 25 for all but one of them.
Ohio State: 3-2 (2-0) - Scheduled H & A by Staley in 15-16 & 16-17. Ohio State was top 10 ranked for both games.
Duke: 5-2 (4-1) - All 5 games under Staley were regular-season schedules: Duke was top 10 ranked in 14-15, and top 15 in 15-16 and 17-18. The 18-19 game was cancelled (officially "postponed", but never rescheduled) due to weather.
Xavier: 1-2 (1-1) - The two games under Staley was a H & A scheduled in 10-11 and 11-12 with former longtime Atlantic 10 rival while at Temple. The first game Xavier was ranked 5th nationally pre-season, and was ranked 5th on game day.
North Carolina State: 11-20 (3-2) - two H & A series back-to-back from 08-09 through 11-12, then a fill-in date for 20-21 due to cancellations with other opponents. Not sure if future dates have been or will be scheduled. NC State was 8th nationally pre-season, and was ranked 8th on game day.
The teams in question:
Baylor: 1-2 (1-2) - One game played in the SEC/Big12 Challenge in 18-19, one played in the NCAAT SS that same season, and one played in an early season tournament in 19-20.
Notre Dame: 2-3 (0-3) - All 3 games played under Staley and McGraw were on neutral floors: an early-season tournament in 2009-10, a NCAAT FF in 15-16, and an early-season tournament in 17-18.
CONCLUSION:
The statement that the above comment inferred that “top teams need to play Dawn- specifically Muffet and Kim” cannot be objectively derived from the above comment that Mulkey and Muffet "were the only two major coaches who didn't seem to want to schedule Dawn". Giving an appearance - to one's opinion - of not wanting to schedule Dawn is mutually exclusive from NEEDING to schedule Dawn.
Conversely, Mulkey and Muffet could give the appearance of actually WANTING to schedule Dawn very badly, and it STILL would not equate to the apparent NEED of them scheduling Dawn. So BOTH polar opposites of Gamecockfan77's opinion fail to support DefenseBB's response to that opinion.
Further, research shows that Dawn Staley and HAS scheduled against Muffet McGraw and Kim Mulkey, albeit indirectly via early-season invitational tournaments. But not directly via regular-season non-tournament games on their own floors. The knowledge that any of the coaches knew beforehand that the other team was committed to playing in the respective tournaments is unknown.
But that research ALSO shows that of the top programs mentioned by DefenseBB - as well as other teams that meet DefenseBB's criteria - the only teams that have not scheduled games directly with Dawn Staley's South Carolina since her initial season of 2008-09, are Notre Dame, Baylor, Louisville, and Arizona.
Of these 4, only Arizona has the argument of not belonging, as they've only reached top 10 rank status for 2020-21 alone, was just outside of the top 10 in 2019-20, and has been unranked for several seasons prior to that. Arizona State has been ranked in the top 25 more often over the previous 5-6 seasons than Arizona has.
FINAL VERDICT:
We find the statement from DefenseBB that "the comment wasn’t about Dawn’s willingness to play [to] teams. It was the inference that “top teams need to play Dawn- specifically Muffet and Kim” to be FALSE.
First, we make the logical assertion that DefenseBB meant to say "Dawn's willingness to play top teams". Then based on our findings, we conclude that Gamecock77's comment shows no connection between "wanting" to play Dawn, and "needing" to play Dawn, as DefenseBB's comment suggests. Further, Gamecock77 has tried in subsequent posts to explain his statement as NOT making that connection, or inference as DefenseBB argued. Finally, a review of scheduling history of games by Dawn Staley's South Carolina team, supports Gamecock77's position more than it does DefenseBB's position.
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