This is a very different team from last year - not saying better or worse, just very different. But I think the biggest difference this year in WCBB is ND. Last year they were truly dominant arriving at the NC game undefeated and rarely tested - they had a 4 point win against MD and a 7 point win against Virginia both in January, but otherwise were manhandling teams in Uconn fashion. This year has been much more of a struggle - 8 games in single digit or loss - and there were two losses - one can be excused because they didn't play Uconn last year, but they are 'getting by' in a way that they didn't have to last year. In addition to the single digit games there have also been more of those 10-15 point struggles instead of the 20+ point breezes.
Uconn has actually gone in the opposite direction - if anything they have had few challenges and an easier year - part of that is schedule which has definitely not had as many quality teams, but somehow a healthy Kaleena, a returned Morgan, an even better Moriah and Stewart, and a very surprising freshman Kia have more than made up for the loss of Stef and Bria. And the bench is no longer just Kiah as both Gabby and Saniya have stepped up to provide additional options as needs arise.
So I am quietly confident that a healthy ND this year will actually pose less of a challenge than last year's ND minus their center. Doesn't mean that I will not be feeling nauseous on Tuesday!!
