Official Bracket Thread

[cockhrnleghrn]

We're going to get snow up here again tonight and tomorrow. But I got to tell you, even for upstate NY, we've had more than our share of snow this year. I'm ready for spring.

We had an early spring, but winter is back today.

 

[SCGamecock]

I’m not one to submit to the “woe is me” thing.. I have on occasion in the past.. But I’m not feeling particularly sorry right now.

SC should consider this an opportunity, just like MSU did last year. If you’re unhappy, go out there, play with a chip on your shoulder and actually show up in a game versus UConn for once. Beat the Huskies, earn your respect and tell the NCAA and whoever else to shove it. Easier said than done, but it’s been done before.. just last year actually.

Even if we don’t go all the way, I would be extremely pleased if SC came out angry and just hand out some tail whoopings. Ditch the victim card and defend your title with a vengeance. Go Gamecocks!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Ironic that Staley is basically complaining about "geography" and her team not getting to play close to home, when it's "geography" that messed up the bracket for other teams (like Baylor). Oregon going to Spokane, WA is all about geography. This is where Baylor should have gone, IMO, based on the S-curve. If the committee doesn't make sending Oregon to Spokane a top priority, you get:

UConn / Texas
Miss. State / Oregon
Louisville / South Carolina
Notre Dame / Baylor

Will be very curious to see how many Oregon fans actually travel to the regional.

Spokane is still a good distance from Eugene so I doubt there will be very many. I'm disappointed that I ave to pay for a flight instead of being able to drive. I also don't know if I'm high enough in the Gamecock Club to get tickets in Albany, but where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Will be very curious to see how many Oregon fans actually travel to the regional.

There were about 5,400 fans at the Pac 12 tournament championship game in Seattle, the majority of them Duck fans. I'm pretty sure some of them will manage to find their way to Spokane. Local fans tend to support women's hoops well and probably many of those will be sympathetic to a coach that was at hometown Gonzaga for 14 years and put them on the map. So I'm guessing Oregon will be very well supported in Spokane.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think some of you don't really realize, most things are a good driving distance from anywhere else on the West Coast. Eugene to Seattle for the conference tourney was a 5-6 hour drive, and A LOT of Duck fans made that trip. Eugene to Spokane is not a big deal. I'm expecting many of their fans to travel. Especially considering the UO men aren't in the Tourney so the fan base won't be split on where to travel and which to team to support.

 

[Ex Nutmegger]

I am going to go out on what I think is a reasonably strong limb and say there is a very legitimate chance USF will meet UConn in Albany. It appears to me that Jose (a la Geno) has his team peaking at exactly the right time.

I believe they can beat SC. They only lost to UConn by 16 in the AAC Tournament final in UConn's home away from home, Mohegan Sun. UConn beat SC by 15, but it was at SC's house and every UConn sub played in that game(albeit for just a few minutes) whereas no (I repeat, NO) subs played in the last USF game. ND beat USF by 16; they beat SC by 7 - both early in the season. My "eye test" on the AAC final was that USF is starting to charge. And while their shot at SC in Albany may be a bit of a long one, at this point in time I think SC may be within their range.

 

[Plebe]

Ironic that Staley is basically complaining about "geography" and her team not getting to play close to home, when it's "geography" that messed up the bracket for other teams (like Baylor). Oregon going to Spokane, WA is all about geography. This is where Baylor should have gone, IMO, based on the S-curve. If the committee doesn't make sending Oregon to Spokane a top priority, you get:

UConn / Texas
Miss. State / Oregon
Louisville / South Carolina
Notre Dame / Baylor

Will be very curious to see how many Oregon fans actually travel to the regional.

This bracket would actually be more balanced, IMO. Louisville actually has the better resume of quality wins over Miss State and could have easily been the overall #2 after Miss State's loss to SC. And of course, SC would have been happier at the closest of the four regional sites.

However, this would have sent Texas to UConn's region for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Correct me if I am wrong but at the beginning of season OHIO st and Oregon were both top 4? So both have underachieved if so LOL Kinda like how my Bruins have underachieved for 4 years, so c'mon prove me wrong!

Well UCLA was picked by the media in preseason to win the Pac 12, and they finished tied for 3rd, so...


Oregon is still a fairly young team that only went 8-10 in conference last year. This season they won the conference regular season and conference tournament, set a school record for conference wins in a season (doubled their win total from last year), set a school record for total wins in a season, got the highest seed in the NCAA Tournament in school history. Pretty hard to call Oregon underachieving considering they are by far and away the best team in school history, significantly better than last year, and finished better in the conference than the media them to.

 

[mudcat]

Baylor got screwed.

Baylor screwed themselves, just as MD did last year.

 

[Plebe]

Well UCLA was picked by the media in preseason to win the Pac 12, and they finished tied for 3rd, so...

Apples to oranges considering the imbalanced schedule.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oregon St vs. BU would be very interesting.....

There have to be a few players for both teams that were around for the 2016 Regional Final, but I don't think any significant contributors for either team.

Gulich and McWilliams were bench players that got a little bit of playing time.

K. Brown would've been a Fr. for Baylor. Can't remember how productive she was, but certainly wasn't the force of nature she is now. Wallace was around too but of course she's out with an injury now.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Apples to oranges considering the imbalanced schedule.

I know you like coming back to that. It's the unfortunate reality in most conferences currently.

What about the rest of my post? Pretty hard to for me to see anything about their season as underachieving. Unless they were expected to beat either Louisville or Mississippi St. on the road.

 

[southie]

This bracket would actually be more balanced, IMO. Louisville actually has the better resume of quality wins over Miss State and could have easily been the overall #2 after Miss State's loss to SC. And of course, SC would have been happier at the closest of the four regional sites.

However, this would have sent Texas to UConn's region for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.

Several committee members and ESPN analysts kept talking about "balancing" the bracket, but never really explained what they meant other than SC couldn't be in the same regional with Miss. State. But, the integrity of the bracket was compromised, IMO, by the committee trying to fit placements around their higher priority of making sure Oregon was sent to Spokane; it affected Louisville and Baylor the most, and then SC (whose win over MSU was better than any win Oregon had, IIRC).

 

[stwainfan]

I was looking at possible matchup games. Missouri vs Stanford, ND vs Texas A&M, UConn vs Oregon are a few that I think can be interesting games.

 

[Plebe]

There have to be a few players for both teams that were around for the 2016 Regional Final, but I don't think any significant contributors for either team.

Gulich and McWilliams were bench players that got a little bit of playing time.

K. Brown would've been a Fr. for Baylor. Can't remember how productive she was, but certainly wasn't the force of nature she is now. Wallace was around to but of course she's out with an injury now.

Gulich played 20 minutes (much of it due to Hamblin's foul trouble, IIRC) and scored 4 points.

Kalani Brown came off the bench and had 12 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. (Mompremier, in what would be her final game in a Baylor uniform, started but only had 2 points in 12 minutes.)

Kristy Wallace, also off the bench, played 18 minutes but didn't have a particularly good game: 0 points, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 turnover.

Two completely different teams this year, but that won't stop Mulkey from using the 2016 loss as motivation.

 

[mhshuskies]

UConn game on SAT at 11 AM

And there 3 other games scheduled at the same time on ESPN2?

 

[Plebe]

I know you like coming back to that. It's the unfortunate reality in most conferences currently.

What about the rest of my post? Pretty hard to for me to see anything about their season as underachieving. Unless they were expected to beat either Louisville or Mississippi St. on the road.

I posted earlier that the statement is just inaccurate. Oregon was preseason #11 in both polls. No one had them in the top 4, as erroneously claimed.

Oregon was the rightful Pac-12 champion, but UCLA was probably 2nd if we did an in-conference RPI.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Gulich played 20 minutes (much of it due to Hamblin's foul trouble, IIRC) and scored 4 points.

Kalani Brown came off the bench and had 12 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. (Mompremier, in what would be her final game in a Baylor uniform, started but only had 2 points in 12 minutes.)

Kristy Wallace, also off the bench, played 18 minutes but didn't have a particularly good game: 0 points, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 turnover.

Two completely different teams this year, but that won't stop Mulkey from using the 2016 loss as motivation.

I looked up a box score, but it showed Weisner w/ 16 points on fairly poor shooting. I thought she had a monster game w/ like 35 points or so and double figure rebounding. Or maybe that was an earlier round? I was almost certain it was against Baylor though.

edited--okay, it was the previous round against DePaul that Weisner had 38 points and 10 rebounds.

 

[LoTrader]

Gulich played 20 minutes (much of it due to Hamblin's foul trouble, IIRC) and scored 4 points.

Kalani Brown came off the bench and had 12 points and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes. (Mompremier, in what would be her final game in a Baylor uniform, started but only had 2 points in 12 minutes.)

Kristy Wallace, also off the bench, played 18 minutes but didn't have a particularly good game: 0 points, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 turnover.

Two completely different teams this year, but that won't stop Mulkey from using the 2016 loss as motivation.

If only this comes to fruition....

I looked up a box score, but it showed Weisner w/ 16 points on fairly poor shooting. I thought she had a monster game w/ like 35 points or so and double figure rebounding. Or maybe that was an earlier round? I was almost certain it was against Baylor though.

Defense won this game. OSU was a very solid team defensively that year. Baylor didn't have their best game, and Mulkey threw her jacket over her bench players and got T'eed up early. I'll never forget that.

 

[j66kicker]

I’m not one to submit to the “woe is me” thing.. I have on occasion in the past.. But I’m not feeling particularly sorry right now.

SC should consider this an opportunity, just like MSU did last year. If you’re unhappy, go out there, play with a chip on your shoulder and actually show up in a game versus UConn for once. Beat the Huskies, earn your respect and tell the NCAA and whoever else to shove it. Easier said than done, but it’s been done before.. just last year actually.

Even if we don’t go all the way, I would be extremely pleased if SC came out angry and just hand out some tail whoopings. Ditch the victim card and defend your title with a vengeance. Go Gamecocks!

If SC plays like they did against Miss State in the conference final then they will give UConn a game.

 

[Plebe]

Several committee members and ESPN analysts kept talking about "balancing" the bracket, but never really explained what they meant other than SC couldn't be in the same regional with Miss. State. But, the integrity of the bracket was compromised, IMO, by the committee trying to fit placements around their higher priority of making sure Oregon was sent to Spokane; it affected Louisville and Baylor the most, and then SC (whose win over MSU was better than any win Oregon had, IIRC).

Yes, once the committee decided to keep Oregon in Spokane, the die was cast for the rest of the #2 seeds.

The South Carolina folk (not all, but many) have made their moaning a yearly ritual. I'm still convinced that two years ago, when their grousing veered into downright insulting comments about South Dakota, their Sweet 16 loss to Syracuse was a direct result of bad karma.

 

[mudcat]

Of the 213 posts on this thread, only a few have come close to pointing out what I think is the salient fact for UConn fans: UConn cannot face more than one of the BIG Troika of Mississippi State / Baylor / Texas, and then only in the Final game.

Everyone (even Geno) seemed to agree that the teams with major size (mainly those three) would be the biggest threat to UConn’s chances. Now, with this bracket, at least two of those three will be eliminated before UConn can possibly play them.

The biggest and strongest player that UConn will have to face before the final game is A’ja Wilson, and while she is certainly deserving of being the Player of the Year and the probably #1 draft choice for the WNBA, she is NOT the biggest or strongest player in the field, and UConn has became fairly accustomed to facing her. Moreover, I don’t think she has the guard play around her that any of the three above-mentioned teams have around their bigs, which should make it easier for UConn to beat the Gamecocks yet again.

If UConn comes out of Albany with the Husky still growling, their semifinal game is likely to be against either Notre Dame or Oregon. They are both very good teams, but not as intimidating as those mentioned above. UConn knows how to play those games against those kinds of teams, and (since about 2013) has nearly always been successful.

UConn might have had to win its NC this year by playing Texas, Baylor, and Mississippi State in succession. This bracket removes that possibility entirely.

Obviously, I think the bracket is very favorable to UConn’s chances for an NC.

Generally agree with you, but think you are underestimating OR, hope they are gone before we have to play them. They are a much better team now than they were at the beginning of the season.

 

[j66kicker]

I am going to go out on what I think is a reasonably strong limb and say there is a very legitimate chance USF will meet UConn in Albany. It appears to me that Jose (a la Geno) has his team peaking at exactly the right time.

I believe they can beat SC. They only lost to UConn by 16 in the AAC Tournament final in UConn's home away from home, Mohegan Sun. UConn beat SC by 15, but it was at SC's house and every UConn sub played in that game(albeit for just a few minutes) whereas no (I repeat, NO) subs played in the last USF game. ND beat USF by 16; they beat SC by 7 - both early in the season. My "eye test" on the AAC final was that USF is starting to charge. And while their shot at SC in Albany may be a bit of a long one, at this point in time I think SC may be within their range.

I'm going out on my own limb and say that chance is somewhere between 0 and 5%. USF plays physical but, if the refs let SC play anything like an SEC game then USF will learn there's a whole 'nother level of physical. Who does USF have who is going to even slow down Wilson? And if Laksa gets defended properly (and physically) she will be so frustrated her head might explode.

 

[jonson]

I think Oregon beats ND in Spokane.

I think so as well. This is the best matchup for Oregon of the 4 #1 seeds.

 

[Bronx23]

I was trying to read through this thread but literally couldn't take it anymore.
What the heck is all the whining and moaning about? I thought we actually got a pretty easy draw. SC ain't beating U Conn or coming close. If there are some decent teams in our bracket, maybe that will prepare us better for the Elite Eight, Final Four and the championship.
Assuming we get to the final four we likely meet ND or Oregon, isn't that easier than MS or Baylor?
And the most important reality is one needs to be able to beat any or every team and if we play our B game or better we will. Also so far in U Conn women's BB history we have yet to lose the championship game. I believe we have a very easy path to that game, and then whomever that might be will surely be a very good team, but they need to watch out.
Bronx23