Official Selection Show thread

[Zinethar]

Tara"s segment was a waste as she seemed aggravated to have to do it. I agree this show was not what I expected or wanted. Pretty bad for this to follow a selection show, Dump decision.

I thought DePaul or Marquette were likely in the decision but DePaul had the player of interest so they got it. For the Big East haters they got 4 in so the NCAA does not agree with you.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Excellent post.

I think it's fair. I wonder if UCF has memories of UConn dominating them in their conference. How about AE on Rhyne Howard. She's shut down. Let's go!

 

[oldude]

That's fair--I guess we'll find out how well SC fans travel. In 2019 they played in Greensboro for the Sweet 16 ( granted, as a 4 seed) but only drew 6500 fans. Their fan base is more established now and I'm sure far more fans will come this time with a better team, but we'll see if it's enough to provide a home crowd like atmosphere.

SC fans travel exceptionally well. At the Albany Regionals in 2018, while UConn dominated the fans in attendance, SC fans were all over the capital district, even though the 2018 team was not a high seed, and they didn’t know where they were going until Selection Night.

This year, SC has been slotted in Greensboro since the first reveal. I absolutely expect SC fans to dominate attendance in Greensboro the same as UConn will dominate attendance in Bridgeport.

 

[nomdoux]

In the end, you play the games you’re dealt. If you’re one seed you should be looking to win the whole thing and that means beating everybody in front of you.

That’s true, of course. But I would be HOT if I were an NC State fan after tonight’s Bracket reveal. As stated in other posts/threads, they have been a clear Top-3 team all season & strong #1 seed only to “earn” a hostile Elite 8 road game in UConn’s home state.

I’m a huge Huskies fan, & UConn is loaded when now healthy, but they have had a down year by any reasonable standard & do not deserve such homecooking, so to speak. They may well prove ultimately so deserving, but this would be after-the-fact. Bracket reveal should be predicated on empirical results to-date— not potential nor paper projection.

Curious why the Committee couldn’t have simply swapped 1/2 pairings b/w Bridgeport & Wichita, thereby eliminating this disparity. Not like NC State & Louisville playing near home, respectively, as-is, & Baylor arguably should have lost their awarded regional edge by losing the Big-12 Final today.

Finally, UConn staying in Bridgeport is doing nothing to calm bias allegations discussed by select prominent NCAAW figures this year. This was the year to pull them out of New England yet they are still set-up to play de facto home Tournament games until Final Four, regardless. Missed opportunity in name of parity tagline for women’s game, particularly considering 50th anniversary of Title IX narrative backdrop.

 

[mudcat]

Feel for Marquette. If DePaul got in, reasonable to think they may have also.

No way. Their OOC schedule was putrid. Hopefully DB will schedule a tougher OOC in the future.

 

[Jds]

Penn State knows the feeling well.....

Rene Portland was not happy about that.

 

[Britt87]

This is going to be Aliyah Boston's tournament

I mean, that final four loss to Stanford was rough, but it sure seems like the basketball gods are gearing up for the redemption story

 

[RegisteredUconn]

People overlooking UCF here. They lost three games all year, all by single digits, two of them to Tennessee and Iowa. They are incredibly physical and great on the boards. UConn will have to grind that one out.

Also think no team has a potentially tougher path to the title: UCF, Kentucky/Indiana, NC State, Stanford, SC.

It's nice when someone gives the dominoes names.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Same here
Does anyone have an idea where to stay in Bridgeport?

I’m 5 miles away at Springhill Suites in Milford. About 8 miles away is a Marriott Courtyard. We stayed there last time regionals were in Bridgeport. We checked in and went to the bistro and there was Geno and the team having dinner.

 

[Jds]

Is that near a Metro North station? Driving to the arena In Bridgeport is

If you want to be near a metro north station you have to stay in Fairfield.

 

[Jingo]

Over the past 25 years it comes down to good guard play and defense. We have that. Along with depth and height. Barring injuries we should be in Minny.

Totally disagree .. A dozen years ago, it was forwards Tina Charles & Maya Moore who led the charge .. then it was Stewie, Dolson & Tuck who led the way .. now it is Liv, Dorka & AE who are the sine qua non, eh? Defense and rebounding lead to NCs .. no one is talking bout the guards on SC, NC State nor Stanford .. they're talking mainly about their BIGs.

 

[MSGRET]

Words cannot describe how bummed I was when the 2020 tournament was canceled.

I remember exactly where I was (St. George, Utah) and I remember how crappy I felt.

What were you doing in St.George? Is it your winter home or something?

 

[Jds]

Nan the Trumbull Marriott is off the Merritt Pkwy and you'll have to find a way to get to I-95 south which isnt bad. A short trip. In the past teams stayed in Stamford and Trumbull Marriotts.

The Marriot Trumbull is next to route 8, you take 8 south to exit 1. You don't have to go on 95.

 

[LETTERL]

So, with the "bonus coverage:", we were treated to segments about Aaliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and South Carolina, Tara Vandeveer and Stanford, a long segment about UCONN, and a segment on Iowa with Lisa Bluder and Caitlyn Clark.

Hardly a mention about NC State or any of the other top seeds. NC State got a mention in the first minute, that they had a potential tough matchup with UCONN to get to the Final Four.

If you want the sport to grow, mention needs to be given to some of the other teams.

 

[CompSci87]

UConn usually eschews the song and dance routine
Stanford aussi.

Stanford had a selection show gathering, this year including fans for AFAIK the first time ever. No ESPN camera was present, but it was fun to be there!

Some years ago, if I'm remembering right, Stanford was on camera for their reaction... and as it happened they got a 2 seed when a 1 was a possibility. So the reaction was less than thrilled.

 

[BRS24]

Just my opinion….Shame on ESPN…no cameras on UCONN when the school was announced to be in the Bridgeport region..

I believe they were not interested in a viewing.

In recent years, UConn has opted out of the viewing. I think Geno got tired of it and anyway, why focus on the expected auto-bid teams? Let's celebrate the surprise AQs and at-large teams.

 

[dabears17]

Some more analysis on ESPN2 now. Suppose to be some analysis of women's tournament in addition to the men's tournament.

 

[Plebe]

What were you doing in St.George? Is it your winter home or something?

Road tripping from Vegas to SLC and on to Wyoming.

 

[BRS24]

Ooooh. Bridgeport-Spokane is one semi and Greensboro-Wichita is the other.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

That’s true, of course. But I would be HOT if I were an NC State fan after tonight’s Bracket reveal. As stated in other posts/threads, they have been a clear Top-3 team all season & strong #1 seed only to “earn” a hostile Elite 8 road game in UConn’s home state.

I’m a huge Huskies fan, & UConn is loaded when now healthy, but they have had a down year by any reasonable standard & do not deserve such homecooking, so to speak. They may well prove ultimately so deserving, but this would be after-the-fact. Bracket reveal should be predicated on empirical results to-date— not potential nor paper projection.

Curious why the Committee couldn’t have simply swapped 1/2 pairings b/w Bridgeport & Wichita, thereby eliminating this disparity. Not like NC State & Louisville playing near home, respectively, as-is, & Baylor arguably should have lost their awarded regional edge by losing the Big-12 Final today.

Finally, UConn staying in Bridgeport is doing nothing to calm bias allegations discussed by select prominent NCAAW figures this year. This was the year to pull them out of New England yet they are still set-up to play de facto home Tournament games until Final Four, regardless. Missed opportunity in name of parity tagline for women’s game, particularly considering 50th anniversary of Title IX narrative backdrop.

Just discussing a bias, doesn't mean there is one. The head of the committee said they followed the S curve and that is where UCONN landed. So for the sake of a perceived bias...you want them to what? If other teams were as successful, then some of these "prominent NCAA figures" might take notice of a couple of things...namely, other teams with home cooking and the number of times UCONN has been successful ...despite not playing in Bridgeport.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

So, with the "bonus coverage:", we were treated to segments about Aaliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and South Carolina, Tara Vandeveer and Stanford, a long segment about UCONN, and a segment on Iowa with Lisa Bluder and Caitlyn Clark.

Hardly a mention about NC State or any of the other top seeds. NC State got a mention in the first minute, that they had a potential tough matchup with UCONN to get to the Final Four.

If you want the sport to grow, mention needs to be given to some of the other teams.

If they hadn't included so much unnecessary filler they could've gotten into more teams.

 

[BRS24]

Wait. They have a replacement team play? Cool.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Yeah, NC State certainly got a raw deal. Overall though, I think the seedings were pretty fair. There is no "group of death" so to speak.

 

[jaydee602]

So, with the "bonus coverage:", we were treated to segments about Aaliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and South Carolina, Tara Vandeveer and Stanford, a long segment about UCONN, and a segment on Iowa with Lisa Bluder and Caitlyn Clark.

Hardly a mention about NC State or any of the other top seeds. NC State got a mention in the first minute, that they had a potential tough matchup with UCONN to get to the Final Four.

If you want the sport to grow, mention needs to be given to some of the other teams.

I agree 100%. ESPN pretends to be an advocate of women's sports, but it does so little to promote the women's game. There are 68 teams that were rewarded tonight, but ESPN presented a lazy, repetitive show.

 

[tchalla1]

When UConn lost Paige and were in the peak of their struggles, Peck stated that Geno depends on a single star and doesn't develop the whole team to do multiple roles, that's why it was having problems.....

Tut! Tut! I haven't heard her lately.

I believe that was a fair assessment. While I don't agree that Geno purposedly developed UConn this way, i do agree in part with what Peck said--it was a one-woman show, and UConn didn't acquire their beautiful balance until after Paige was injured--and I daresay had not this occurred, I serious doubt whether UConn would have developed in their great team tapestry, and certainly not to the level that we're seeing now. I mean Geno openly said as much in pressers: that he didn't like the way the offense went without Paige, and he didn't have anyone else in the line up to depend on. And he pretty much wanted Paige to shoot it every time. You have to admit, this isn't ringing endorsement of a whole team concept...