Right now they are ranked 3rd, my thought would be they still get easiest route to the FF.Well, I guess you know if they are given the top #1 seed, they get the easiest route to the Final Four. They would have earned it. It's happened to other schools.
If that happens, it would not be fair to the team that earned it, imo.Right now they are ranked 3rd, my thought would be they still get easiest route to the FF.
I bet that audience would have been 50% higher if Stanford could have managed to make the game competitive from the start rather than only by the 4th quarter when most non-WCBB presumably had already turned off. From the 8-7 break on, it was a dismantling for most of the next two quarters. It drives me crazy how we always play so poorly in big ESPN-televised games.Some interesting statistics:
The Stanford/Oregon game drew 376K viewers
Youth.It drives me crazy how we always play so poorly in big ESPN-televised games.
Youth will do that. Stanford started two sophs, two juniors, and Fingall, its lone senior this season who has contributed significantly. Sprinkle in three freshmen off the bench and that is what happens sometimes. Stanford fans hope for and expect more, but without a healthy Carrington and Jones this year's edition will be prone to "consistent inconsistency" that will keep you both engaged and frustrated for as long the team lasts in its final two tourneys of the season. With Tara at the helm, at least you know you have a puncher's chance.It drives me crazy how we always play so poorly in big ESPN-televised games.
If it were just this game, I'd agree with you, and I was pretty happy that in the end we only lost by 8. But this has been a year in, year out pattern. Our 30 point drubbing in Eugene, our 40 point lost at home last year to Oregon, and two of our 20-point losses to UConn have all been on ESPN/2, whereas many of our best wins in recent years (two over Baylor, our PAC-12 championship game win over Oregon last season, our upset at Oregon two years ago) have been relegated to the PAC-12 Network. I just feel like we don't tend to rise to the moment when there's the potential for a national audience.
Hey if a "young" team can play as well as Stanford has this year (#4 AP), maybe there is hope for Oregon next year after losing 4 starters. I would be pleased to have such a record in those circumstances (plus injuries).Youth will do that
year in and year out the NCAA and ESPN push teams and make questionable bracket moves.If that happens, it would not be fair to the team that earned it, imo.