Other teams to monitor...

[DefenseBB]

Since before the season, both Baylor and Texas had me intrigued and both have a crazy amount of talent. While Texas started slowly, they have seemed to hit their stride with 19 consecutive wins. Baylor's only blemish since Storrs has been to Texas. Which leads me to my point, I have watched both intently and while they are winning, both Karen and Kim seem to be struggling with their player rotations and starting 5 as well as the offensive patterns. Karen seems to rely far to much on McCarty to bail them out and has not developed the inside-out game with Holmes (an unbelievable athlete for her size-tends to play too much one on one) and Kim has been struggling since Mompremiers injury and whether to keep pounding down to Brown. Cox has even started a few games. I wonder if both these pattern changes are due to adjusting styles for NCAAT guard play and/or UConn. Maybe our colleague Easttexas can shed some light.
FSU is legit though after the Texas game I am bit less concerned than I was.
ND still thinks they are a Final Four team (LOL)-for a laugh go over to the MCGraws Bench site. To me, it's like they are whistling past the grave yard. I am so rooting for FSU against them (I know Triad is with me!)
While I do think if Dawn can get SC to bring that focus they had Monday to their remaining games, they will be FF.
Maryland has an easy road until the Sweet sixteen regardless of the bracket but at that point, they will have to step up and prove they are legit despite the very soft schedule.
MSU is still a bit of a mystery to me whether they could beat any of the above when all are playing their A game.
After that, I would be surprised if any stepped forward. What are your thoughts?

 

[BostonCanuck]

You really have covered most the bases here, and I agree with pretty much all of your analysis.

The teams not mentioned that I think could go deep into the tournament are Tennessee, Washington, Oregon State, and maybe Texas A&M or Syracuse. But these are more dangerous floaters and rightly a tier below the ones you profiled.

To me, the best three teams in the country right now are UConn, Baylor, and Maryland. Woe to the top seed that ends up with Maryland in their bracket, as they could very take take out any of them, and might even be a favorite against a team like Mississippi State.

South Carolina and Notre Dame is a rematch from 2015 that I would love to see, and if we get it, my money would be on South Carolina this time.

If you take Creme's current bracketology ( Bracketology with Charlie Creme ) as the assumed selection, then I'd say Baylor has the easiest road to the final four and we have the hardest, with Maryland and other solid, experienced teams like Washington, Texas A&M and Syracuse in the Bridgeport bracket. Having said that, I think both UConn and Baylor would make it through.

The other two regionals look like pick-ems between the one and two seeds. I think Mississippi State would have the edge over Notre Dame to advance to the final four, and my one upset pick is Texas beating South Carolina.

If that were to hold, our semi-final against Texas would be tough, but I think we get through. Mississippi State would have a real shot at Beating Baylor, and I'd much prefer to see UConn face Mississippi in the final. But as much as I like and admire Schaefer and his team, I don't think they have quite the consistency to bring it for the full 40 minutes that would be required to pull of the win.

So I see a UConn and Baylor final, and I'm not nearly as worried about the outcome of that as I was a month ago before the Baylor loss to Texas.

 

[oldude]

All the teams mentioned are potential FF participants, but the team that strikes me as having stepped up their game the most, and I hate to say it, is ND. The last couple of times I watched them it is apparent that they are playing much better on the defensive end and that is fueling more transition baskets on the offensive end. The Irish still struggle at times running their set offense, but they will definitely be a formidable opponent come tournament time.

 

[eebmg]

All the teams mentioned are potential FF participants, but the team that strikes me as having stepped up their game the most, and I hate to say it, is ND. The last couple of times I watched them it is apparent that they are playing much better on the defensive end and that is fueling more transition baskets on the offensive end. The Irish still struggle at times running their set offense, but they will definitely be a formidable opponent come tournament time.

I agree that ND has turned it around. While I would not bet on them going to the FF, they are playing at a level that can compete with any other team but UConn. I also think that MD has proven itself with the UConn game, OSU etc. They are in the same tier as all the others. I think realistically, parity has hit home except in Storrs. Teams 2-10 seem almost indistinguishable to me and too close to call on a neutral site.
Some home cooking may tilt the scales.

 

[chrissaran]

Notre Dame, Maryland, Texas, Baylor, Florida St., and South Carolina. Mississippi St. matches up well with South Carolina but not with UConn. Washington, Stanford, and Oregon St. are the best out West. Don't know if any of them have what it takes to reach the Final Four. It will be interesting.

 

[Husky pride]

Even though we beat them earlier this year, Baylor remains in my mind to be our toughest challenge ahead. Maryland has a competitive team , but our game with them was not as close as the final score. (Had we not given-up some easy baskets at the end, due to not wanting to foul-out, the score would been considerably different). We don't hear as much about west coast teams and Oregon State, and even UCLA, could catch fire and prove to be "sleepers". Finally, after our past history of tough games with them, I would never rule-out the challenge Notre Dame represents, but I don't see them being able to win-out during the close tournament games deeper in the schedule. Just me.

 

[bags27]

Florida St really struggling against Virginia near the end of the 3d Q tonight....

 

[Bigboote]

Florida St really struggling against Virginia near the end of the 3d Q tonight...

UVa pulled it off. More importantly, it sure looked like Shakayla Thomas dislocated her shoulder, in which case she's out for some weeks.

UVa isn't quite there yet, but they're really young, and they'll be a force to be reckoned with in a year or two.

 

[Ellie]

The only way to attempt to predict the future is look at the past. Despite all the variables going into the tournament history shows ND and Uconn will be in the final four. Who will join them? Is a dark horse going to sneak in? Have to wait for the brackets but sure is fun to speculate. Think this will be a wild and wacky road to the final four with a few head scratching upsets in the mix.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Regarding rankings, there is Connecticut alone at the pinnacle. And there is everyone else.

Before the season, I thought that it would be an amazing feat for UConn to make the Final Four. Now they are the odds-on favorite to win it all.

Miracle!

 

[MikeR01950]

I'm confused ... Conneticut is undefeated and had the toughest no conference schedule... Why on earth does this bracket have a tough road? UCONN should have the easiest road to the final four and this current bracket clearly does not show that at all.

 

[DefenseBB]

I'm confused ... Conneticut is undefeated and had the toughest no conference schedule... Why on earth does this bracket have a tough road? UCONN should have the easiest road to the final four and this current bracket clearly does not show that at all.

Relax, it's Charlie Creme, not reality....just like the top 16 releases that have MD as a 9 seed. Baseless, useless facts designed to incite discussion, of which it is apparently successful at.

 

[BroadwayVa]

You really have covered most the bases here, and I agree with pretty much all of your analysis.

The teams not mentioned that I think could go deep into the tournament are Tennessee, Washington, Oregon State, and maybe Texas A&M or Syracuse. But these are more dangerous floaters and rightly a tier below the ones you profiled.

To me, the best three teams in the country right now are UConn, Baylor, and Maryland. Woe to the top seed that ends up with Maryland in their bracket, as they could very take take out any of them, and might even be a favorite against a team like Mississippi State.

South Carolina and Notre Dame is a rematch from 2015 that I would love to see, and if we get it, my money would be on South Carolina this time.

If you take Creme's current bracketology ( Bracketology with Charlie Creme ) as the assumed selection, then I'd say Baylor has the easiest road to the final four and we have the hardest, with Maryland and other solid, experienced teams like Washington, Texas A&M and Syracuse in the Bridgeport bracket. Having said that, I think both UConn and Baylor would make it through.

The other two regionals look like pick-ems between the one and two seeds. I think Mississippi State would have the edge over Notre Dame to advance to the final four, and my one upset pick is Texas beating South Carolina.

If that were to hold, our semi-final against Texas would be tough, but I think we get through. Mississippi State would have a real shot at Beating Baylor, and I'd much prefer to see UConn face Mississippi in the final. But as much as I like and admire Schaefer and his team, I don't think they have quite the consistency to bring it for the full 40 minutes that would be required to pull of the win.

So I see a UConn and Baylor final, and I'm not nearly as worried about the outcome of that as I was a month ago before the Baylor loss to Texas.

My two cents---USCarolina Vs ND in the previous engagement--USC won that game--except for a fortuitous bounce of the ball into Cables waiting arms. A missed ND shot that bounce towards they who pray/prey??

 

[BroadwayVa]

I'm confused ... Conneticut is undefeated and had the toughest no conference schedule... Why on earth does this bracket have a tough road? UCONN should have the easiest road to the final four and this current bracket clearly does not show that at all.

To keep the world watching Tv to see who will knock off Uconn---why give the 11 time/4 in a row Champion access to the 12th/5th Nc with an easy road?? It makes for good tv and good WBB view ship. Now normally everything flows towards the top seeded--apparently if this is true--the plan has been executed to --do what is GOOD FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (HA).

 

[BroadwayVa]

Florida St really struggling against Virginia near the end of the 3d Q tonight....

They struggled the whole game except for a bit just before the half. Neither team looked like Championship quality. UVa finally out toughed Fla St. . it was the kind of game where you were sure who ever was up by 5 , at any time, would win the game.
And they did. not a pretty game.

 

[tomcat]

Important to consider what happens if a team gets on a run. Maybe FSU isn't looking so great right now, but if things start clicking for them during the latter part of their conference tournament, who knows what'll happen. Same for TN, Washington and a number of others. Honestly, this out-of-character performance is one of the things that makes tournaments fascinating to watch.

 

[EricLA]

IF the NCAA's were today, my picks for making it to the FF would be UCONN, Maryland, Texas and Baylor. Not sure if they will each be in their own individual bracket, but as of this moment, I think those are the 4 strongest teams in WCBB...

 

[easttexastrash]

Mompremier is missed much more than I thought she would be. Not only did it disrupt the rotation that was working incredibly well, it also eliminated Baylor's best athlete at the post position. The beauty of having Mompremier and Brown sharing minutes was that it kept a fresh post player in the game at all times. Cave can provide some good minutes but is not a player you can count on every night and Cox is truly a 4 and not strong enough yet to play the 5 against good competition.

The Monday night game will be interesting. If Mompremier is back on the court to guard Holmes I think we are going to see a vastly different outcome and some minds will be changed back to how Baylor was viewed earlier in the season.

I also think that Chou is really starting to hit her stride and Mulkey is getting more and more confidence in her. And Chou is starting to feel comfortable taking the open 3 pointer and she has beautiful form. Look for her to get some meaningful minutes Monday night.

Davis may see limited minutes Monday night if Mompremier is back. Holmes was just too big for Davis to guard. If WNBA teams are watching that match-up her stock may drop a little.