Selection Show thread (7 ET, ESPN)

[JavaMan]

Geno's comments:

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[JordyG]

UConn fans would complain about the bracket no matter who is in it. Wasn't it just last year when UConn had to go through MST, Texas, and OSU before Syracuse? This years is a comparative cakewalk. Man, I love UConn, but some of you guys whine like a dollar Dolly. I say, bring 'em all on. Anytime, anyplace. I ain't sceerd.

 

[JordyG]

And Baylor is really not the same team if Jones is out. You may recall she had 23 against the Huskies.

Can't forget. But I'm the type that wants all of the teams to 100% healthy. When we when they'll be no excuses.

 

[j66kicker]

I think South Carolina got screwed again. My understanding was that the higher your seed, the more likely you are placed in the regional closest to you. Last year, they bumped Notre Dame above South Carolina and that was the explanation as to why ND went to Lexington and USC went to Sioux Falls.

This year, USC is #3 and Baylor is #4. I thought it was a rule as the #3 seed, USC would be placed in the closest regional available; that should have been OKC. But, the committee either dumped that rule or found a way to justify #4 Baylor getting geographic preference above USC.

The committee person came on and said they did this because Baylor could drive to OKC and SC would have to fly either way (OKC or Stockton)

 

[JordyG]

WOW! I'm excited for the tournament. Every team (and their fans) can make a case on how they got the short end of the stick from the selection committee. I think there are some very intriguing possibilities, and, I for one, can't wait. I will be in Corvallis, OR, this Friday to see the OSU (as in OREGON state University) women try to get game 1 in the win column. Good luck to all, and don't worry UCONN fans, your team has a lot going for them, and I won't be surprised to see them in another Final 4.

Another typically gracious fan from another board. Unless you're new to us you'd know how much we respect that coach of yours and the culture he's building up there. Best of luck to y'all.

 

[Reypl21]

Is anybody watching the tournament challenge marathon right now? The men's basketball panel and the women's basketball panel are combined talking about women's basketball. It's some awesome stuff.

 

[Plebe]

Syracuse is just not the same team to date that they ended up being last year, and last year we beat them by thirty. And last year they just surprised a bunch of teams coming in with a 7 seed.

Syracuse was a 4 last year.

 

[JavaMan]

Gabby and Lou on the bracket.

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[arty155]

 

[JordyG]

Quick thoughts on the brackets....

Bridgeport: Maryland could be the toughest opponent UCONN has faced pre Final Four since LSU in 2007. Connecticut will still be a heavy heavy favorite, but Jones is a player who is a lot to handle and Slocum is a capable scorer. Maryland is badly underseeded at 9 overall. I don't care about lack of quality of wins, or the fact that OSU lost in the semis which prevented Maryland from beating them in the finals. Eye test says there aren't 4 better teams in the nation than the Terps. UCONN rolls through this, potential for a tough game against Maryland. They'll crush Duke and UCLA/A&M.

Best match up to watch: Duke/Maryland in the Sweet 16. Lexie Brown vs. her old team. Maryland is a great scoring team, Duke plays good defense. Should be a good matchup.

Oklahoma City: Not sure why Landers was making a huge deal out of this regional....I think it is the weakest by far. You have:

Baylor-with an injured Alexis Jones they lost pretty handily to West Virginia. They're good but not great without her and could easily be upset (as we saw last weekend.) The weakest #1 seed IMO.

Tennessee-as a 5 seed they aren't that scary. They could EASILY lose to Dayton and be bounced round 1. They also could make a Final Four but they aren't that scary for any team they face in the Sweet 16 and beyond. Easily the least deserving #5 seed.

Louisville-another team that has been very up and down. Lots of fire power, but they don't play great basketball. An average 4 seed.

Washington-yes, Plum can score and Osahor is great. Besides that, I'm not all that impressed with their team. They're 1-4 against teams that are top 4 seeds. They also enter the tournament on a loss at home to Oregon. I could easily see them bounced in the 2nd round. Weakest 3 seed.

Mississippi State-rough finish to the season for a team that is dreadful offensively if Vivians isn't on. Another team that could lose in round 2 if Depaul gets hot. I think they are a weaker 2 seed.

I honestly could see any of the top 5 making the Final Four. I think Washington torches Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 if the play and they could upset Baylor if they can slow down the frontcourt of Baylor. I'll still pick Baylor here.

Best potential matchup: Tennessee/Baylor would be a great rematch. Tennessee is capable of playing much much better than they showed earlier in the season against Baylor, and Baylor isn't as good without a healthy Jones.

Lexington: This is a loaded regional. In your top 6 you have:
Notre Dame-the clear cut #2 team in the nation to finish the season IMO. Muffet is one of the very best coaches in the nation.
Stanford-arguably the strongest 2 seed playing good basketball to finish the year. Tara is one of the best coaches out there.
Texas-a dangerous, streaky #3 seed. Capable of beating really good teams (ex. Baylor/FSU) but also capable of playing below potential.
Kentucky-not that intimidating but they'll be playing at home.
Ohio State-very potent team offensively. Could post a huge threat to Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.
NC State-wins over Notre Dame, Duke, Florida State and Louisville. Very capable of upsetting Texas and Stanford.

I think Notre Dame wins this regional but Tara can work magic, and Texas poses trouble with their athleticism.

Best matchup: hard call here.....I would love to see the following matchups though:
Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Texas vs. Stanford (rematch)
Notre Dame vs. Texas or Notre Dame vs. Stanford.
Notre Dame and Stanford have met in the regionals 2 years in a row and look to be on a collision course to make it 3 straight.

Stockton: A good, top heavy regional. South Carolina could easily be upset by Oregon State or Florida State. Oregon State plays great defense and rebounds well. If they can slow down SC's bigs, I think they'll pull off the upset. They'll have to beat Florida State though, who has a very talented roster despite a sluggish finish. They barely lost to South Carolina 2 years ago in the regional final. I think the winner of FSU or OSU wins the regional.

Best matchup: Florida State vs. Oregon State. Not necessarily the most exciting matchup, but 2 very good contrasting teams who can both make it to the Final Four.

Final Four: I'll keep this short and sweet. Notre Dame over Oregon State in a big blowout, UCONN in a tighter one over Baylor. UCONN beats ND for the title.

I think Notre Dame, Maryland and Baylor are the toughest matchups for Connecticut, so this may be a little bit hopeful for me. All 3 CAN potentially pull off an upset, but I just don't see it happening with how well the Huskies have played since December.

Where I argue against you is that UT, Washington and MST are talented teams that are built for playoff, grind it out to the end NCAA ball. Kentucky? Back off and let 'em shoot. An OSU street ball team that can't get out of its own way? C'mon man. Put Baylor instead of ND in that group with a healthy Jones and they'd waltz through to Stanford. Put ND in with Baylor's group, think they'd waltz? They'd win through, but it would be a break dance to the end.

 

[JordyG]

Is anybody watching the tournament challenge marathon right now? The men's basketball panel and the women's basketball panel are combined talking about women's basketball. It's some awesome stuff.

So sweet. WCBB baby!

 

[LO TRADER]

Analyzing the 4 regions, which conference has the best chance to have more than 1 team in the final 4?

 

[LETTERL]

Auburn and Cal are the surprises, IMO, on a historic level:

According to my amateur research, only one other team with a record of 17-14 has ever gotten in (NC State, in 2004). Plus, Auburn lost 9 of its last 12 games.

Ironic that NCState and Auburn are meeting in this year's NCAAT; the year NCState got an invite with a 17-14 record, our opponent was Auburn, and Auburn won 79-59.

 

[Bigboote]

The biggest jaw-dropper for me is Drake being a 10 seed. And they have to play at K State.

 

[Plebe]

I'm really stumped at how Cal at a #9 was seeded ahead of Oregon at #10.

It's obvious they took liberties to move seeds up or down a line for geography, conference conflicts, avoiding rematches, etc. But switching Cal and Oregon wouldn't solve any conference conflict, and I'm not seeing any geographical advantage either.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Whoa Michigan and UVa out, but Auburn & Cal in.

Sagarin has Michigan #23 and Auburn #47. Guess that stellar SEC helped the latter.

 

[mntncougar]

Geno's comments:

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That was about the most frank I've ever seen Geno, and on a lot of subjects including our recruits!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Freese and Staley are none too pleased, that's for sure.

 

[ochoopsfan]

These teams might play UConn in Storrs or Bridgeport. Here are their road or neutral records vs NCAA Tournament teams, only. Since they are leaving the happy confines of their home court how do they fare?

Syracuse 0-6---has lost all 6 road or neutral games vs NCAA teams. (losses--OSU, DePl,Lou, FSU,Duke, Duke)
Iowa St--2-4 (wins @ WVa, @ Tex--Losses--@Bay, A Okla, @KSU, N-KSU
UCLA 3-6 --Wins N-Toledo, @Stan, @ASU--Losses--@Bay,@SCar,@Wash,@Cal,@Oreg, @OSU, N-ASU
Tex A&M--3-4--Wins vs N-Syr, @Ky,@Tenn,--Losses--N-Dayton,@Miss St, @LSU--N-Miss St.
WVa--3-5--Wins(all in B12 Tournament vs Okla, Tex and Baylor) losses @KSU, @Bay, @Tex,@Okla, @Iowa St.
Maryland--6-1--Wins--N-ASU, @Lou,@Purd,@Mich St, N- Mich St-N-Purd---Loss @tOSU
Duke - 3-4--Wins @Long Beach, N-Syr, N-Miami--losses--@FSU,@NCSt, @ND, --N-ND

Only Maryland has a winning road or neutral court winning record. I dont think their competition was that tough.

West Virginia has 2 wins, both in Big 12 tournament and both recent vs teams who are hosting round one and two games. Nobody else has more than one win vs a hosting team(technically UCLA has zero wins but that is because their road win at Stanford and Stanford isnt hosting)

 

[SCspur]

Quick thoughts on the brackets....

Bridgeport: Maryland could be the toughest opponent UCONN has faced pre Final Four since LSU in 2007. Connecticut will still be a heavy heavy favorite, but Jones is a player who is a lot to handle and Slocum is a capable scorer. Maryland is badly underseeded at 9 overall. I don't care about lack of quality of wins, or the fact that OSU lost in the semis which prevented Maryland from beating them in the finals. Eye test says there aren't 4 better teams in the nation than the Terps. UCONN rolls through this, potential for a tough game against Maryland. They'll crush Duke and UCLA/A&M.

Best match up to watch: Duke/Maryland in the Sweet 16. Lexie Brown vs. her old team. Maryland is a great scoring team, Duke plays good defense. Should be a good matchup.

Oklahoma City: Not sure why Landers was making a huge deal out of this regional....I think it is the weakest by far. You have:

Baylor-with an injured Alexis Jones they lost pretty handily to West Virginia. They're good but not great without her and could easily be upset (as we saw last weekend.) The weakest #1 seed IMO.

Tennessee-as a 5 seed they aren't that scary. They could EASILY lose to Dayton and be bounced round 1. They also could make a Final Four but they aren't that scary for any team they face in the Sweet 16 and beyond. Easily the least deserving #5 seed.

Louisville-another team that has been very up and down. Lots of fire power, but they don't play great basketball. An average 4 seed.

Washington-yes, Plum can score and Osahor is great. Besides that, I'm not all that impressed with their team. They're 1-4 against teams that are top 4 seeds. They also enter the tournament on a loss at home to Oregon. I could easily see them bounced in the 2nd round. Weakest 3 seed.

Mississippi State-rough finish to the season for a team that is dreadful offensively if Vivians isn't on. Another team that could lose in round 2 if Depaul gets hot. I think they are a weaker 2 seed.

I honestly could see any of the top 5 making the Final Four. I think Washington torches Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 if the play and they could upset Baylor if they can slow down the frontcourt of Baylor. I'll still pick Baylor here.

Best potential matchup: Tennessee/Baylor would be a great rematch. Tennessee is capable of playing much much better than they showed earlier in the season against Baylor, and Baylor isn't as good without a healthy Jones.

Lexington: This is a loaded regional. In your top 6 you have:
Notre Dame-the clear cut #2 team in the nation to finish the season IMO. Muffet is one of the very best coaches in the nation.
Stanford-arguably the strongest 2 seed playing good basketball to finish the year. Tara is one of the best coaches out there.
Texas-a dangerous, streaky #3 seed. Capable of beating really good teams (ex. Baylor/FSU) but also capable of playing below potential.
Kentucky-not that intimidating but they'll be playing at home.
Ohio State-very potent team offensively. Could post a huge threat to Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.
NC State-wins over Notre Dame, Duke, Florida State and Louisville. Very capable of upsetting Texas and Stanford.

I think Notre Dame wins this regional but Tara can work magic, and Texas poses trouble with their athleticism.

Best matchup: hard call here.....I would love to see the following matchups though:
Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Texas vs. Stanford (rematch)
Notre Dame vs. Texas or Notre Dame vs. Stanford.
Notre Dame and Stanford have met in the regionals 2 years in a row and look to be on a collision course to make it 3 straight.

Stockton: A good, top heavy regional. South Carolina could easily be upset by Oregon State or Florida State. Oregon State plays great defense and rebounds well. If they can slow down SC's bigs, I think they'll pull off the upset. They'll have to beat Florida State though, who has a very talented roster despite a sluggish finish. They barely lost to South Carolina 2 years ago in the regional final. I think the winner of FSU or OSU wins the regional.

Best matchup: Florida State vs. Oregon State. Not necessarily the most exciting matchup, but 2 very good contrasting teams who can both make it to the Final Four.

Final Four: I'll keep this short and sweet. Notre Dame over Oregon State in a big blowout, UCONN in a tighter one over Baylor. UCONN beats ND for the title.

I think Notre Dame, Maryland and Baylor are the toughest matchups for Connecticut, so this may be a little bit hopeful for me. All 3 CAN potentially pull off an upset, but I just don't see it happening with how well the Huskies have played since December.

I highly disagree first of all your very contradicting and it seems your biased towards SC. How can you say Baylor is the weakest #1 seed but have them making the final four ? The only problem SC should have is traveling across 3 time zones. None of the top 4 seeds in Stockton worry me. Org St only has Wiese, take her away and make others score like Stanford did. Fl st is struggling right now and lack the height. Miami is streaky and not very good defensively.

 

[Plebe]

Sagarin has Michigan #23 and Auburn #47. Guess that stellar SEC helped the latter.

Sagarin has had Michigan way too high all season. They were in the upper teens until they lost 4 of their last 5 games.

 

[UConnNick]

Syracuse got a raw deal

View attachment 20727

Good. Maybe Coach Q can get Boeheim to help him whine about it. Nobody whines better than Boeheim. He just got through spending a whole day whining about getting left out of the men's tournament. He's on a roll.

 

[UConnNick]

I am always amazed how fans of nearly every highly ranked team annually are convinced that their team got the worst draw!

If Maryland is a top 4 team, I would rather play them in Bridgeport with the home crowd than in the final four!

Hope UCLA gets knocked off - quick guards and more scoring than I would want to face. Duke? No problem.

I think we beat MD by 20+ at any venue.

 

[bballnut90]

I highly disagree first of all your very contradicting and it seems your biased towards SC. How can you say Baylor is the weakest #1 seed but have them making the final four ? The only problem SC should have is traveling across 3 time zones. None of the top 4 seeds in Stockton worry me. Org St only has Wiese, take her away and make others score like Stanford did. Fl st is struggling right now and lack the height. Miami is streaky and not very good defensively.

A bit aggressive of a response but I'll bite..Baylor advances due to matchups. I think OSU will beat South Carolina, but Mississippi State will not beat Baylor. I think South Carolina is better than Baylor if Jones isn't 100%, but in each team's path to the Final Four, I'd bet on Baylor making it over SC.

I don't think Miami is a scary team. Florida State has struggled as of late, but if they can pull things together they're a heck of a good team. Tougher team to beat than Washington or Mississippi State if they're on their a game. They were strongly in contention for a 1 seed until the Texas loss at home which led to the late season slide. Semrau is a phenomenal coach and I think she can get them back to that level of play with a couple of weeks to regroup. They also are hungry for their first Final Four and have their best shot to do it in quite some time. It'll also be a rematch of the 2015 regional final which was one that slipped out of their fingers, so I think they'll find extra motivation there.

Oregon State isn't scary on paper but they play efficient good basketball and have an amazing coach in Rueck. Wiese is also an outstanding big guard who is difficult to stop. It'll be a slower grind it out game if the two meet, but if it's tight and late in the game, I'd bet on Rueck over Staley.

You don't have to agree, but that's my thought process.

 

[UConnNick]

I think South Carolina got screwed again. My understanding was that the higher your seed, the more likely you are placed in the regional closest to you. Last year, they bumped Notre Dame above South Carolina and that was the explanation as to why ND went to Lexington and USC went to Sioux Falls.

This year, USC is #3 and Baylor is #4. I thought it was a rule as the #3 seed, USC would be placed in the closest regional available; that should have been OKC. But, the committee either dumped that rule or found a way to justify #4 Baylor getting geographic preference above USC.

They put Baylor in OKC to draw bigger crowds.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Quick thoughts on the brackets....

Bridgeport: Maryland could be the toughest opponent UCONN has faced pre Final Four since LSU in 2007. Connecticut will still be a heavy heavy favorite, but Jones is a player who is a lot to handle and Slocum is a capable scorer. Maryland is badly underseeded at 9 overall. I don't care about lack of quality of wins, or the fact that OSU lost in the semis which prevented Maryland from beating them in the finals. Eye test says there aren't 4 better teams in the nation than the Terps. UCONN rolls through this, potential for a tough game against Maryland. They'll crush Duke and UCLA/A&M.

Best match up to watch: Duke/Maryland in the Sweet 16. Lexie Brown vs. her old team. Maryland is a great scoring team, Duke plays good defense. Should be a good matchup.

Oklahoma City: Not sure why Landers was making a huge deal out of this regional....I think it is the weakest by far. You have:

Baylor-with an injured Alexis Jones they lost pretty handily to West Virginia. They're good but not great without her and could easily be upset (as we saw last weekend.) The weakest #1 seed IMO.

Tennessee-as a 5 seed they aren't that scary. They could EASILY lose to Dayton and be bounced round 1. They also could make a Final Four but they aren't that scary for any team they face in the Sweet 16 and beyond. Easily the least deserving #5 seed.

Louisville-another team that has been very up and down. Lots of fire power, but they don't play great basketball. An average 4 seed.

Washington-yes, Plum can score and Osahor is great. Besides that, I'm not all that impressed with their team. They're 1-4 against teams that are top 4 seeds. They also enter the tournament on a loss at home to Oregon. I could easily see them bounced in the 2nd round. Weakest 3 seed.

Mississippi State-rough finish to the season for a team that is dreadful offensively if Vivians isn't on. Another team that could lose in round 2 if Depaul gets hot. I think they are a weaker 2 seed.

I honestly could see any of the top 5 making the Final Four. I think Washington torches Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 if the play and they could upset Baylor if they can slow down the frontcourt of Baylor. I'll still pick Baylor here.

Best potential matchup: Tennessee/Baylor would be a great rematch. Tennessee is capable of playing much much better than they showed earlier in the season against Baylor, and Baylor isn't as good without a healthy Jones.

Lexington: This is a loaded regional. In your top 6 you have:
Notre Dame-the clear cut #2 team in the nation to finish the season IMO. Muffet is one of the very best coaches in the nation.
Stanford-arguably the strongest 2 seed playing good basketball to finish the year. Tara is one of the best coaches out there.
Texas-a dangerous, streaky #3 seed. Capable of beating really good teams (ex. Baylor/FSU) but also capable of playing below potential.
Kentucky-not that intimidating but they'll be playing at home.
Ohio State-very potent team offensively. Could post a huge threat to Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.
NC State-wins over Notre Dame, Duke, Florida State and Louisville. Very capable of upsetting Texas and Stanford.

I think Notre Dame wins this regional but Tara can work magic, and Texas poses trouble with their athleticism.

Best matchup: hard call here.....I would love to see the following matchups though:
Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Texas vs. Stanford (rematch)
Notre Dame vs. Texas or Notre Dame vs. Stanford.
Notre Dame and Stanford have met in the regionals 2 years in a row and look to be on a collision course to make it 3 straight.

Stockton: A good, top heavy regional. South Carolina could easily be upset by Oregon State or Florida State. Oregon State plays great defense and rebounds well. If they can slow down SC's bigs, I think they'll pull off the upset. They'll have to beat Florida State though, who has a very talented roster despite a sluggish finish. They barely lost to South Carolina 2 years ago in the regional final. I think the winner of FSU or OSU wins the regional.

Best matchup: Florida State vs. Oregon State. Not necessarily the most exciting matchup, but 2 very good contrasting teams who can both make it to the Final Four.

Final Four: I'll keep this short and sweet. Notre Dame over Oregon State in a big blowout, UCONN in a tighter one over Baylor. UCONN beats ND for the title.

I think Notre Dame, Maryland and Baylor are the toughest matchups for Connecticut, so this may be a little bit hopeful for me. All 3 CAN potentially pull off an upset, but I just don't see it happening with how well the Huskies have played since December.

Nice, thoughtful post.

 

[UConnNick]

Not as raw as the NIT-bound Syracuse men!

Good! Boeheim is a serial NCAA rules cheater, and an enabler who allowed a sex pervert to victimize young men and be around his team and staff for many, many years. He should have been fired.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I've arrived late to the party, but I'm stupefied at the idea that UConn got a rough deal in the bracket.

First of all, we would crush Syracuse, but may not even play them. Echoing oldude, if we can't win two games in Storrs against an 8 seed or lower, we certainly don't deserve a championship.

UConn would crush UCLA. Ditto for Texas A&M. Also Duke. The only concerns are WVU and Maryland. I know nothing about WVU, but if Geno says they're good I'll go with that. Could Maryland beat us? Sure. Of course they could beat us. But they couldn't beat us at home in front of a big crowd with several UConn players under the weather. And didn't Gabby or Pheesa or both have foul trouble? I'm perfectly comfortable playing them for the FF on any court. But they might not survive WVU!

If UConn is healthy and brings it's A- game or above, they power through the regional and enter the Final Four by kicking down the doors.

 

[Plebe]

I will definitely be a Temple Fan on Saturday..... GO OWLS !!!! Get one for the AAC !!!!

Really? After all the smack you talked about Temple and USF this year??

 

[Plebe]

LOL Auburn gets in, Tennessee a 5 seed, and South Carolina with the easiest path.

Man that SEC is soooooo good! They've sent 1 team to the Final Four in 9 years.

I suspect they bumped Tennessee from a 6 to a 5 in order to put them at Louisville. This committee clearly had a strong geography focus.