Someone thinks we will lose in the title game...

[HuskiesU]

UOTE="UcMiami, post: 1117304, member: 199"]There is a great link to Michelle's column on the ESPN preseason player of the year - Stewart - in todays news links. Reposted here:
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...a-stewart-repeats-espnw-preseason-player-year
She really respects Uconn and Geno. And she writes quite well![/QUOTE]
Im not saying she hates or dislikes UConn because I heard reports of her praising Geno Geno staff and players. My point is she and others want to see other teams win NCs because even tho im a fan of uconn wbb its not good for the sport for us to win every single year. But I do want Stewie to get 4 NC #chasehistory

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Sounds like you have a premonition of DOOM. All of the concerns you have were just as applicable last year, yet we managed to squeak by in the NC game. Relax, enjoy the season, and good things will come to you in April.

Naw, I am both superstitious and try to look at things objectively. Fair to say we have the favorites for a threepeat and it is a deserved position. Still, I feel there is way too much chest beating, we can't lose chanting around here lately.

 

[Alydar]

There are 16 picks for the FF among the 4 writers and 8 of them are SEC teams, despite the fact that it's been 6 years since an SEC team was in the FF. Does the fact that ESPN is launching their SEC network have anything to do with it? I know the past doesn't always predict the future but how can anyone explain Smith's picks of Tenn and S Carolina while ignoring N. Dame as anything other than shilling for her employer? The Irish, like the Huskies, have proven themselves by making the FF every year while undergoing a complete turnover in rosters.

If Smith ends up correct, she looks like a genius. And if she's wrong it's only a few message boards that will remember it next year.

 

[easttexastrash]

To predict that Tennessee and SC will be in the Final Four is hardly going out on a limb. IMO they are both two of the top four teams in the nation. I am not sold on Notre Dame yet until I see them operate without Achonwa and McBride.

 

[easttexastrash]

MECHELLE
VOEPEL really knows the out come of UConn in Championship games. Her picking SC is just her wanting some team to beat us because she's tired of UConn winning. Even though their talentive I feel they don't have the experience also can they execute in big games which we seen twice last year they cant. Will they have the endurance and drive to play 40 minutes against a good experience discipline team in UConn??

What experience did Baylor have in the "big games" prior to 2005?
What experience did Maryland have in the "big games" in 2006?
What experience did TAMU have in the "big games" in 2011?

Experience is great but it is not always the defining factor when it comes to winning championships. Look at how much experience Stanford has had in big games. What has that gotten them in the past 10 years? Bupkis!

 

[PalPa]

UOTE="UcMiami, post: 1117304, member: 199"]There is a great link to Michelle's column on the ESPN preseason player of the year - Stewart - in todays news links. Reposted here:
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...a-stewart-repeats-espnw-preseason-player-year
She really respects Uconn and Geno. And she writes quite well!

Im not saying she hates or dislikes UConn because I heard reports of her praising Geno Geno staff and players. My point is she and others want to see other teams win NCs because even tho im a fan of uconn wbb its not good for the sport for us to win every single year. But I do want Stewie to get 4 NC #chasehistory[/QUOTE]

I agree, but as you say we want 4 NC's for Stewie & MoJet, 5 for Tuck, 4 for Chong, 4 for this years freshmen, and 4 for next years freshman, then we MIGHT think about letting another team win just one time.

 

[alexrgct]

What experience did Baylor have in the "big games" prior to 2005?
What experience did Maryland have in the "big games" in 2006?
What experience did TAMU have in the "big games" in 2011?

Experience is great but it is not always the defining factor when it comes to winning championships. Look at how much experience Stanford has had in big games. What has that gotten them in the past 10 years? Bupkis!

The key difference is that the respective NC game opponents of Baylor, UMD, and A&M in their championship years weren't terribly experienced either. Yes Duke and ND had played in NC games before 2006 and 2011, respectively, but it had been long enough ago that neither of those teams was close to being on the roster at the time. In a hypothetical NC game between UConn and South Carolina, you're talking about a matchup between a program and roster who's never been there before against an entire program who's been there time and time again....and a roster who's been there the previous two seasons.

The experience factor won't necessarily decide the game, but it would be a decided advantage for UConn.

 

[HuskiesU]

What experience did Baylor have in the "big games" prior to 2005?
What experience did Maryland have in the "big games" in 2006?
What experience did TAMU have in the "big games" in 2011?

Experience is great but it is not always the defining factor when it comes to winning championships. Look at how much experience Stanford has had in big games. What has that gotten them in the past 10 years? Bupkis!

First off Baylor had the most dominate big in the game and they had a great point guard in OSimms Maryland had seniors and made a good run. Maybe their best team ever. Again TamU had seniors in Dadams cindney besides they beat Bayloronce that year and played them close all the time. Plus they had experience coaches who been there before

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

The key difference is that the respective NC game opponents of Baylor, UMD, and A&M in their championship years weren't terribly experienced either. Yes Duke and ND had played in NC games before 2006 and 2011, respectively, but it had been long enough ago that neither of those teams was close to being on the roster at the time. In a hypothetical NC game between UConn and South Carolina, you're talking about a matchup between a program and roster who's never been there before against an entire program who's been there time and time again....and a roster who's been there the previous two seasons.

The experience factor won't necessarily decide the game, but it would be a decided advantage for UConn.

It's not the same as the players having the experience, but USC does have 2 coaches who played in multiple Final Fours.

 

[j66kicker]

There are 16 picks for the FF among the 4 writers and 8 of them are SEC teams, despite the fact that it's been 6 years since an SEC team was in the FF. Does the fact that ESPN is launching their SEC network have anything to do with it? I know the past doesn't always predict the future but how can anyone explain Smith's picks of Tenn and S Carolina while ignoring N. Dame as anything other than shilling for her employer? The Irish, like the Huskies, have proven themselves by making the FF every year while undergoing a complete turnover in rosters.

If Smith ends up correct, she looks like a genius. And if she's wrong it's only a few message boards that will remember it next year.

I doubt ESPN's launching of the SEC network has any influence on what their girls basketball analysts predict.

 

[Icebear]

What experience did Baylor have in the "big games" prior to 2005?
What experience did Maryland have in the "big games" in 2006?
What experience did TAMU have in the "big games" in 2011?

Experience is great but it is not always the defining factor when it comes to winning championships. Look at how much experience Stanford has had in big games. What has that gotten them in the past 10 years? Bupkis!

What heavily experienced and dominant teams were the in WCBB those years?

 

[Icebear]

Im not saying she hates or dislikes UConn because I heard reports of her praising Geno Geno staff and players. My point is she and others want to see other teams win NCs because even tho im a fan of uconn wbb its not good for the sport for us to win every single year. But I do want Stewie to get 4 NC #chasehistory

I agree, but as you say we want 4 NC's for Stewie & MoJet, 5 for Tuck, 4 for Chong, 4 for this years freshmen, and 4 for next years freshman, then we MIGHT think about letting another team win just one time.

NEVER! They must earn it.

 

[Icebear]

It's not the same as the players having the experience, but USC does have 2 coaches who played in multiple Final Fours.

It is not the same at all. Plus those coaches are busy trying to learn how to manage a team in that position because they haven't done that before. Understanding media demands alone is a new challenge.

 

[geneticrex]

I hope 1000s more analysts pick someone other than UCONN to win the title this year.

What better than some billboard material for that last .000000001% of motivation that Geno may not be able to extract???

 

[alexrgct]

I was disappointed it was Voepel and not Smith who picked South Carolina. If it had been Smith, my betting stakes would have been not $500, but if UConn wins, Michelle Smith would have to go to dinner with me...

 

[Vowelguy]

MECHELLE
VOEPEL really knows the out come of UConn in Championship games. Her picking SC is just her wanting some team to beat us because she's tired of UConn winning.

Or she wants to get some discussion and interest going about the season.

 

[sivad40]

First off Baylor had the most dominate big in the game and they had a great point guard in OSimms Maryland had seniors and made a good run. Maybe their best team ever. Again TamU had seniors in Dadams cindney besides they beat Bayloronce that year and played them close all the time. Plus they had experience coaches who been there before

Maryland's 2006 title was a sophomore/freshmen dominated team. They did have the benefit of facing two conference rivals (UNC, Duke) in the Final Four and UNC had been in the Final Four the year before.

 

[OneTrickPony]

I suspect they draw straws and the one who gets the short one has to pick anyone but UCONN.

 

[msf22b]

[QUOTE="easttexastrash, post: 1117389, member: 1706"

Experience is great but it is not always the defining factor when it comes to winning championships. Look at how much experience Stanford has had in big games. What has that gotten them in the past 10 years? Bupkis![/QUOTE]

It's not just experience in being in big games, its experience in winning big games.

 

[hoophuskee]

What experience did Baylor have in the "big games" prior to 2005?
What experience did Maryland have in the "big games" in 2006?
What experience did TAMU have in the "big games" in 2011?

Experience is great but it is not always the defining factor when it comes to winning championships. Look at how much experience Stanford has had in big games. What has that gotten them in the past 10 years? Bupkis!

But it has done well for UCONN, hasn't it? How often has UCONN been knocked off by an inexperienced team?

 

[semper]

Amazing not to see an orange T anywhere on the pundits chart.

 

[xHunt3r]

Amazing not to see an orange T anywhere on the pundits chart.

?? 3 of the 4 have Tennessee in the final four...

 

[RadyLady]

I think it's fun to look back at last year's predictions and see how well these prognosticators fared. Here is last year's chart: LINK

UConn was the unanimous favorite, which was correct. They were mostly correct on the SEC and PAC12, unanimously selecting Tennessee and Stanford (Tennessee won their tourney only while Stanford won the regular season only). But besides that, they were not accurate. Duke was the unanimous choice for ACC champ, while in the B12, Baylor only received one vote, with Oklahoma being awarded 3 votes (and Ok. St. one). DePaul received a single vote in the BE, yet won it by 2 games. Only 1 of 5 had Notre Dame in the FF (Voepel). Three people had 75% of the FF correct, but Fagan and Smith only named 2 teams correctly.

i invite you alk to take a look at the predictions for the men's side last year...just for fun.

 

[jdubct]

Well Uconn is 9-0 in championship games. A loss will probably happen eventually, so Voepel could theoretically be right. But not this season.

 

[Tonyc]

Well to defeat UConn you have to keep them from scoring because they will keep opponents from scoring. To do that you have to play them one on one. You have to be in great physical shape and have relentless pressure put on the ball. Now who can stop MoJeff defensively. You cant guard Stewie and KML one on one and imo both are NPOY and there aint anybody else close. You need a coach who can out coach UConn. In the past UConn lost because of fouls being called. A lot of fouls on UConn when the opponent went to the line many more times then UConn. Those charge calls don't work when the offensive player initiates contact.