South Carolina Tournament Opponents

[jake0414]

A variation of the “SC is beatable, not beatable discussion” that I intended to ask a couple of weeks ago before the conference tournaments began. Especially interested to hear what Gamecock faithful think:

What team or two teams does South Carolina prefer not ending up in its regional?

As the other 1-seeds have been pretty much determined - USC, Iowa and Stanford/Texas I pose another variant:

What team or two teams does South Carolina prefer not ending up in its regional OR would be glad for their loss(es) before the final four?

ESPN’s Michael Voepel sort of gave an answer in the article on who other than the Gamecocks has a chance to win the NC: Iowa, LSU, USC, Notre Dame, UConn. But my question focuses on head to head opponent(s) for South Carolina.

My thoughts: LSU and USC

 

[visitingcock]

Southern Cal is on the want list, not the avoid list. Just the fact that you name them “USC” gets us fired up. Those of with minds like Bevis and Butthead want Oregon State for the headlines.

Don’t want LSU a third time. Don’t want Tennessee for the fourth time.

 

[WBBTakeover]

So we've gone from "South Carolina is unbeatable" to "South Carolina is beatable after all" to now "South Carolina wants to avoid certain teams because they might be too tough"? My goodness, why enter the tourney at all since we're so vulnerable?

Some fans may see it differently, but I do not care who they put in our bracket (and yes, that includes LSU and Tennessee--not afraid of either team). All I need is maximum effort from THIS team so that we can go 6-0.

So, to answer your question, NO ONE.

 

[bballnut90]

I think LSU is the obvious one, but I’ll throw out a couple of other options:

1. UCONN-SC is going to be in Albany which means there’s a 50% chance they’ll have UCONN in their regional. If they meet in Albany, it’ll effectively be a road game in front of 15k+ fans to get to the Final Four which is a very challenging atmosphere. Historically I think UCONN has only ever lost once playing within a couple hours from home in the NCAAs. Most of SC’s mediocre showings have been on the road too, and UCONN will be hungry for revenge after SC dominated them in the regular season.

2. Texas is probably going to Portland, but they’re another team with horses to upset SC. They’re incredibly physical and gritty defensively and are well coached. They have a very good playmaker in Madison Booker who is a tough matchup and seem to be peaking at the right time. Texas isn’t as tall as SC but they have good athletes and can keep it close.

 

[bballnut90]

So we've gone from "South Carolina is unbeatable" to "South Carolina is beatable after all" to now "South Carolina wants to avoid certain teams because they might be too tough"? My goodness, why enter the tourney at all since we're so vulnerable?

This isn’t some outlandish discussion, take a deep breath.

 

[WBBTakeover]

This isn’t some outlandish discussion, take a deep breath.

I don't see what we're getting out of repackaging the same sentiment. South Carolina, just like any other team, can be beat. We all know that. That said, there's no reason why the team should be scared of any team.

Who should LSU be afraid of? How about Tennessee? Which teams should they fear?

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I think LSU is the obvious one, but I’ll throw out a couple of other options:

1. UCONN-SC is going to be in Albany which means there’s a 50% chance they’ll have UCONN in their regional. If they meet in Albany, it’ll effectively be a road game in front of 15k+ fans to get to the Final Four which is a very challenging atmosphere. Historically I think UCONN has only ever lost once playing within a couple hours from home in the NCAAs. Most of SC’s mediocre showings have been on the road too, and UCONN will be hungry for revenge after SC dominated them in the regular season.

2. Texas is probably going to Portland, but they’re another team with horses to upset SC. They’re incredibly physical and gritty defensively and are well coached. They have a very good playmaker in Madison Booker who is a tough matchup and seem to be peaking at the right time. Texas isn’t as tall as SC but they have good athletes and can keep it close.

I don’t think this UConn team is hungry for revenge against the teams that beat them in the regular season. They are really just grateful for every game the get to play together. I think we all know they aren’t capable of beating this South Carolina team or many top teams this season. UConn is a great match up for South Carolina imo, they should hope UConn ends up in their bracket imo. Definitely worse lower seed match ups out there for them.

I think teams with size and decent defensive guards like USC, Stanford, UCLA, Colorado, NC State are teams South Carolina would want to avoid.

USC in particular seems like a better version of Tennessee, making them a potentially bad match up for South Carolina. I’d be curious to see those two teams play.

They’ll make quick work of unbalanced teams like UConn, Iowa, Notre Dame, Ohio State etc imo.

 

[bballnut90]

I don't see what we're getting out of repackaging the same sentiment. South Carolina, just like any other team, can be beat. We all know that. That said, there's no reason why the team should be scared of any team.

Who should LSU be afraid of? How about Tennessee? Which teams should they fear?

Well then go ahead and start the discussion. South Carolina is this season’s Goliath so it makes sense why people will talk about who could potentially beat them. The whole point is to talk about women’s basketball on here.

 

[Bigboote]

Dawn strikes me as a coach who's working on general basketball right now and won't be concerned about any particular team till she finds out who they're playing next.

That said, I agree with the posters who consider teams they've played 2-3 times already as potentially dangerous.

 

[GoChips20]

As much as many SC fans want revenge I think Iowa and South Carolina are problematic matchups for each other. Iowa doesn’t have anyone who can handle Cardoso or Watkins inside and South Carolina’s defense isn’t as strong as last year’s when they still couldn’t contain Clark at all. Iowa would also probably have to rework their game plan now that SCar can hit the three at a high clip. By that same hand, Iowa has improved its rebounding and SC isn’t as strong on the boards which was how SC hung in there in the Final Four. I’d still give SC the edge but you never want to see Clark in a single-elimination format.

To more directly answer the question though I think SC’s big concerns are the teams they’ve seen before and struggled with (LSU, Tennessee). SC’s greatest advantage is its depth and the way you have to game plan for 9 players. That becomes easier if you know their tendencies. UConn would also fall into this category although they’d have to deal with Cardoso this time around.

UCLA is probably the worst PAC-12 matchup for SC. They can match Cardoso’s size and have a lot of depth/options. SC fans will likely hope Ohio State ends up as the 2-seed in SC’s region which is a much more favorable matchup.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

A variation of the “SC is beatable, not beatable discussion” that I intended to ask a couple of weeks ago before the conference tournaments began. Especially interested to hear what Gamecock faithful think:

What team or two teams does South Carolina prefer not ending up in its regional?

As the other 1-seeds have been pretty much determined - USC, Iowa and Stanford/Texas I pose another variant:

What team or two teams does South Carolina prefer not ending up in its regional OR would be glad for their loss(es) before the final four?

ESPN’s Michael Voepel sort of gave an answer in the article on who other than the Gamecocks has a chance to win the NC: Iowa, LSU, USC, Notre Dame, UConn. But my question focuses on head to head opponent(s) for South Carolina.

My thoughts: LSU and USC

I'm annoyed with LSU and would rather not look at them but I don't think they're a bad matchup at all for us.

I don't like the feeling of playing against Clark. As an internet fan base there is a lot of tough talk about her, but I'm good without chancing lightning striking twice if we can help it.

I guess JuJu might be the same so maybe that's my second answer.

 

[TC22]

I’d rather not see LSU or Tennessee again, but still think we would beat them. I’m not crazy about UCLA either but think we have the post players that could cause Betts some problems. I’m torn between wanting a rematch with Iowa. I think Fulwiley and Watkins could give Clark fits for at least bits of the game. We/ are likely to run into at least one of those teams, possibly 2. Just have to dIG deep and do enough.

 

[JstVisiting]

There was an early draft of Creme’s projection that seemed designed to make Carolina fans annoyed. Don’t remember it exactly, but something like Texas 2, UCLA 3, Notre Dame 6.

Seeding rules make it nearly impossible for us to see Tennessee too early, but I’d hate to be the team that draws them as a 7-9 seed. If they make it far enough that we play them, fine. Anybody is supposed to be tough at that stage.

I’d rather avoid UCLA or Texas as a 2. There are 1s I’d prefer over either. Down bracket, UNC is consistently tougher than they should be for us. When Notre Dame was being projected as a 4/5, I thought that was a tough draw at that stage. Now that they’re up to 3, it would be fine for a regional championship.

If we see LSU a third time, it would be really interesting. I think the end of the SEC CG ensures officiating would be under a microscope for this game in the Final Four or title game. LSU plays bullyball all year, then turns into floppers when they run into somebody they can’t push around. I doubt anyone outside the SEC has watched enough of their blowouts to know what I’m talking about, but it’s much more infuriating to see someone who beats their chest about toughness react to a post move like they’ve been shot than someone who makes no pretense of being strong and does that year. If it is called like I suspect it would be, I think a third meeting would be a more comfortable win. To their credit, LSU pulled it back from getting away from them multiple times in Greenville. Tougher to do that when your entire frontcourt has 3 fouls by halftime.

 

[JstVisiting]

I don't like the feeling of playing against Clark. As an internet fan base there is a lot of tough talk about her, but I'm good without chancing lightning striking twice if we can help it.

My worries about Iowa are the same as last year - not the five, but the three.

 

[jumpstart]

A variation of the “SC is beatable, not beatable discussion” that I intended to ask a couple of weeks ago before the conference tournaments began. Especially interested to hear what Gamecock faithful think:

What team or two teams does South Carolina prefer not ending up in its regional?

As the other 1-seeds have been pretty much determined - USC, Iowa and Stanford/Texas I pose another variant:

What team or two teams does South Carolina prefer not ending up in its regional OR would be glad for their loss(es) before the final four?

ESPN’s Michael Voepel sort of gave an answer in the article on who other than the Gamecocks has a chance to win the NC: Iowa, LSU, USC, Notre Dame, UConn. But my question focuses on head to head opponent(s) for South Carolina.

My thoughts: LSU and USC

My perspective on this team is....they don't care who they play. The fan base may but these girls seem to be confident and loose. To win the title you have to be and play the last teams standing. You can't avoid the best teams. You have to beat the best teams. They are too young and loose to care but that youth may be their downfall in the tournament. It will be interesting to see.

 

[JstVisiting]

Latest Creme projection is like he let me pick the opponents. First choice 2, 3, and 4 (I assume Kitley’s out).

I actually think Kansas is a potentially tricky second round opponent, as they have a lot of 5th years and a quality 6’6, but if the first tough matchup for their seed is 9, you can’t complain. Don’t mind UNC at 7.