Sunday games ("Rivalry Week")

[Plebe]

OT has been fantastic, back and forth. McDonald scoring at will, but Fr. Forbes keeps answering w/ 3's. She's 5-6 today. Cal up 2, Arizona ball, about a minute left.

Cal is 3 of 3 from the arc in overtime. It's pretty tough to lose a game to 5 minutes when you shoot that well.

McDonald has been fantastic, just carrying Arizona.

 

[nwhoopfan]

McDonald has been fantastic, just carrying Arizona.

I think she got worn out doing all that heavy lifting. Missed a contested layup, slipped and got tied up on the floor (possession arrow to Cal), and missed a pair of FTs last 3 trips for UA. Game over I think.

 

[Plebe]

Once again, just as in their overtime loss to UCLA, free throws have been Arizona's curse. Tonight they went 9-18 until those last 2 meaningless free throws.

 

[Plebe]

I think she got worn out doing all that heavy lifting. Missed a contested layup, slipped and got tied up on the floor (possession arrow to Cal), and missed a pair of FTs last 3 trips for UA. Game over I think.

Yeah I hate to say it but maybe I jinxed her.

This result moves both teams into a tie for 7th place in the Pac-12 at 7-9. But Arizona's last 2 games will be vs. the Oregon schools; Cal's will be at the Washington schools.

It can't be overstated how devastating these two near-misses are for Arizona's chances at an at-large bid. They have two quality wins over ASU and Cal, but their RPI is just too low right now, and that hideously awful nonconference SOS (#324) is really haunting them.

Unless they can find a way to shock one of the Oregon schools next weekend, they'll have to do some damage in the Pac-12 tournament to have any hope.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Watching this Georgia vs Alabama train wreck of a game

The NCAA committee should take as little SEC teams as possible. This has been a horrendous year. A lot of bad basketball.

 

[TheFarmFan]

In the Az St. loss, Ekmark was the leading ASU scorer...with TEN. Ouch. She shot 1-7 fgs. Again...ouch.

In fairness, she was pretty tenaciously guarded by Williams and Carrington today, and she was also going all out on defense herself. The one trey she made was one of the few times she was able to get open. I'm biased, of course, but Stanford really locked it down on defense today, and it showed in some of the desperation heaves Ekmark was forced to make as the clock was expiring.

 

[Plebe]

Watching this Georgia vs Alabama train wreck of a game

The NCAA committee should take as little SEC teams as possible. This has been a horrendous year. A lot of bad basketball.

Ha is this your personal plea to the committee to help nudge a certain coach out the door?

 

[SECbbfan24]

Ha is this your personal plea to the committee to help nudge a certain coach out the door?

No just speaking in general. Outside a select few teams. This conference has been bad this year overall. In the past the SEC has had some pretty good teams with a solid middle of the pack group. But this years its extremely down.

You have tier one

Miss St.
South Carolina
Kentucky
A&M


Then there is the middle of the pack group that has been extremely mixed

Missouri
Auburn
Georgia
LSU
Tennessee
Arkansas (no chance they go to the NCAAT)

Then the rest are complete trash

Alabama
Ole Miss
Florida
Vandy

 

[triaddukefan]

I was watching the end of the State game during a break... and saw that the next game up in Rivalry week was Houston and Memphis I had no idea that was a heated rivalry

 

[Plebe]

I was watching the end of the State game during a break... and saw that the next game up in Rivalry week was Houston and Memphis I had no idea that was a heated rivalry

Ha have you ever seen a fight between a cougar and a tiger? It can get pretty fierce!

 

[Plebe]

No just speaking in general. Outside a select few teams. This conference has been bad this year overall. In the past the SEC has had some pretty good teams with a solid middle of the pack group. But this years its extremely down.

You have tier one

Miss St.
South Carolina
Kentucky
A&M


Then there is the middle of the pack group that has been extremely mixed

Missouri
Auburn
Georgia
LSU
Tennessee
Arkansas (no chance they go to the NCAAT)

Then the rest are complete trash

Alabama
Ole Miss
Florida
Vandy

Yeah, the bottom 3 of the SEC are possibly the 3 worst teams in the power conferences.

These final few minutes of the Alabama-Georgia game have been entertaining, if nothing else. Both teams playing hard and scrappy.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I think Alabama has one of their key starters out though. She has been out since January/December I think. One of their leading scorers.

They aren't very good but are pretty scrappy team.

 

[biobioprof]

Yeah, the bottom 3 of the SEC are possibly the 3 worst teams in the power conferences.

These final few minutes of the Alabama-Georgia game have been entertaining, if nothing else. Both teams playing hard and scrappy.

I haven’t watched many bottom feeder games in other power conferences, but how should one compare the #12-14 teams in the SEC to the equivalent teams in the Big12(base 8)?

 

[triaddukefan]

Ha have you ever seen a fight between a cougar and a tiger? It can get pretty fierce!

 

[Plebe]

I haven’t watched many bottom feeder games in other power conferences, but how should one compare the #12-14 teams in the SEC to the equivalent teams in the Big12(base 8)?

Ha well, to the extent that one can give credence to the Massey ratings:
Alabama (108), Ole Miss (156), Florida (175), Vanderbilt (182).

Other teams from power conferences outside the Massey top 100:
Washington St (102), Texas Tech (107), Penn St (111), Wisconsin (117),
Oklahoma (121), Pitt (125), Wake Forest (131), Washington (132), Illinois (144).

 

[SECbbfan24]

Its gonna be extremely tight for a bunch of programs on the bubble this year. Things could change in a hurry depending on how certain teams perform in their conference tournaments.

Will be fun to watch it unfold.

 

[Plebe]

Its gonna be extremely tight for a bunch of programs on the bubble this year. Things could change in a hurry depending on how certain teams perform in their conference tournaments.

Will be fun to watch it unfold.

Bubble teams per conference:
P12: Arizona, Utah, USC
SEC: Tennessee, LSU, Auburn
ACC: Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech
B10: Kansas St, TCU, West Virginia
B12: Michigan, Michigan St, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio St, Nebraska [the bubble picture in this conference is a mess]

*Disclaimer: Inclusion or exclusion from this list does not imply a team is completely safe or without hope.

Others:
UCF, Butler, Villanova
South Dakota/South Dakota State (whichever loses in Summit League tournament)
Ohio/Central Michigan/Miami (Ohio)/Buffalo (whichever lose in MAC tournament)
Drake (if they lose in conference tourney)

 

[Plebe]

This season has been noted for its frequent upsets and overall unpredictability. But today was a very "chalk" day in WCBB:

15 of the 25 AP-ranked teams were in action.
Four of the 15 were playing each other (Stanford-ASU, Miami-FSU); the higher-ranked team won both games.
Ten of the other 11 games were won by the ranked team over the unranked team.

The only loss by a ranked team to an unranked team, I wouldn't even consider it an upset: #23 South Dakota lost in overtime at South Dakota State. (Massey had SDSU winning this game.)

The only games in the major conferences that I would consider upsets:
Missouri lost to Auburn.
Georgia Tech lost to Virginia.

 

[BigBird]

In fairness, she was pretty tenaciously guarded by Williams and Carrington today, and she was also going all out on defense herself. The one trey she made was one of the few times she was able to get open. I'm biased, of course, but Stanford really locked it down on defense today, and it showed in some of the desperation heaves Ekmark was forced to make as the clock was expiring.

Didn’t see the game, I just checked the box score. Thanks for your perspective.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Ha well, to the extent that one can give credence to the Massey ratings:
Alabama (108), Ole Miss (156), Florida (175), Vanderbilt (182).

Other teams from power conferences outside the Massey top 100:
Washington St (102), Texas Tech (107), Penn St (111), Wisconsin (117),
Oklahoma (121), Pitt (125), Wake Forest (131), Washington (132), Illinois (144).

I have been impressed with the progress made by the bottom four since the season start,however when the season began the top four were MSST, SC, Tenn, and Missouri, the only one of the top four that lived up to preseason expectations was MSST. Think the SEC is tougher today than many thought it was going to be at season start.

 

[IWearShoes]

I have been impressed with the progress made by the bottom four since the season start,however when the season began the top four were MSST, SC, Tenn, and Missouri, the only one of the top four that lived up to preseason expectations was MSST. Think the SEC is tougher today than many thought it was going to be at season start.

SC has met expectations IMO. UK has overachieved mainly because of the contributions of Howard.

Georgia has massively underachieved. Top 20 team preseason and Top 4 SEC.

 

[biobioprof]

SC has met expectations IMO. UK has overachieved mainly because of the contributions of Howard.

Georgia has massively underachieved. Top 20 team preseason and Top 4 SEC.

Preseason picks:
1. Mississippi State
2 South Carolina
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
5. Missouri
6. Texas A&M
7. Kentucky
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Alabama
11. Arkansas
12. Florida
13. Vanderbilt
14. Ole Miss

South Carolina women’s basketball comes close to the top of SEC preseason poll

UK and A&M should finish 3 and 4. They play on Thursday in Lexington.

 

[IWearShoes]

South Carolina women’s basketball comes close to the top of SEC preseason poll

UK and A&M should finish 3 and 4. They play on Thursday in Lexington.

Duh! I completely left out A&M, who I think has had a fine season considering the players they lost.

I freely acknowledge I am torn on what kind of teammate Carter is, but she can be one of the best players in the country on given nights. The surprise for me has been the growth of Kayla Wells.