The Bracket

[Kaizen]

A not necessary foul but definitely not intentional foul.

 

[CompSci87]

Nice "Meet Audi Crooks" game for the national audience. The Sunday game of Crooks up against Brinks is the matchup nobody east or west of Iowa knew was something they need to see. Obviously Audi can't go from 40 versus Brinks but she will totally relish the challenge.

At least we Cyclones won't likely see a repeat of Jayne Appel going off for 46 points versus ISU like in 2009. Just known as "The Jayne Appel Game" or the "Jayne Appel Defense Game" among Cyclone fans. We famously, at least among ISU fans, elected to try and stop the rest of the team while not doubling down on Appel as she would "get her points anyway".

I was at that game. Quite a memory!

 

[cancontent]

I swear, when they first implemented it, ANY contact above the shoulder was an automatic T. It didn't matter if there was intention or not. I don't know when they changed it. It's probably gone through several rounds of tweaking. Anyway, regardless of intention, that was quite a direct shot from an elbow to the face.

The problem to me is the word "intentional". No problem with that type of contact being a technical, but the description for this type of infraction is horrible. A lot of people take to it too literally because they likely don't know the rule itself.

Clark was called for that same type of thing last year. Iowa fans weren't happy. Had this not been called, oh man.....those refs would never hear the end of it.

 

[CompSci87]

A two year old might not know that the rules defining what's an "intentional" foul don't have much to do with the player's intentions. A Twitter poster might not know either.

I see his follow up was to say he thought it was accidental. Even if it was, it still could qualify as an intentional foul. I wish NCAA WBB would change the terminology back to "flagrant" to make it less confusing.

 

[cancontent]

I don't think Stuelke played in the second half. She was ineffective in the first half. Clark didn't shoot the ball very well. Didn't matter, Iowa rolled.

And Clark just missed a triple double, needed 2 more rebounds.

No she didn't. When talking to press she said she's been dealing with migraines. Says she should be fine for Monday.

 

[Vowelguy]

18-7 q3 pulls WV solidly out in front over Prin

At 630 of q2, tigers let 23-14.

Next 16.5 minutes: 28-10 mountaineers

 

[The deacon]

A not necessary foul but definitely not intentional foul.

Really, Kaizen?

She wound up for that arm swing. That looked pretty darned intentional, and right on target, to me. And I love me a good, Irish athlete succeeding across the Pond, but that was brutal shot by Bronagh.

I wonder how replays of that move are playing with the Jesuit hierarchy in Worcester this evening.

 

[visitingcock]

UC Irvin trailing the Zags by 5 at half. Gonzaga 2-14 from 3

 

[nwhoopfan]

I've been hyping Coach La Rocque for several years...but it's time for her teams to perform better in the Tourney. Won a bunch of regular season games the last 3 years but about to fall to 0-3 in the Tourney, and most of the games haven't been close.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Overall, this Tourney is not serving very well for those who lobby for more mid major teams to be included in the field. Just not doing much.

 

[nwhoopfan]

UC Irvin trailing the Zags by 5 at half. Gonzaga 2-14 from 3

3s starting to fall and Ejim is having a field day. The rout is on.

 

[Plebe]

Overall, this Tourney is not serving very well for those who lobby for more mid major teams to be included in the field. Just not doing much.

At least Middle Tennessee took out Louisville; that's been the only upset of the entire tournament so far. Otherwise all chalk. FGCU came extremely close to winning a 12-5 game for the 3rd consecutive year, but OU squeaked by.

The narrative that's really being disrupted is the "parity" narrative. The underdog p6 teams seeded 9 through 12 haven't won a single game.

It hasn't been a great year for mid majors overall, outside of Gonzaga. Princeton had the next best chance as a 9 seed but played a poor second half against WVU. Richmond put a scare into Duke before fading badly.

 

[nwhoopfan]

At least Middle Tennessee took out Louisville; that's been the only upset of the entire tournament so far. Otherwise all chalk.

The narrative that's really being blown up is the "parity" narrative. The underdog p6 teams seeded 9 through 12 haven't won a single game.

It hasn't been a great year for mid majors overall, outside of Gonzaga. Princeton had the next best chance as a 9 seed but played a poor second half against WVU. Richmond put a scare into Duke before fading badly.

Yeah a few close but not quite games. Heartbreaker for FGCU.

This really seems like a step backwards to me. We were starting to see a bit more parity, and now none this Tourney. Meanwhile over in the men's Tourney just about anybody can beat anybody, and it's been that way for a while.

 

[Vowelguy]

Uh oh: Betts out for UCLA tonight with a right foot injury.

 

[Plebe]

Uh oh: Betts out for UCLA tonight with a right foot injury.

Did I hear them say that they're "optimistic" she'll be ready for Monday's game?

 

[ISUnorth]

A two year old might not know that the rules defining what's an "intentional" foul don't have much to do with the player's intentions. A Twitter poster might not know either.

I see his follow up was to say he thought it was accidental. Even if it was, it still could qualify as an intentional foul. I wish NCAA WBB would change the terminology back to "flagrant" to make it less confusing.

Well, he is a talk radio jerk so it's his job to be an ass and generate buzz for himself. I'd never heard of him until his stupid post ended up in my Twitter feed. Only saw it because I follow a few people that apparently aren't that fussy about who they follow.

 

[undersized]

You called it.... though your prediction looked a lil bleak in the first half.

never a doubt!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Utah jumped out 17-3, but South Dakota St. has nearly evened it up. Utah coach just got T'd up. Just about half time.

edit--was 27-7, SDSU on a 17-0 run to end the half

 

[nwhoopfan]

After a LONG scoring drought, Utah recovered and pretty much controlled the 2nd half. And that's a wrap on day 2. Not a single upset.

 

[jdote33]

I've seen the stat that the higher seeded team was 31-1 in the first round (the exception being MTSU, Hailey Van Lith knew it). I actually think it makes sense as I do feel like the top 25 or top 30 teams this season were really good. I thought the higher seeds were just better. I didn't see too many upsets, like a lot of ppl felt Utah was vulnerable. I know it was close but ppl felt the same about Oklahoma. But both teams had super quality wins this year so it was hard for me to see them losing in round one. Following that logic though I do expect to see some upsets in the second round but we'll see. I think this round will be where the parity in the woman's game shows.

 

[GamecockFam]

I've seen the stat that the higher seeded team was 31-1 in the first round (the exception being MTSU, Hailey Van Lith knew it). I actually think it makes sense as I do feel like the top 25 or top 30 teams this season were really good. I thought the higher seeds were just better. I didn't see too many upsets, like a lot of ppl felt Utah was vulnerable. I know it was close but ppl felt the same about Oklahoma. But both teams had super quality wins this year so it was hard for me to see them losing in round one. Following that logic though I do expect to see some upsets in the second round but we'll see. I think this round will be where the parity in the woman's game shows.

This has had me thinking about the portal's effect on mid major performance in the NCAA tournament. I wonder if this is caused by the best players on the mid major teams going to power five schools. Those players are going to the nation's top programs ruining team chemistry and letting the rich get richer. So many upsets are fueled my diamond-in-the-rough players or overlooked talent staying for four years at a mid-major and building a team around them. But now we have annual turnover, causing mid-majors to start from scratch each season. As you said, I think this will result in less upsets in the round of 64 but more upsets in the round of 32 where the top brands who poached the best players start facing one another.

 

[visitingcock]

Is this year any different? I don’t remember many first round real upsets in the past. (A 9 seed beating a 8 seed or even 10 over 7
is not a “ real” upset.) Second round? Yeah I remember many. I expect some today and Tomorrow.

Let’s face it, the P-5+1 pretty much dominate wbb.

 

[JellyBean]

Tennessee had a very impressive win today. If I’m in their bracket I’m feeling a bit nervous.

I was shocked that Green Bay did not play better. Usually they are hitting their shots, cutting harder, and playing aggressive defense. The Lady Vols are good but Green Bay made them look like 10 times better. But it is all about the matchups and Tennesse got one that worked in their favor. Great game by Tennessee.

 

[Rb335]

The P5 really did dominate the first round. Middle Tennessee was a mid major upset. Gonzaga a mid major chalk win. And then Creighton and Uconn from the big east.

Big 12- 7
ACC - 6
PAC 12- 6
SEC- 5
Big 10- 4
Big East - 2
West Coast Conference -1
Conference USA - 1

The big 12 going a perfect 7-0 stood out to me. The PAC 12 at 6-1 did justice to their claim as the best conference this year, 7-1 if you include Arizona winning in the first four. The Big 10 going 4-3 was the worst P5 record in the first round.

Interested to track the makeup of the sweet 16 and how many hosts advance.

 

[JellyBean]

Also, congrats to Kansas! Glad to see Michigan sent packing (could only stomach them during the Naz Hillmon days). Kim Barnes Arico is someone who is praised ad nauseam for her coaching prowess (I agree with that in terms of how her teams play defensively), but her teams do not seem to be very poised offensively down the stretch in games (and they can be very hard to watch on offense if their 3-point shots are not falling). If they don't have a big enough cushion to hold on at the end, they aren't going to beat you. We found out today that a 10-point 4th quarter cushion against Kansas was simply not enough.

Yep. I am a huge Michigan fan and I have never understood the draw of Coach Arico, especially when it comes to recruiting, skill development, and offensive and defensive systems that she runs.