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Message: [QUOTE="bballnut90, post: 3073810, member: 2117"] ND missed out on what would be their best title opportunity for years, but ND was a big Cinderella to get there in the first place. They knocked off a very good 34-2 Tennessee team in the regionals (Muffet was 0-20 head to head against Pat until that point and lost earlier in the year to UT), and they beat a goliath in UCONN to get to the title game. No one thought they'd beat UCONN, they lost to them 3x that year, UCONN was 36-1 and Maya Moore was a senior. Pretty sure this was the only time a team has beat both UCONN and Tennessee in the NCAA tournament. With or without a title, that was a heck of an accomplishment for her relatively unheralded squad. The year that should haunt Muffet with "what if" is 2017. They were the #2 team behind UCONN entering the tournament and most expected a UCONN-ND title game. ND lost Turner in the 2nd round and had no height inside. In the Elite 8 they blew a 16 point 2nd half lead against Stanford, losing by one. One could argue they likely win that game with a healthy Turner, or that they should've won even without. Fast forward to the semis and they would've faced South Carolina where ND would have been favored if healthy. Even without Turner, most would've expected ND to be a slight underdog at worst. Then they would have played Mississippi State for the title game where again ND would be a big favorite. 2017 was the first time they would've had a path to the title without facing the likes of Griner/Stewart/Moore or an undefeated team. That was a huge missed opportunity in hindsight. [/QUOTE]

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