UCLA's Cori Close on UConn

[CamrnCrz1974]

"I'm not one of the UConn 'haters' in terms of thinking it was bad for the game that they won so much. I don't think so," Close said. "I think they've set a bar that's gotten people's attention. Like, 'Wow, the women's game is being played at such a high level.'

"But I also think we need this next phase with other people stepping up to that standard that UConn has done such a great job setting. I think there's this optimism this year, and there's going to be drama in the NCAA tournament. It's an important year to grow the game."

Race feels wide open as season tips off

 

[UcMiami]

Just a small nit-pick on the article - while Uconn was a #1 seed in 2013, they were ranked #3 behind Baylor and ND heading into the NCAA tournament and Baylor was a prohibitive favorite to repeat as champions up to the moment Louisville knocked them out. And ND was in the middle of the thankfully forgotten run of 7 wins in 9 tries against Uconn.
TX A&M was certainly a bigger surprise, but Uconn winning in 2013 was not 'expected'.

 

[Plebe]

Just a small nit-pick on the article - while Uconn was a #1 seed in 2013, they were ranked #3 behind Baylor and ND heading into the NCAA tournament and Baylor was a prohibitive favorite to repeat as champions up to the moment Louisville knocked them out. And ND was in the middle of the thankfully forgotten run of 7 wins in 9 tries against Uconn.
TX A&M was certainly a bigger surprise, but Uconn winning in 2013 was not 'expected'.

Yeah, a bit odd that the article glosses over the turns of fortune of the 2013 season. It wasn't just that UConn was ranked #3, but they seemed to have found its nemesis in Notre Dame, which, heading into the 2013 tournament, had beaten UConn 3 times that season in heartbreaking fashion, and in 7 out of the previous 8 games, and in each of the previous two NCAA semifinals.

Then, just when Louisville seemed to have cleared the runway for Notre Dame to get over its hump, UConn's masterful performance in the 2013 semifinal, compliments of Stewart-Faris-Dolson-Hartley-et al, made all right again.