UConn at Baylor Jan 7th

[The CDR-Ret]

Jonathan, I agree that the BIG 12 has fallen on hard times, but, the fact remains she continues to get a much desired 1 seed, and her teams are usually ready for that final run through the tournament. Baylor is still feared and respected.

No teams want to be in their bracket (no teams will want to be in UConn's bracket this year either). I'm not saying it's fair, but it's real. Whether you endorse it or not, she's getting away with it. If nothing else, the committee respects the fact that Baylor plays in a P-5 conference comprised of 10 major programs.

To answer your question, I believe Texas and TCU are the two programs that will pose the most resistance this season. It’s not their fault that the other conference schools have failed to rise to Baylor’s level.

That alone carries some weight. All Kim wants to do every year is to go undefeated through the conference tournament, then get a 1 seed. Lately, that's what she's been doing. I understand that you disapprove of her methods, but it's working for her. I think Baylor will at least make the regional finals this year. After that, ?1?

I think Texas is on the rebound quickly. Vic Schaefer is putting together a power house squad in Austin. He's doing very well on the recruiting trail, but needs one more year to get "his" players in there. Texas signed 3 elite standouts over the summer: Lauren Ebo, DeYona Gaston and Kyra Lambert. I expect the Longhorns to give Baylor some very real and "stiff" competition beginning next year. This year, TCU and Texas appear to be Baylor's only real competition. Oklahoma continues to under achieve and remains a non factor in the BIG 12. They finished 5-13 in conference play last year.

Iowa State can provide the occasional upset, when looked passed....

 

[Plebe]

Not certain why people push the myth that Baylor plays no one of merit in OOC......agendas likely vary.

Here are examples from last 10 years:

2010/11: UConn, Mich. St., NotreDame, Minnesota, Tennessee, Syracuse
2011/12: UCLA, NotreDame, Tennessee, Minnesota, UConn, Missouri
2012/13: Kentucky, Stanford, NotreDame, Tennessee
2013/14: Kentucky, Ole Miss, UConn, Tennessee
2014/15: Kentucky, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Mich. St.
2015/16: USF, DePaul, Michigan St., Miami
2016/17: UCLA, UConn, DePaul, Ohio St., Tennessee
2017/18: UCLA, Mo St., Ga. Tech, Kentucky, Stanford
2018/19: Ariz. St., South Carolina, Stanford, UConn
2019/20: USF, Indiana, South Carolina, UConn

Plus 18 Power 5 Conference Games each year.

Not always great, but better than average. Some seasons, lost games against elite programs because those programs lost in early rounds of exempt tourneys.

Have no idea why UConn fans would want to denigrate Baylor......doesn’t that mean your wins against Baylor have less value and losses against Baylor become more problematic?

Baylor's nonconference schedules have varied in difficulty over the years, ranging anywhere from great (in 2013) to so-so to plain awful.

Their 2013 NCSOS was #1 in the country and surely ranks among the hardest ever. It included no fewer than 5 of the other 7 teams in the top 8 of the RPI:

Kentucky (8)​

Stanford (3)​

Notre Dame (2)​

Tennessee (7)​

UConn (3)​

After that, Baylor's NCSOS took a big nosedive and has fluctuated quite a bit.

2014: #107​

2015: #46​

2016: #34​

2017: #76​

2018: #73​

2019: #4​

2020: #187​

I wonder if in retrospect, after the stinging early exit in 2013, Mulkey felt she'd overscheduled that year?

 

[Carnac]

FYI.....Baylor was likely the WBB program most impacted by the PAC-12’s decision to play 22 conference games. Lost home games against Stanford and Arizona St. and a neutral court game against Oregon. 4 cupcake games isn’t ideal this season, but contractual obligations were tough. The cost of postponing/cancelling existing “pay to play” games was simply too high in the COVID economy. The budget for the team [like most teams at most schools] took a hit this year. Hopefully the budget constraints won’t roll too far into the future. Expecting at least 2 more years of tight budgets to make up the lost revenue from this year. The Baylor “sports rainy day fund” is taking a huge hit ‘even with generous donor giving].

The lost home games against the schools you mentioned is unfortunate. They ARE NOT cupcakes. I applaud Kim for scheduling more competitive schools. Iron sharpens iron. You don't/can't improve playing schools that are far below your level. I hope this continues. I'd like to see Baylor and UConn play every year. It would be good for both teams. Those games would be sell outs, and be broadcast on national TV.

 

[Carnac]

I believe it was 2018 where many (including Creme) believed Baylor would receive a #1 national seed based on just a couple of losses; but, their atrocious SOS had others expecting the committee to knock Baylor down to a #2 seed, and that's how it ended up.

Yes. They got
surprised" by that dreaded old nemesis the dark horse. Oregon St. came out of nowhere to upset them. NO ONE had the Beavers in the final four that year. Crap happens.

 

[Adriacus]

Yes. They got
surprised" by that dreaded old nemesis the dark horse. Oregon St. came out of nowhere to upset them. NO ONE had the Beavers in the final four that year. Crap happens.

2018 was the year that an “already thin” rotation at Baylor was killed by injury. In the last game of the regular season Kristi Wallace [point guard, captain, best outside shooter, and possibly best player] destroyed her knee [never really recovered]. The team was never the same afterward. If Wallace had not been injured, that season would almost certainly have ended differently. Even worse, her pro career has been destroyed. She keeps trying to come back but simply reinjures the same knee each time.

 

[Adriacus]

Baylor's nonconference schedules have varied in difficulty over the years, ranging anywhere from great (in 2013) to so-so to plain awful.

Their 2013 NCSOS was #1 in the country and surely ranks among the hardest ever. It included no fewer than 5 of the other 7 teams in the top 8 of the RPI:

Kentucky (8)​

Stanford (3)​

Notre Dame (2)​

Tennessee (7)​

UConn (3)​

After that, Baylor's NCSOS took a big nosedive and has fluctuated quite a bit.

2014: #107​

2015: #46​

2016: #34​

2017: #76​

2018: #73​

2019: #179​

2020: #142​

I wonder if in retrospect, after the stinging early exit in 2013, Mulkey felt she'd overscheduled that year?

Not sure the source of those SOS rankings but they are not the ones used by the NCAA. For example, 2019 Baylor final SOS [per NCAA version of RPI] was #3. Don’t think conference games could jump them from #179 to #3. And Baylor played Stanford, beat UConn, beat Arizona St., beat South Carolina that NC portion of season......no way was that NC schedule #179.

 

[Carnac]

Not sure the source of those SOS rankings but they are not the ones used by the NCAA. For example, 2019 Baylor final SOS [per NCAA version of RPI] was #3. Don’t think conference games could jump them from #179 to #3. And Baylor played Stanford, beat UConn, beat Arizona St., beat South Carolina that NC portion of season......no way was that NC schedule #179.

We were all left hanging at the end of the conference tournaments. If the COVID-19 virus could have waited just 4 more weeks before breaking out, the NCAA tournament would have cleared all of that up.

 

[Plebe]

Not sure the source of those SOS rankings but they are not the ones used by the NCAA. For example, 2019 Baylor final SOS [per NCAA version of RPI] was #3. Don’t think conference games could jump them from #179 to #3. And Baylor played Stanford, beat UConn, beat Arizona St., beat South Carolina that NC portion of season......no way was that NC schedule #179.

Thanks for catching this. I was using the official NCAA team sheets, but of course it's critical to look at the correct team sheet

Baylor's NCSOS in 2019 was #4. I've corrected my above post accordingly. I believe the other numbers should be correct.

 

[Alydar]

Not certain why people push the myth that Baylor plays no one of merit in OOC......agendas likely vary.

Here are examples from last 10 years:

2010/11: UConn, Mich. St., NotreDame, Minnesota, Tennessee, Syracuse
2011/12: UCLA, NotreDame, Tennessee, Minnesota, UConn, Missouri
2012/13: Kentucky, Stanford, NotreDame, Tennessee
2013/14: Kentucky, Ole Miss, UConn, Tennessee
2014/15: Kentucky, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Mich. St.
2015/16: USF, DePaul, Michigan St., Miami
2016/17: UCLA, UConn, DePaul, Ohio St., Tennessee
2017/18: UCLA, Mo St., Ga. Tech, Kentucky, Stanford
2018/19: Ariz. St., South Carolina, Stanford, UConn
2019/20: USF, Indiana, South Carolina, UConn

Plus 18 Power 5 Conference Games each year.

Not always great, but better than average. Some seasons, lost games against elite programs because those programs lost in early rounds of exempt tourneys.

Calling a team "power 5" doesn't make them competitive or powerful.

Last season Baylor played exactly 2 top 15 teams. They went 1-1.

Have no idea why UConn fans would want to denigrate Baylor......doesn’t that mean your wins against Baylor have less value and losses against Baylor become more problematic?

 

[DaBball]

 

[Plebe]

Scary indeed. Brains and spines are a big deal.

I hope they both recover very quickly and can still play all or most of the season. The fact that Richards has already been released from hospital is, I think, an encouraging sign for now.

 

[JonathanXIV]

My reply was to Alydar's query about a few elite coaches: "The problem I see is that a few elite level coaches like to talk about promoting wcbb but when they have the chance to schedule games with a high level of public interest they demur", not necessarily Kim. But if the shoe fits.................

Of course Kim is not in jeopardy of losing her job. She just won a natty. She's good for another 6-10 years. My narrative asked the question about THE AVERAGE COACH". I did not mention Kim. You're right, there is no reason a coach can't do both, but do they? I don't make their schedules. they do!! Ask them why they don't.

It is what it is!! Kim habitually schedules "soft" non-competitive teams she knows her teams can beat, so that Baylor can begin each season with a 10-13/0 record. It's no accident. She's done that for years. So do other coaches. Maybe to the extent she does, but they do.

Coaches lose their jobs every year because they don't win enough games to keep the AD and the administration happy. Again, I did not say or suggest that Mulkey was in danger of losing her job. I used the term "coaches" in a general sense. Somehow you read it differently. I don't think you will be as offended by my post if you read it in the context it was written in.

Finally..........allow me to be crystal clear, I absolutely positively have no issue with Kim Mulkey, Baylor or any of its players. I don't have anything for or against Kim or her program. I don't follow Baylor WBB. I'm a UConn WBB fan........period!!! In Geno I trust!! I don't follow/care about any other WCBB team.

Not offended by your post. But since you wrote a number of posts concerning Kim's scheduling, my response was specific to Kim.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Not certain why people push the myth that Baylor plays no one of merit in OOC......agendas likely vary.

Here are examples from last 10 years:

2010/11: UConn, Mich. St., NotreDame, Minnesota, Tennessee, Syracuse
2011/12: UCLA, NotreDame, Tennessee, Minnesota, UConn, Missouri
2012/13: Kentucky, Stanford, NotreDame, Tennessee
2013/14: Kentucky, Ole Miss, UConn, Tennessee
2014/15: Kentucky, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Mich. St.
2015/16: USF, DePaul, Michigan St., Miami
2016/17: UCLA, UConn, DePaul, Ohio St., Tennessee
2017/18: UCLA, Mo St., Ga. Tech, Kentucky, Stanford
2018/19: Ariz. St., South Carolina, Stanford, UConn
2019/20: USF, Indiana, South Carolina, UConn

Plus 18 Power 5 Conference Games each year.

Not always great, but better than average. Some seasons, lost games against elite programs because those programs lost in early rounds of exempt tourneys.

Have no idea why UConn fans would want to denigrate Baylor......doesn’t that mean your wins against Baylor have less value and losses against Baylor become more problematic?

Sorry, when you are a perennial top 4 team, in a conference that provides few challenges, scheduling USF, DePaul, Mich St. and Miami doesn't cut it. Especially when the rest of the OOC schedule is home games against teams with 300+ RPIs.

First 5 games last year, all at home, Langston (DII), Lubbock Christian (DII), New Hampshire (265), Grambling State (344), and Houston Baptist (318). Combined score for the 5 games, Baylor 576 - Opponents 212. So talk to me about this myth again...

 

[Carnac]

Not offended by your post. But since you wrote a number of posts concerning Kim's scheduling, my response was specific to Kim.

I’m sure we’ll have more “exchanges of takes” through out the season. Always interested in different points of view of my esteemed boneyard colleagues.

 

[Skeets]

In a normal season Geno usually throws a bone (yes, a pun) to a local CT team, or one with a former CT person as head coach. Nothing wrong with that, as a matter of fact I like it. But, he doesn't schedule multiple of such teams in a season. UCONN tries to play at the top every year.

 

[JonathanXIV]

I’m sure we’ll have more “exchanges of takes” through out the season. Always interested in different points of view of my esteemed boneyard colleagues.

“Esteemed Boneyard colleagues?” Did some else post?

 

[Skeets]

“Esteemed Boneyard colleagues?” Did some else post?

Yes, me.