Universe back in alignment (UCONN unanimous #1 again in coaches poll)

[j66kicker]

Top 7 same as AP

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

 

[Aluminny69]

Worst case scenario: If four top seeds go to the Final Four, then UConn plays ND, while SC gets Baylor. Totally unfair. ND is second best team, IMHO. SC vs. ND would be an awesome game. UConn could blow anyone else away. Let's see what the WCBB Gods have in store.

 

[Vowelguy]

Was pretty clear with last weeks announcement of the 1 seeds and the top 20 that the committee is not valuing baylors sled high. Little chance they Leap ND. In fact seems unlikely they get higher than 4th or 5th.

 

[meyers7]

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Not only has UConn's re-ascendance returned the universe to alignment but they are once again the unanimous pick in both polls. I've preached about the difficulty in achieving unanimity before. Last week, for example, UConn wasn't the unanimous #1 pick in the Coaches Poll despite having soundly trounced South Carolina who some knucklehead awarded a 1st place vote. Last year, as returning champion UConn moved inexorably toward a perfect 40-0 national championship season, after spending the vast majority of the season the unanimous #1 pick in both polls, UConn was, despite not having lost, downgraded to #2 by some coach at the end of the season. Like I've said, unanimity is tough. It should be celebrated.

 

[DobbsRover2]

UConn did finish unanimously #1 in the final poll for both the AP and Coaches last year. They were only not unanimous at the end of the regular season and going into the Tourney, as 31 of the 32 voting coaches picked an undefeated UConn and 1 picked an undefeated Notre Dame. In the final Coaches poll at the end of the Tourney, that dissenting coach changed her\his mind for some reason. The AP poll does not have a post tourney ballot like the Coaches does, but UConn was unanimous there.

Obviously the lone ND-leaning coach probably felt that since both teams were undefeated and that ND was champs of the higher regarded conference, the Irish would get the vote. Don't agree with that thinking, but it's different than WTF idiocy of voting for USCar last week after UConn drubbed them.

Despite losing the 1st place vote this week, USCar moved up 2 points off of last night's win while UTenn dropped 21 points while staying in the 6th spot. May be a little tougher for the Vols to hang on to a #1 seed.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

UConn did finish unanimously #1 in the final poll for both the AP and Coaches last year. They were only not unanimous at the end of the regular season and going into the Tourney, as 31 of the 32 voting coaches picked an undefeated UConn and 1 picked an undefeated Notre Dame. In the final Coaches poll at the end of the Tourney, that dissenting coach changed her\his mind for some reason. The AP poll does not have a post tourney ballot like the Coaches does, but UConn was unanimous there.

Obviously the lone ND-leaning coach probably felt that since both teams were undefeated and that ND was champs of the higher regarded conference, the Irish would get the vote. Don't agree with that thinking, but it's different than WTF idiocy of voting for USCar last week after UConn drubbed them.

Despite losing the 1st place vote this week, USCar moved up 2 points off of last night's win while UTenn dropped 21 points while staying in the 6th spot. May be a little tougher for the Vols to hang on to a #1 seed.

As you say, UConn did finish #1 on all ballots in the final poll of each service last year. Such accuracy, however, can come at the expense meaning. Two seasons ago Baylor was the AP's unanimous #1 in its final poll. I doubt many would argue they finished the year as the best team. My point was that garnering all the first place votes in any given week in either poll is an accomplishment worth noting. Gathering all the first place votes in both polls in the same week is truly remarkable. Since 2002/3 more teams have been national champions than have been the unanimous #1 in both polls in the same week.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Maybe I'm being dense about the unanimous stuff, but Baylor in 2013 was not a unanimous selection in both polls going into the Tourney, just the AP one since ND like last year was also getting a #1 vote in the Coaches poll. That was the final poll for the AP, and one coach decided Baylor was still the top team despite the Sweet 16 exit instead of UConn in the final Coaches poll. Sure, both-poll-unanimity is not exactly a sure thing, but UConn fans were treated to nearly two straight years of two-poll-unanimity from 2008-09 through 2009-10 (a few stray preseason votes were squared away after the first game in 2008-09), so it just doesn't seem like that much of a celebration anymore compared to 1995. Fine, but UConn's been there a lot.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I have little doubt that the source of the confusion is me. Part of that confusion is attributable to the direction of the conversation that is somewhat tangential to the point I'm trying to make. My only purpose in bringing up any reference to stray, irrational #1 votes was to illustrate how difficult it is to achieve unanimity. It's difficult to convince any group of 30+ individuals to all agree. The Baylor references were merely included to demonstrate that point.

The larger point I was trying to make was the degree of difficulty in achieving unanimity in a single poll, but even more so in achieving unanimity in both. I have data going back to 2002/3 season, approx. 250 weeks of polls. In that time only 4 teams have achieved unanimity in both polls in the same week. Duke did it twice. LSU did it 7 times. Baylor did it 11 times. And UConn has done it 69 times.

Part of the reason some may find that unworthy of celebration may be because UConn has made it look like such a pedestrian achievement. I choose to look at it from a different perspective. 300+ schools have never done it. 3 schools have done it a total of 20 times (out of 250 weeks) among them. Rather than lumping UConn's extraordinary domination of the polls in with the ennui of winter, I see such mind boggling success while all others have been so limited as even greater reason to celebrate. In more than one week in four no other school could muster even a single 1st place vote.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Ah, well that last line really emphasizes the enormity of the achievement, which certainly is impressive. Like so many things about UConn, you see them so much they begin to become expectations. Of course some ND, UTenn, Baylor, and Stanford fans might complain that they would have much better numbers if UConn wasn't always either hogging the top spot or gumming up their attempts to be unanimous #1's.