Voepel picks Baylor over UConn to reach the Final Four

[huskeynut]

Why am I not surprised by the ESPN article. I think they are going to eat crow come April.

 

[AmeriConn]

Mechelle Voepel: There are 7 or 8 teams who have a chance to win the championship​

 

[uconnever]

Baylor will be tough, but we beat them and everyone else, some tougher than others. only toss up in my opinion is against Stanford.

 

[Charliebball]

Baylor is a very good team and they play really tough defense, but they are not the team they were a year ago. Cox, Landrum and Cooper are gone. The Lady Bears struggle at times on offense, and the Big 12 proved to be the weakest of the P5 conferences.

There are certainly teams that could give UConn trouble in the tournament. IMO Baylor is not one of those teams.

gotta disagree with you on this one..............Baylor is an excellent defensive team and that means even if they are a bit limited offensively they will always be in the game..........I would expect a tight, fairly low scoring battle down to the wire......

 

[huskyd]

Baylor is a very good team and they play really tough defense, but they are not the team they were a year ago. Cox, Landrum and Cooper are gone. The Lady Bears struggle at times on offense, and the Big 12 proved to be the weakest of the P5 conferences.

There are certainly teams that could give UConn trouble in the tournament. IMO Baylor is not one of those teams.

I'll have what you're smoking.

 

[Paul1969]

I do not think Baylor is a good has they have been the previous 4-5 years but we will find out soon enough. Go Huskies1

 

[oldude]

gotta disagree with you on this one..............Baylor is an excellent defensive team and that means even if they are a bit limited offensively they will always be in the game..........I would expect a tight, fairly low scoring battle down to the wire......

As I stated, Baylor is a really tough defensive team. Last year Cox was a mismatch nightmare on offense and she anchored Baylor’s defense. The Lady Bears are very good, but not nearly as formidable this year.

 

[Veteran]

When I was young, I remember watching the East German judge invariably hose American competitors in Olympic sports such as boxing and figure skating. That turned me off to any sport where "expert judges" decide the winner and I pretty much only pay attention to sports where it's won or lost on the field/court ever since. As far as I'm concerned, Voepel is the East German judge in this case. She's entitled to her opinion but her opinion is totally irrelevant, other than as click bait.

This UCONN team's grit and preparation will determine how far they go and I wouldn't bet against them.

 

[oldude]

Underestimate Baylor at your own cost! I know Baylor likes being the underdog! I really hope both teams make it to the elite eight because I really want to see the matchup

Not underestimating Baylor at all. They are a very good team. Let me ask you as a Baylor fan. Do you really think this year’s Baylor team is as good as last year’s?

 

[HuskyNan]

Why am I not surprised by the ESPN article. I think they are going to eat crow come April.

Naw. They’re just trying to get UConnNation stirred up to click on their articles and link them on fan sites. No one can take umbrage like an outraged Husky fan - it’s not exactly a secret. And Stanford is still a hot button for a lot of fans that like to relive the perceived slight of Rebecca by Tara 26 years ago.

 

[Postie]

Baylor has shut down Collier from Texas in three games.I don’t think she scored a total of 15 points in those three games.She is considered #1 pick in draft.I think Olivia will be invisible against Baylor.They will probably put Didi
on Paige she has great length and was defensive player of the year.Baylor Achilles heel is shooting threes.They don’t take many.If we get by Baylor I like our chances

 

[Bear11]

Not underestimating Baylor at all. They are a very good team. Let me ask you as a Baylor fan. Do you really think this year’s Baylor team is as good as last year’s?

The question is not whether Baylor is a good as last year. The question is whether Baylor can beat UConn this year. Everything I have seen would imply the answer is yes. That is not to say that Baylor will beat Connecticut, just that they are evenly matched enough that the game could go either way. Both teams lost to Arkansas by comparable amounts. Neither team played a difficult schedule, so there just aren't that many data points to judge by. It will be a good game that will tell a lot about both teams.

 

[MooseJaw]

I agree that Baylor will be in Texas during the final four.

Would be hard for Baylor to leave Texas, campus is to large to move.

 

[Mdoggie]

We are a freshmen led team. Winning it all this year would be outstanding! I have to agree with Lobo when she said something like, “ if you’re gonna beat UConn, you better do it this year”. If UConn wins it all, it’s gonna take some luck amongst other things.

 

[RogueDave]

I will say it like this, “There is 1 Helluva a surprise awaiting the guards on any team that opposes us” be prepared to play and have an extra person wearing your shorts ? on defense!

 

[oldude]

The question is not whether Baylor is a good as last year. The question is whether Baylor can beat UConn this year. Everything I have seen would imply the answer is yes. That is not to say that Baylor will beat Connecticut, just that they are evenly matched enough that the game could go either way. Both teams lost to Arkansas by comparable amounts. Neither team played a difficult schedule, so there just aren't that many data points to judge by. It will be a good game that will tell a lot about both teams.

Let’s both hope that the Huskies and the Lady Bears both make it to the Elite 8 game.

 

[JoePgh]

The question is not whether Baylor is a good as last year. The question is whether Baylor can beat UConn this year. Everything I have seen would imply the answer is yes. That is not to say that Baylor will beat Connecticut, just that they are evenly matched enough that the game could go either way. Both teams lost to Arkansas by comparable amounts. Neither team played a difficult schedule, so there just aren't that many data points to judge by. It will be a good game that will tell a lot about both teams.

I think that is a fair analysis. But as a UConn fan, I would offer the following counterthoughts:

• The graduation of Lauren Cox and the Te'a Cooper are significant subtractions for Baylor, who dominated last year's game mainly through Cox's inside defense and Cooper's 3-point shooting.
• The departures of Crystal Dangerfield and Megan Walker were significant, but are fully compensated (in my opinion) by the arrival of Paige Bueckers and Evina Westbrook. I don't see equivalent "adds" on the Baylor side.
• Aaliyah Edwards is a whole new factor for UConn -- the Huskies had no one like her on last year's team. That should change the "balance of power" in the paint significantly in UConn's favor. Nika Muhl is also a new factor, but I don't think she will have the same significance in the Baylor game.
• UConn's returning players (Olivia Nelson Ododa and Christyn Williams) have gotten a lot better, particularly in the latter part of this season, but I'm sure that the same can be said of Baylor's returning players.

Last year's game was extremely close until halfway through the 4th quarter, when something happened and UConn was unable to continue scoring. Did Kim Mulkey come up with a defensive stroke of genius? Or did UConn's shooters just go cold at the wrong time? I'm not sure, but the final score was an 18-point Baylor win.

The factors noted above should make UConn stronger and Baylor weaker than last year. The question is whether the differences are enough to make up an 18-point margin. I don't know the answer to that question, but of course I'm rooting for UConn.

 

[hoopsfan22]

We are a freshmen led team. Winning it all this year would be outstanding! I have to agree with Lobo when she said something like, “ if you’re gonna beat UConn, you better do it this year”. If UConn wins it all, it’s gonna take some luck amongst other things.

Three of our five starters have been in the college game for 3 or 4 years now, so I disagree with the commentary on UConn's youth. Yeah they're young if you average the years experience of the entire team, but most of the young players get to play as much as I do.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Honestly Baylor is the one team I didn't want to see as a 2 seed. As mentioned above there are 8 teams that could win the tournament. I do believe that. I'm also a believer there could be some upsets.

The one thing in our region I got my eye on is Baylor/Tennessee. The Lady Vols size can match Baylor and Davis is just as athletic as Smith. Another piece is Didi Richards at the PG spot. Horston is 6'2 and a great defender and I bring this up because most comment on Richards size and ability to see over most defenders.

One other thing I would like to say is a lot of these top teams seem to have scoring droughts for long periods of time! If any of these hot shooting mid majors light it up from 3 we could see top seeds stumble.

 

[hart2hart]

Our gals are playing their best ball now, defense is smothering and let’s just say......I Like Our Chances!! UCONN all the way!

 

[donalddoowop]

Do you think the players have a chip on their shoulder because of Mechelle Voepel? Baylor is good. We haven't beaten them since Crystal Dangerfield was a freshman, so it's been a while and they still have Husky killer NaLyssa Smith which is one reason I picked Baylor as well. Of course neither Baylor nor the Huskies may reach the regional final, so we're gonna have to wait to see if that's actually the matchup, but I wouldn't be sad if Baylor got knocked out before then.

What is the respective records against each other in their last two meetings? How many times has UConn played Baylor since Crystal Dangerfield was freshman?

 

[Mdoggie]

Three of our five starters have been in the college game for 3 or 4 years now, so I disagree with the commentary on UConn's youth. Yeah they're young if you average the years experience of the entire team, but most of the young players get to play as much as I do.

PG freshman, SG freshman equals freshman led team IMO. I wish we were led by our post but...... Nika and Paige are our leaders on the court. Evina is the “mother” of the squad. I don’t know what to call our juniors.

 

[hoopsfan22]

What is the respective records against each other in their last two meetings? How many times has UConn played Baylor since Crystal Dangerfield was freshman?

There have been three seasons since Crystal's freshman season. We're 0-2 against Baylor in that time.

 

[Tonyc]

UConn is much much better then they were last season. Better offense much better defense with a go to player who I believe is second to none and UConn has height. UConn is gonna be a awful tuff out even in what I see has the tuffest bracket in the tournament. Dont for every team in UConns bracket has to face a tuff second round opponent.

 

[Ozimoto]

She might be right. I hope she's wrong. For UConn to win, in my opinion, they will have to rebound on the defensive end and limit second chance points. They also need to be efficient in their half court offense as I think offensive rebounds will be hard to come by.