Curious if all the fans here will still continue to watch? Totally understandable if not, sometimes you feel when your team lost there's just not the same feeling seeing another team advance.
I picked SC to win it all and I expect them to, but if by some miracle doesn't happen I really have fallen in love with the Vtech team. A lot of people were not "impressed" with them early on, another convincing win vs Tenn. Will be interesting to see how Osu does after a emotional win. Seems like any team that beats Uconn seems to fall flat the next game.
Hey social, welcome to the club, and yes, I will be watching the remainder of the tournament because I'm a WCBB fan in general, and a UConn WBB fan specifically.
I picked SC to win the NC this year during this past summer right after Paige and Ice were lost for the year.
A lot of our fellow Boneyarders have the kind of faith and hope that can move mountains. My faith in our team at that point wasn't quite that strong. I was a prisoner to the old reliable "eye test." I just couldn't see it.
I followed SC closely all year. I noted that they won game after game after game. I also noted that we lost two games to teams we should have beaten. We also lost two games back-to-back for the first time in 3 decades. We lost two conference games to unranked opponents (Marquette & St. John's). All of these "red flags" were further indications (to me) that this was not our year. That gave me pause for concern. I also took note of the injuries we suffered during the year, often being down to 2 reserve players on the bench, Ines Bettencourt and Amari DeBerry. A freshman and a sophomore with minimal experience. IMO, in order for us to beat SC, we need
our entire roster healthy, motivated, and in sync.
That did not happen. We would have been a completely different team if ALL of our players had remained healthy and injury free all season. It didn't happen. It wasn't our year. At UConn, THAT is the only goal at the beginning of every season....to win the national championship. Last year UConn was the runner-up to South Carolina for the national championship. UConn fans for the most part were not happy, we lost. There were a lot of unhappy fans that expressed their displeasure here in the yard.
We were 40 minutes away from the NC, but that was as close as we would get. The better team won that day.
I honestly think next year is our year for lots of reasons. The road to the championship will not be an easy one. It never is. Look at all of the talented teams in this year's tournament. Note the teams that made the sweet 16. #8 seed Ole Miss knocked off #1 seed Stanford, while #9 Miami sent #1 seed Indiana home for the summer during the first weekend. Nobody saw THAT coming. Those two upsets messed up 99% of the brackets sent into ESPN's Tournament Challenge.
UConn should still be in the tournament but was shown the door by upstart Ohio State. How rude!!!
How many brackets had Miami and LSU in the great 8?
Not mine. Geno said it in his Ohio State post-game presser:
"It's hard to win the tournament." A question I always like to ask fans is.....which is harder to do....win a championship, or repeat?
I'm done commenting on this year's games. I like to look ahead, not back. My focus is now on the 2023-2024 season and our returning players, our incoming freshmen, and their ability to make the adjustments to play at this level, and learn enough of Geno's system to play "meaningful" minutes in preseason games before the holiday break. 13 players are on our current roster (I'm including Jana El Alfy) We lose 2 (Lou Lopez-Senechal and Dorka Juhasz). We gain 3 freshmen in KK Arnold, Qadence Samuels, and Ashlynn Shade. That's 14 players for next year. There's some speculation that Geno may add another player from the portal this spring/summer. That will be a topic of discussion and debate for sure.
I will also be interested in our preseason schedule when it is released sometime in mid to late September. Since the BIG EAST has reduced the number of conference games next season from 20 to 18, Geno can add two more teams to his preseason schedule. It will be interesting to see what new teams will be added to the mix. This is it for me for the day. Enjoy your Sunday everyone, and enjoy the games if you intend to watch.
Carnac out.