****************************************************
GO UCONN!!!!!
***********************************************
I'd sure love for Christyn to win this. She has had a great senior season!!!
***********************************************
Full team celebration 💙 pic.twitter.com/IIwwcQS07y
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 8, 2022
All 12 players celebrate!!!
***********************************************
GAMES
**************************************************
Straight from the Dog
Charlie SECreme - "We still don't know just how good UConn is, but Monday provided the best example of how different the Huskies are now that they are healthy. A month ago, Villanova beat a UConn team without Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Caroline Ducharme and Paige Bueckers by three in Hartford. That trio was on the court in Monday's Big East final, and the Huskies won by 30. That was enough to bump UConn to the No. 6 overall seed. Based on their spot on the S-curve, the Huskies would naturally be placed in Bridgeport. There's still a chance they could end up in another region, but the higher the Huskies are on the S-curve, the better the chance that Bridgeport is their landing spot."
So, Charlie got to where we all were weeks ago. UConn a 2 seed in Bridgeport. Welcome to the bandwagon!!!
The No. 1 seed is North Carolina State and the No. 3 seed and likely Sweet Sixteen opponent is Caitlin Clark and Iowa. Of course, Charlie rarely gets the details right so lets wait until the final Bracket reveal.
______________________________
A couple of upsets in the mid-major tournaments.
South Dakota upset South Dakota State in the Summitt league final.
Gonzaga upset No. 15 BYU in the WCC final.
I believe both of these might open up a spot for maybe a couple of Big East teams?
Charlie had this to say about Villanova - "Villanova remains the first team out; the Wildcats didn't stay competitive long enough Monday to get a bump into the field. At-large spots can still open up, so there's a chance Villanova could reach its first NCAA tournament since 2018."
And late this afternoon Charlie tweeted that Villanova is the next team in. GO WILDCATS!!!!
____________________________
The orange idiots reaction to UConn now a No. 2 seed in Bridgeport is hysterical.
"I still don't see UCONN as a FF team. Beating an unranked team in the conference final is just not impressive to me. And watching that game last night, the number of turnovers they had with minimal pressure from NOVA, I can't wait until they face a tough defensive team from the SEC."
You mean like Tennessee? UConn 75 Tennessee 56.
"Creme has moved them into the number two seed with NC State so maybe they again get favored in the seedings when all is said and done. That would certainly be favoring them."
It's not favoring when the seeding and location is earned. Deal with it.
"Creme just released his new bracket and bumped UConn up to #6 overall with their impressive win over Villanova, thus landing them in Bridgeport. That better not be what the committee does."
Or what? Did you just threaten the committee?
"They have gotten favorite status before we'll see if it happens again. They refused to make up that Butler game because playing it even with a win would've dropped their sos into the high 30's"
God, they are bitter. Favorite status...lol. And where did this poster hear that UConn refused to make up the Butler game? A 60 point win over But;er would have made no difference in the seedings.
"I mean, he had UConn move up 2 spots by beating a team that he's not projecting to make the tournament? Come on, man!"
Well, right now he has Villanova in the tournament. Now what??
"ANY SEC team is better defensively than any Big East team. I would like to see UCONN's record if they played in the SEC. They would be in the middle of the pack IMO."
Sigh...you can't help someone that dumb.
********************************************************
Selection Committee challenges
At this writing only eight of the 31 conferences are complete,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_NCAA_Division_I_Women%27s_Basketball_Tournament
but four of those conferences, ACC, Big Ten, Pac 12, and SEC are likely to send 29 teams, so with the other four conference winners, 33 teams have been selected, not quite half of the 68. I’m not suggesting the work is half done, the remaining at-large selections are more work than some of the obvious suspects and slotting them into the positions is a lot of work. A few more conferences will be completing through the week, but the committee has a special challenge with the Big 12 not finishing until about 3 PM on Sunday while the selection show tips off three hours later at 6 PM.
Baylor, Iowa State, and Texas are all on the two or three line, plus Oklahoma is on the four-line. Heaven help, the committee if there’s a major upset.
Three of the four number one seeds are settled, but Louisville’s loss leaves that fourth number one seed in jeopardy. Fans of Baylor, Iowa State and Texas all will argue they deserve the fourth number one seed if they win the tournament, although in my judgment, only Baylor can make a decent case.
Oklahoma’s case for a four seed and therefore hosting is on thin ice, and they face a tough Kansas team and then likely Baylor.
Iowa state would love to hold onto their two seed while Texas would love to move up a spot, although realistically, two versus three is much less important than the one versus two (mostly psychic), three versus four (who has to play the top seed in the semis rather than the regional final) and four versus lower (hosting).
But honestly, while bracket slotting will be in the back of their minds, several of these teams honestly think they have a shot at winning the conference and that will be their main motivation.
If I were the committee, I would consider creating two brackets. While I think there are easily three and maybe four teams that might win the tournament, by Saturday at 430, they will know who the final two teams will be.
********************************************************
In the Big East tournament, UConn scored 225 points in three games. That is 75 points per game. Here are the nine main players scoring totals in those three tournament games.
1. Christyn = 37 pts
2. Aaliyah = 34
3. Evina = 32
4. Azzi = 25
5. Dorka = 24
6. Olivia = 23
7. Paige = 20
8. Caroline = 17
9. Nika = 10
In the first game, Paige (16), Christyn (15) and Aaliyah (14) were high scorers.
In the 2nd game, it was Evina (14), Dorka (13) and Christyn (13) leading the scoring. Nice balance...!
Against Vilanova, Evina (13), Aaliyah (12) and Olivia (11) were the leading scorers.
Seriously, how do you defense 9 players who can all score and keep coming in with fresh legs. (Ok, 8 1/2 scorers...Nika) The bench last night had 28 points. Nova's bench haad 6 points.
Go Huskies..!!
1. Christyn = 37 pts
2. Aaliyah = 34
3. Evina = 32
4. Azzi = 25
5. Dorka = 24
6. Olivia = 23
7. Paige = 20
8. Caroline = 17
9. Nika = 10
In the first game, Paige (16), Christyn (15) and Aaliyah (14) were high scorers.
In the 2nd game, it was Evina (14), Dorka (13) and Christyn (13) leading the scoring. Nice balance...!
Against Vilanova, Evina (13), Aaliyah (12) and Olivia (11) were the leading scorers.
Seriously, how do you defense 9 players who can all score and keep coming in with fresh legs. (Ok, 8 1/2 scorers...Nika) The bench last night had 28 points. Nova's bench haad 6 points.
Go Huskies..!!
Here is an option for any contributions for my time in putting together this blog.
I'm not requiring the contribution in order to read the blog. It's totally voluntary. And I'm not recommending how much to donate or how often.
Thanks to all my loyal readers!!!
If you don't have Venmo, you can sign up here
or add the app to your iPhone or iPad.
And here is another option that is being pushed by Paige!!
********************************************************
UCONN LINKS
Several links are pay sites. Sorry!
How do you score against them? CT Insider
********************************************************
Message Boards
UConn Territory - The best UConn women's message board ever!!!
Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board
ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board
Rebkell - WCBB for everyone that thinks they are smarter than everyone else
I'm always open for suggestions. Just please reply to this blog or email me at:
No comments:
Post a Comment