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readyAIMfire53
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
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 Posted: 03/18/25 12:11 pm ::: S.Carolina not #1? |
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I am a BIG fan of Dawn Staley but I thought the whining about not being the #1 seed was pathetic. They recently lost a game by 29 points! WTH did she think was going to happen? CONSEQUENCES.
Same with Notre Dame being a 3 seed. What did they think would happen ending the season in a major swoon, losing 3 out of their last 5 games? I know they're just trying to motivate their players to dig deep but if players need motivation at this time of year, your team is already in trouble.
Now, I'm an emotional person - people can tell how I feel by looking at my face. I am developing an appreciation for Kara Lawson's preaching about keeping emotions on an even keel. And she's now got players she selected for her preferred trait of mental toughness. In addition, a majority of players have out of this world athleticism. I'd put Oluchi, Jadyn and Toby up against anybody in the league to out race, out jump anyone. When the ball finds the net enough, their athleticism and mental toughness will win games. Still, there is that issue of pure shooting skill...that led to puzzling losses.
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CBiebel
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 1073
Location: PA
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| Posted: 03/18/25 3:47 pm ::: |
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FWIW, I have no problem with ND being where they are. They were poised to have a #1 seed, but lost 3 of their last 5 games. Granted Duke was a rematch where ND won the first game and NC St. was in double OT, but they were still losses. I think ND just needed a bit of down time to regroup and get their heads back into the game, which they have now with the time between the ACC Tournament and the NCAAs.
And the difference between a 2 and 3 seed isn't really enough to worry about. If you're a 2 seed, you'll be playing a 3 seed in the Sweet Sixteen. If you're a 3 seed, you're playing a 2 seed. You could just switch the seeds of the two teams and you'd still get the same game. The difference in the opponent levels of the first two rounds aren't that large.
ND should win the first two games at home. Then they get a rematch with TCU who they lost to early in the season during a bad weekend when they weren't at full strength (Westbeld and Karlen) or Louisville, whom ND already beat twice. Then they likely get Texas, who ND beat, again, without having Westbeld and Karlen.
Basically, I like the match ups for ND in it's bracket, so I'm not complaining.
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 16638
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: 03/18/25 3:59 pm ::: Re: S.Carolina not #1? |
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| readyAIMfire53 wrote: |
I am a BIG fan of Dawn Staley but I thought the whining about not being the #1 seed was pathetic. They recently lost a game by 29 points! WTH did she think was going to happen? CONSEQUENCES.
Same with Notre Dame being a 3 seed. What did they think would happen ending the season in a major swoon, losing 3 out of their last 5 games? I know they're just trying to motivate their players to dig deep but if players need motivation at this time of year, your team is already in trouble.
Now, I'm an emotional person - people can tell how I feel by looking at my face. I am developing an appreciation for Kara Lawson's preaching about keeping emotions on an even keel. And she's now got players she selected for her preferred trait of mental toughness. In addition, a majority of players have out of this world athleticism. I'd put Oluchi, Jadyn and Toby up against anybody in the league to out race, out jump anyone. When the ball finds the net enough, their athleticism and mental toughness will win games. Still, there is that issue of pure shooting skill...that led to puzzling losses. |
For starting with South Carolina not being the No. 1 overall, this message took some real twists and turns.
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readyAIMfire53
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
Posts: 7603
Location: Durham, NC
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| Posted: 03/18/25 6:53 pm ::: Re: S.Carolina not #1? |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| readyAIMfire53 wrote: |
I am a BIG fan of Dawn Staley but I thought the whining about not being the #1 seed was pathetic. They recently lost a game by 29 points! WTH did she think was going to happen? CONSEQUENCES.
Same with Notre Dame being a 3 seed. What did they think would happen ending the season in a major swoon, losing 3 out of their last 5 games? I know they're just trying to motivate their players to dig deep but if players need motivation at this time of year, your team is already in trouble.
Now, I'm an emotional person - people can tell how I feel by looking at my face. I am developing an appreciation for Kara Lawson's preaching about keeping emotions on an even keel. And she's now got players she selected for her preferred trait of mental toughness. In addition, a majority of players have out of this world athleticism. I'd put Oluchi, Jadyn and Toby up against anybody in the league to out race, out jump anyone. When the ball finds the net enough, their athleticism and mental toughness will win games. Still, there is that issue of pure shooting skill...that led to puzzling losses. |
For starting with South Carolina not being the No. 1 overall, this message took some real twists and turns. |
Welcome to my stream of consciousness brain.
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
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| Posted: 03/18/25 9:10 pm ::: |
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Vegas has a dramatically different view of things than the selection committee.
Per BetMGM, the betting odds of winning the tournament top ten are:
South Carolina (+270)
UConn (+275)
UCLA (+500)
USC (+550)
Texas (+600)
Notre Dame (+600)
NC State (+4000)
LSU (+4000)
TCU (+6000)
Duke (+6600)
So 2 seed UConn is solidly ahead of three of the #1s, and 3 seed ND is tied for 5th with 1 seed Texas, and MILES ahead of the other three 2 seeds. 3 seed LSU is also tied with 2 seed NCSt and ahead of 2 seeds Duke and TCU.
These odds suggest the bookmakers think there are six and only six teams with a realistic chance to win. The drop-off between 5/6 and 7-10 is stunning.
The MGM odds seem to match the general view that SCar should realistically be the #1 seed IF there was any genuine concern about the #1 seed representing the best team or the "most likely to win it all" which of course there isn't.
I think there's a high likelihood that when articles come out from ESPN or others about what team is picked most often as the eventual winner in various large bracket contests, it won't be UCLA. Unless it's skewed by the many brackets from people who don't actually follow wcbb simply submitting the selection committee's chalk.
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball/article/march-madness-2025-odds-lines-favorites-south-carolina-opens-womens-tournament-as-a-slight-favorite-over-uconn-010440632.html
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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Location: Where the action is
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| Posted: 03/18/25 10:18 pm ::: |
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Vegas odds aren't based on who the best team is, they're based on which teams people will bet on.
I'd be more sympathetic to South Carolina's argument if they hadn't lost pretty handily to UCLA when they played.
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
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| Posted: 03/18/25 10:32 pm ::: |
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| pilight wrote: |
Vegas odds aren't based on who the best team is, they're based on which teams people will bet on.
I'd be more sympathetic to South Carolina's argument if they hadn't lost pretty handily to UCLA when they played. |
That was a VERY long time ago and I think anyone paying attention would agree that SCar has improved rather dramatically since then, while UCLA is pretty much the same team.
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 03/19/25 8:31 am ::: |
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| ArtBest23 wrote: |
| pilight wrote: |
Vegas odds aren't based on who the best team is, they're based on which teams people will bet on.
I'd be more sympathetic to South Carolina's argument if they hadn't lost pretty handily to UCLA when they played. |
That was a VERY long time ago and I think anyone paying attention would agree that SCar has improved rather dramatically since then, while UCLA is pretty much the same team. |
SCar lost at home by 29 to a #2 seed about a month ago. That doesn't seem like a huge improvement.
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CBiebel
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
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Location: PA
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| Posted: 03/19/25 2:24 pm ::: |
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My take: UCLA has fewer losses (both to the same team, their main rival, who is also a #1 seed) and won the head to head vs South Carolina.
Either one of those reasons above would give an argument for making UCLA the top #1 seed. Both together solidifies it.
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Ex-Ref
Joined: 04 Oct 2009
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| Posted: 03/19/25 7:44 pm ::: |
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| Not a fan of Dawn, and this proves why.
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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
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| Posted: 03/20/25 1:38 am ::: |
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| Ex-Ref wrote: |
| Not a fan of Dawn, and this proves why. |
Not a fan of Dawn or of her sense of entitlement, but to be fair, they played a monster schedule and look today like the most dominant team to me.
UCLA played, basically 4 games and went 2-2. They beat SCar back in November when SCar was still trying to piece together a bunch of new pieces into a team, and they finally beat USC once after losing to them twice.
Sorry. Not impressed.
Every other choice - SCar, Texas, USC, UConn, and even ND, played multiple top challengers and won some of those games. I personally don't believe UCLA is the best team or deserved to be the #1 overall seed. I think it was clickbait to try to get more hype and more viewers by having somebody new as the supposed favorite.
As an ND fan, I like our route to the FF. I was hoping we would avoid being in the same region as SCar or UConn, who look like the most dangerous teams at this point in time. (That's assuming the SCar game - by far UConn's best performance of the year - is repeatable and not a complete fluke. They did, after all, lose to Tenn just 10 days earler and haven't played anyone else since New Years.) And we did. If we don't get back to playing the way we played during the middle 20 games of the season, there's several teams along the route that could beat us. But if we straighten out whatever happened the last two weeks, there's nobody that really scares me either.
Once you get to the FF, it's anybody's to win.
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wnbafan
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 03/20/25 6:26 am ::: |
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This reminds me of many years ago, I don't remember when but in the early 2000s, Pat Summit complained about being a 2 seed.
I think this is a coaches way of getting the team fired up for the tournament. If the players feel like they have been disrespected they push even harder to prove the seeding wrong.
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Ex-Ref
Joined: 04 Oct 2009
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| Posted: 03/20/25 8:26 am ::: |
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| wnbafan wrote: |
This reminds me of many years ago, I don't remember when but in the early 2000s, Pat Summit complained about being a 2 seed.
I think this is a coaches way of getting the team fired up for the tournament. If the players feel like they have been disrespected they push even harder to prove the seeding wrong. |
Makes her look like Chicken Little.
If your team needs made up motivation (similar to the no names on the jersey, or it's all about the name on the front, not the name on the back), I'd question the heart of my team, not the seeding.
And IF your team needs this, do it in the locker room, not the media. It's gets tiring, plus it causes you to lose your voice for important things.
I probably shouldn't care, but I'm more on the 'it's tiring' side of things, I guess.
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 03/20/25 9:29 am ::: |
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| Dawn needs to concentrate on Tennessee Tech and quit worrying about UCLA. The Golden Eagles are 1-0 against South Carolina in NCAA tournament play, after all.
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Michael
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
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| Posted: 03/20/25 9:43 am ::: |
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| ArtBest23 wrote: |
| Ex-Ref wrote: |
| Not a fan of Dawn, and this proves why. |
Not a fan of Dawn or of her sense of entitlement, but to be fair, they played a monster schedule and look today like the most dominant team to me.
UCLA played, basically 4 games and went 2-2. They beat SCar back in November when SCar was still trying to piece together a bunch of new pieces into a team, and they finally beat USC once after losing to them twice.
Sorry. Not impressed.
Every other choice - SCar, Texas, USC, UConn, and even ND, played multiple top challengers and won some of those games. I personally don't believe UCLA is the best team or deserved to be the #1 overall seed. I think it was clickbait to try to get more hype and more viewers by having somebody new as the supposed favorite.
As an ND fan, I like our route to the FF. I was hoping we would avoid being in the same region as SCar or UConn, who look like the most dangerous teams at this point in time. (That's assuming the SCar game - by far UConn's best performance of the year - is repeatable and not a complete fluke. They did, after all, lose to Tenn just 10 days earler and haven't played anyone else since New Years.) And we did. If we don't get back to playing the way we played during the middle 20 games of the season, there's several teams along the route that could beat us. But if we straighten out whatever happened the last two weeks, there's nobody that really scares me either.
Once you get to the FF, it's anybody's to win. |
UConn beat USCar and lost to every other top team they played. If you are counting Creighton, Louisville, N. Car, and Ole Miss for UConn why are you not counting Creighton, Louisville, Baylor, Maryland, OSU, Michigan, MSU, and Illinois as quality wins for UCLA? All were ranked when UCLA beat them. Otherwise UConn beat USCar, same as UCLA, but UCLA still beat 4 other top ten teams. I find UConn's resume lacking and it makes me discount USCar after they got skull drugged by UConn worse than UConn beat Creighton.
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Howee
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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| Posted: 03/20/25 4:08 pm ::: |
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| pilight wrote: |
| Dawn needs to concentrate on Tennessee Tech and quit worrying about UCLA. The Golden Eagles are 1-0 against South Carolina in NCAA tournament play, after all. |
🤔😮😁😂🤣 - yer a devil.
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