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Interesting dilemma for selection committee
With wins over the ACC regular-season and tournament champion (Duke), Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champion (Stanford), Big 10 regular season (Penn State) and tournament (Purdue) champion and SEC tournament champion (Texas A&M), there's no doubt that UConn has done enough to be a No. 1 seed when the NCAA pairings are released on Monday.
However, the question is whether the Huskies earn the third overall seed or the No. 4 seed.
In the RealTimeRPI.com site, Stanford is a spot ahead of UConn in the RPI and the Cardinal have the added bonus of winning both the regular-season and postseason titles in its conference while UConn won neither. A couple of things working in UConn's favor is that the Huskies went to Stanford to blew Stanford out back in late December and how much can UConn be punished for losing three tight games to Notre Dame when Stanford did not play the Fighting Irish? Duke checks in with the No. 5 RPI with the identical scenario as Stanford with a sweep of their conference titles but a lopsided loss to UConn (while having the services of star point guard Chelsea Gray).
I spoke with two well-informed and well-connected women's basketball people last night and they were split down the middle on this subject. One believes UConn's inability to win the Big East title could bump them down to the No. 4 overall seed and thus put the Huskies on a collision course with defending champion Baylor in the national semifinals (barring upsets) rather than being paired up with Notre Dame in the national semis for what seems like the 19th straight season. But the other one agreed with my thought process that you simply can't put a team like Stanford (or Duke for that matter) ahead of UConn based on the Huskies' impressive wins in head to head matchups.
Stay tuned.
However, the question is whether the Huskies earn the third overall seed or the No. 4 seed.
In the RealTimeRPI.com site, Stanford is a spot ahead of UConn in the RPI and the Cardinal have the added bonus of winning both the regular-season and postseason titles in its conference while UConn won neither. A couple of things working in UConn's favor is that the Huskies went to Stanford to blew Stanford out back in late December and how much can UConn be punished for losing three tight games to Notre Dame when Stanford did not play the Fighting Irish? Duke checks in with the No. 5 RPI with the identical scenario as Stanford with a sweep of their conference titles but a lopsided loss to UConn (while having the services of star point guard Chelsea Gray).
I spoke with two well-informed and well-connected women's basketball people last night and they were split down the middle on this subject. One believes UConn's inability to win the Big East title could bump them down to the No. 4 overall seed and thus put the Huskies on a collision course with defending champion Baylor in the national semifinals (barring upsets) rather than being paired up with Notre Dame in the national semis for what seems like the 19th straight season. But the other one agreed with my thought process that you simply can't put a team like Stanford (or Duke for that matter) ahead of UConn based on the Huskies' impressive wins in head to head matchups.
Stay tuned.
posted by Jim Fuller at
6:38 PM
3 Comments:
UConn got robbed. Again. Notre Dame must pay a fee to the NCAA to get referees to always make calls against UConn. Even an injured Hartley is better than both Diggins and McBride. That’s why she is one of thirty players on that watch list. Hartley will be a WNBA all-star. Not the other two. Doty could have been as great as Hartley if not for 2 surgeries. UConn could have won at least one more championship with a healthy Doty. Notre Dame grabbed and held KML all night long. Faris was awesome again. No one scored on her. Geno made the right decision at the end of the game. If it worked he would be a genius again. Stewart and KML will win 2 championships together. UConn can win the national championship again this season. Bet Notre Dame, Baylor and the referees won’t let them. UConn would be undefeated this year if every player was injury free. Baylor and Notre Dame have no injuries. UConn has a great chance to win it all this year. And next year it will be Chiney versus Dolson, KML, Stewart, Hartley, Stokes, Tuck, Banks, Jefferson. UConn might have co player of the year winners in 2014-15. Geno should be coach of the year. This has been one of his greatest accomplishments ever. Lots of injuries plus two key transfers in the off season. Geno is also teaching his teenagers about how to be held accountable. He leads by example. We love UConn and we love Geno. Go team go!
You could not have been watching the same game everyone else was watching. 1. Yes, Hartley is talented, no doubt about it- but this has obviously not been her best season, and to say she's better then Diggins and McBride is ridiculous. It's safe to say they will ALL have good WNBA careers. 2. I remember a specific play where McBride dragged Faris out to the 3 point line, crossed her over, went behind her back and scored on her; and that wasn't the only time Faris got scored on during the game.3. Why would ND LET Uconn win a championship?! That again sounds ridiculous. You don't LET anyone beat you. 4. Baylor had an injured Sims who was out for I believe 7 games, and Braker (from ND) has probably the worst knees in NCAA Division I. 5. I love Geno, but this year is definitely not his year to be coach of the year. no way. All in all, it has been a great rivalry against these 2 programs, and I hope they can continue it in the seasons to come.
I'd much rather have UConn face Baylor in the semi-final round than Notre Dame.
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