Nice draw, don’t you think?

[Rick Cleveland]

https://mississippitoday.org/2018/03/12/no-1-seed-state-gets-manageable-draw/

 

[RocketDawg]

The best possible I think. Certainly better than last year.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Matthew mcconaughey thinks so

 

[She Mate Me]

https://mississippitoday.org/2018/03/12/no-1-seed-state-gets-manageable-draw/

Rick, UConn blew SC's doors off in Columbia a few weeks back. They are not worried about a team they led 53-24 on their homecourt at halftime. I, on the other hand, am very excited we don't have to see our matchup nightmare again this season.

 

[MSUDC11]

TRick, UConn blew SC's doors off in Columbia a few weeks back. They are not worried about a team they led 53-24 on their homecourt at halftime.

While I think UConn probably wins, you’ll recall that our same group of players that beat UConn a year ago lost to them by 60 the year prior. It may be a blowout again, but with Wilson I think SC is capable of keeping it close.

 

[She Mate Me]

While I think UConn probably wins, you’ll recall that our same group of players that beat UConn a year ago lost to them by 60 the year prior. It may be a blowout again, but with Wilson I think SC is capable of keeping it close.

I get your point, but not at all the same. The UConn team we lost big to was the best team in the history of WCB with the 1-2-3 picks in the WNBA draft. We were much better in 2017 and did not play remotely the same UConn team from 2016. These UConn and SC teams played this year.

 

[13thEagle]

I dont think you will ever see a womens team like that uconn team 2 years ago.
Geno rattled their cages. Everyone forgets there were several upsets in the mens bracket the day prior. Gino wanted to make damnshure it didnt happen to them.

 

[Hankp22]

It is deserved

Going undefeated in the regular season in the toughest conference in women's college basketball is such a challenging task. I tip my hat to the seniors, coaches and fans of the women's college basketball program. It's unbelievable to see what has delveoped during the last four years. To think a non revenue sport that generated little interest has become a tough ticket and front page newspaper talk still blows my mind. And everyone involved plays a part.

And even more remarkable, to complete an undefeated regular season with the target on your back is even more impressive. It is one thing to win a streak of games. It's another knowing you're always going to get your opponents best shot. My favorite component of this years team is they always show up.

On to the next one.

 

[blacklistedbully]

That UConn team was obviously much better than we were...but they weren't 60 points better. That was a case of them being much better, bringing their A-game at the same time we played our worst game by far. We were missing multiple shots that weren't even contested. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, and when that happens vs a much better team playing at or near their best, things can get out of hand.

That's what happened 2 years ago. UConn fans are so arrogant many can't fathom that the 60-point margin was the aberration, not last year's close win by us.

 

[Go Budaw]

That UConn team was obviously much better than we were...but they weren't 60 points better. That was a case of them being much better, bringing their A-game at the same time we played our worst game by far. We were missing multiple shots that weren't even contested. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, and when that happens vs a much better team playing at or near their best, things can get out of hand.

That's what happened 2 years ago. UConn fans are so arrogant many can't fathom that the 60-point margin was the aberration, not last year's close win by us.

They were both aberrations. On a neutral court with both teams playing their A-game, they beat us by 15-20 every time. That would be the case both last year and this year. You can expand that to 25-30 for our respective teams in 2016. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

 

[thekimmer]

Very nice. Couldn't have drawn up a better bracket ourselves. Not a credible one anyway. Still gotta get past some good teams to get back to the possible rematch with Uconn.

 

[thekimmer]

They were both aberrations. On a neutral court with both teams playing their A-game, they beat us by 15-20 every time. That would be the case both last year and this year. You can expand that to 25-30 for our respective teams in 2016. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

Aberration? I think not. The way we beat them last year and the only way to beat them this year is to play tough enough defense to keep them out of rhythm. The reason they didn't play their A game is because we took them out of their A game. Saying they would beat us by 15-20 every time last year is just pure speculation. We only played em once and we beat em. As far as I am concerned that means we were better than they were. Period.

 

[msstatelp1]

While I think UConn probably wins, you’ll recall that our same group of players that beat UConn a year ago lost to them by 60 the year prior. It may be a blowout again, but with Wilson I think SC is capable of keeping it close.

It'll be interesting to see if the refs try to be as one sided with Wilson as they usually are. Vic couldn't really complain about it without facing backlash from the SEC. Geno doesn't have that problem. I don't think he would say anything as long as his girls are allowed to play the same way.

 

[Go Budaw]

Aberration? I think not. The way we beat them last year and the only way to beat them this year is to play tough enough defense to keep them out of rhythm. The reason they didn't play their A game is because we took them out of their A game. Saying they would beat us by 15-20 every time last year is just pure speculation. We only played em once and we beat em. As far as I am concerned that means we were better than they were. Period.

Come on....So you think Ole Miss football was better than Alabama in 2015? Or better than Florida in 2008? I’m not taking anything away from our team, but you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think UConn played half asleep for the entire first half at a minimum due to thoroughly overlooking us after the 60 point drubbing the year before. We got their C- game combined with our A++++ game and it still almost wasn’t enough. I’m sure glad it was though.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

That being said, ESPN has us behind UConn and Baylor tied with Louisville as most likely to win it all.

I hope Vic is using this along with their last game to get them ready.

 

[thekimmer]

Come on....So you think Ole Miss football was better than Alabama in 2015? Or better than Florida in 2008? I’m not taking anything away from our team, but you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think UConn played half asleep for the entire first half at a minimum due to thoroughly overlooking us after the 60 point drubbing the year before. We got their C- game combined with our A++++ game and it still almost wasn’t enough. I’m sure glad it was though.

If mississippi had beaten bama or florida in a national semifinal game then yes I would. Both of those games you mention happened in the regular season with many games left on the schedule and both of those teams were able to build redemption. We sent uconn home in the final four and finished ahead of them in the final poll. You can grade our performance versus theirs anyway you want but they had won 111 in a row so they obviously knew how to get ready to play. Here is how I look at it. I am not about to characterize the greatest victory in our history as a fluke. We put our five on the floor with their five with a trip to the natty on the line and won. That means we were the better team. Anything else is just playing with numbers of which that and a couple of bucks will buy you a cup of coffee.

 

[patdog]

UConn hasn't gone 861-57 in the last 25 years by taking Final Four games (or any games) lightly and playing half asleep. If that was the case, you would have seen Geno blow a gasket after that game. He handled it the way he did because he knew they had been beaten by a team that played a great game and deserved to win, not because his team played poorly.

 

[Go Budaw]

If mississippi had beaten bama or florida in a national semifinal game then yes I would. Both of those games you mention happened in the regular season with many games left on the schedule and both of those teams were able to build redemption. We sent uconn home in the final four and finished ahead of them in the final poll. You can grade our performance versus theirs anyway you want but they had won 111 in a row so they obviously knew how to get ready to play. Here is how I look at it. I am not about to characterize the greatest victory in our history as a fluke. We put our five on the floor with their five with a trip to the natty on the line and won. That means we were the better team. Anything else is just playing with numbers of which that and a couple of bucks will buy you a cup of coffee.

I’m not saying it was a fluke either. Really good teams often times don’t play to the peak of their ability, even when the stakes are at their highest. It’s not an unusual phenomenon. And you are right, we were the better team last year for one night. But I think most everyone would agree that if we played that game 20 times, UConn wins 18 or 19 of them because they had A LOT more talent than we did. And they still do. Same goes for every other team in the country when you compare them to UConn.

 

[VegasDawg13]

I pay no attention to women's basketball outside of our own team. How on earth is Baylor a 2 seed?

 

[Go Budaw]

UConn hasn't gone 861-57 in the last 25 years by taking Final Four games (or any games) lightly and playing half asleep. If that was the case, you would have seen Geno blow a gasket after that game. He handled it the way he did because he knew they had been beaten by a team that played a great game and deserved to win, not because his team played poorly.

Geno responded the way he did because he isn’t a *****. He wasn’t going to throw shade on a historical upset by being that guy that makes excuses, blames the refs, etc. And you are right that they didn’t play “poorly”, but there is no way in hell they were on their A-game. It’s just silly to suggest otherwise.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

According to FiveThirtyEight, we have the best chance to reach the Elite 8 or Final 4 of any team not named UConn.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-march-madness-predictions/womens/

But they predict a UConn-Baylor final.

Chances of winning it all:
UConn - 65%
Baylor - 12%
MSU - 7%
Notre Dame - 6%
Louisville - 5%

 

[MSUDC11]

I pay no attention to women's basketball outside of our own team. How on earth is Baylor a 2 seed?

I don’t get it either. They are rewarding Notre Dame for having the No. 2 RPI and No. 1 SOS, but they’ve lost three games. Baylor is 4 in the RPI, went undefeated in conference play and won the Big 12 tourney, and their only loss was on the road against a Top 10 UCLA team when Mulkey and one of their best players didn’t make the trip.

 

[blacklistedbully]

BS. Perhaps you should check out their player's post-game interview. They, themselves credited their loss largely to our aggressive, stifling defense. Specific mention was made of how we were able to take away their 1st, 2nd & sometimes 3rd options offensively. There was talk of how our defense disrupted their rhythm, which was a big part of their game.

There were comments from their players about how they really turned it on after the first half and played their best basketball, yet even then, and with the help of a few dubious calls against us, they still only outscored us 36-30 after the half. That does not equate to them being 18 or so points better on average, even if one assumes we played our A-game both halves, and they just one because they weren't ready or whatever.

And if we don't concede to your theory that we played as well as we could all game, and them only a half + OT, then your statements hold even less water.

 

[thekimmer]

I’m not saying it was a fluke either. Really good teams often times don’t play to the peak of their ability, even when the stakes are at their highest. It’s not an unusual phenomenon. And you are right, we were the better team last year for one night. But I think most everyone would agree that if we played that game 20 times, UConn wins 18 or 19 of them because they had A LOT more talent than we did. And they still do. Same goes for every other team in the country when you compare them to UConn.

LOL. You claim you are not calling the uconn win a fluke while the rest of your post characterizes it as just that.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Either way, I 'd say the 2-point OT win by us was far less an aberration than the previous year's 60-point loss. Had we lost in 2016 by 20, then maybe you're getting close.

We played a lot of great teams in 2016, and never lost by anything close to that. We lost to SCar by 6 & 14 points. That same Scar lost to 2016 UConn by 12, but also with SCar's leading scorer injured midway through the 2nd Q. Transitive property arguments aside, that is at least a little more scientific than your gut feeling and position that the OT win by us was as much an aberration as the 60-point win by them.

 

[Go Budaw]

BS. Perhaps you should check out their player's post-game interview. They, themselves credited their loss largely to our aggressive, stifling defense. Specific mention was made of how we were able to take away their 1st, 2nd & sometimes 3rd options offensively. There was talk of how our defense disrupted their rhythm, which was a big part of their game.

There were comments from their players about how they really turned it on after the first half and played their best basketball, yet even then, and with the help of a few dubious calls against us, they still only outscored us 36-30 after the half. That does not equate to them being 18 or so points better on average, even if one assumes we played our A-game both halves, and they just one because they weren't ready or whatever.

And if we don't concede to your theory that we played as well as we could all game, and them only a half + OT, then your statements hold even less water.

So, if the argument was that they are only 12 points better and not 15-20, that changes your stance? Because I’m not gonna get into an argument about how many points better they actually are. I said 15-20 points as a rough estimate. 12 vs. 15 is just splitting hairs. They are a significantly more talented basketball team than every other team in the nation. Take the advantage Alabama has in football and multiply it by 10. That is how big the gap is. Therefore, any game they lose to anyone is definitely an aberration.

And, all of the above is why it is such a big deal that we were able to beat them. Not acknowledging that gap in talent and that we were able to still overcome it honestly undermines the significance of the biggest win in MSU history in any sport. They say that success happens when preparation meets opportunity. We were as prepared as we could have been, but the opportunity was UConn’s play in the 1st half.

 

[Go Budaw]

Either way, I 'd say the 2-point OT win by us was far less an aberration than the previous year's 60-point loss. Had we lost in 2016 by 20, then maybe you're getting close.

We played a lot of great teams in 2016, and never lost by anything close to that. We lost to SCar by 6 & 14 points. That same Scar lost to 2016 UConn by 12, but also with SCar's leading scorer injured midway through the 2nd Q. Transitive property arguments aside, that is at least a little more scientific than your gut feeling and position that the OT win by us was as much an aberration as the 60-point win by them.

I never said one was more, less, or as much of an aberration than the other, just that both were aberrations- significant deviations from the mean. At the end of the day, it’s impossible to judge which is more or less likely because our team got a lot better in 2017 while theirs got worse. I would tend to agree that we were closer to ourselves in 2017 than in 2016. All we know for sure though is that we never lose by 60, and UConn never loses period, yet somehow both happened about one year apart from each other. Both were very unusual.

 

[dogfan96]

Actually it's not.. VV didn't play well (although she scored a lot of points) and she fouled out and we STILL found a way to win. Everybody who actually watched UConn last year knew they weren't the unbeatable juggernaut that they were the previous 3 years. They didn't have very much quality depth and they didn't have one dominant player. Their best players were largely sophomores

 

[blacklistedbully]

Had a feeling you were gonna cherry-pick the crap outta that one.

You have attempted to completely ignore 90% of my post to justify your argument against the entire post. You are getting, "12-points" instead of, "15-20" only by ignoring the part about the 6-point margin after the first half being aided by some bogus calls that helped UConn, and by referencing your absolute minimum number.

From what I recall of the game, without a few crappy calls that favored them, the margin would likely have been anywhere from actually in our favor to perhaps a 2-3 point deficit. Then, if we again assume your theory that only UConn gets to claim any letdown during the game (absurd), you're at best looking at a 4-6 point total game margin, not 15-25, or even 12.
And you clearly stated both results were "significant deviations from the mean". From the results, I suspect you may not have a clear understanding of what the, "mean" actually was, particularly vs ranked opponents. In 2016, UConn's "mean" margin of victory over other ranked teams (not counting us) was 21.58. Of those 9 games, only twice did the enjoy a MOV over 30.

60 points was an aberration in 2016, particularly when one considers the mean margin of loss vs other ranked teams that year.

In 2016, over half of UConn's wins over ranked opponents were by 12 or fewer points. Two of those were by 6 points or less. One they escaped with a 2-point win vs a team ranked lower than us. Us winning in OT was not an aberration. Something of a long-shot, but not an aberration.

 

[Go Budaw]

LOL. You claim you are not calling the uconn win a fluke while the rest of your post characterizes it as just that.

What the hell are you talking about? The only one using the word “fluke” is you. A team beating a more talented team by playing well and giving max effort while the other team doesn’t is not a fluke, it’s just an upset. They aren’t the same thing. A fluke win is a game winning 3 pointer by the opponent being nullified by a flop and a terrible offensive foul call. A fluke win is a football team winning by less than a TD when they scored one TD by QB throwing a ball off a defender’s helmet for an 80 yard TD. Flukes have nothing to do with relative talent and coaching skill.

 

[RocketDawg]

I pay no attention to women's basketball outside of our own team. How on earth is Baylor a 2 seed?

I suppose since they've only lost one game, and I understand they didn't have their best player there for the game, nor the coach for some reason. They lost to UCLA, who is no slouch either.

Edit: I read and responded as if you meant "why are they that high", when I think you really meant "why aren't they a #1 seed". I agree ... why are they not?

 

[RocketDawg]

I'm surprised UConn is that low. I suppose last year's loss to us made everybody realize that they're not invulnerable. I actually think they're probably more likely than that to win it all, but hopefully we'll get a shot at them.

 

[thekimmer]

Ok my bad. The word you used was aberration...

What the hell are you talking about? The only one using the word “fluke” is you. A team beating a more talented team by playing well and giving max effort while the other team doesn’t is not a fluke, it’s just an upset. They aren’t the same thing. A fluke win is a game winning 3 pointer by the opponent being nullified by a flop and a terrible offensive foul call. A fluke win is a football team winning by less than a TD when they scored one TD by QB throwing a ball off a defender’s helmet for an 80 yard TD. Flukes have nothing to do with relative talent and coaching skill.

Feel better now?