(03-30-2021 09:52 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Russell Wilson's sister plays for Stanford. Pretty big age difference as Russell's 32.

So what? Russell is also the middle child. That's why he is so competitive and corny.

Bet she was an "oops" baby.

(03-30-2021 07:40 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 07:35 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  I watched a lot of this game last night, great game. The two best coaches and programs meeting in the regional final.

As for the controversy, I don't know why? I'm glad the game wasn't decided by more free throws.

I'm sorry, I don't buy that at all. I hate that officials think let the players decide the game. By letting a defensive player commit a foul, all they are doing is.... deciding the game.

I'm a few days late on this but I agree. Horrible no call. If it was a slight bump then I'm cool with a no call but that foul was egregious.

(04-01-2021 08:21 AM)Gamecock Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 07:40 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 07:35 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  I watched a lot of this game last night, great game. The two best coaches and programs meeting in the regional final.

As for the controversy, I don't know why? I'm glad the game wasn't decided by more free throws.

I'm sorry, I don't buy that at all. I hate that officials think let the players decide the game. By letting a defensive player commit a foul, all they are doing is.... deciding the game.

I'm a few days late on this but I agree. Horrible no call. If it was a slight bump then I'm cool with a no call but that foul was egregious.

Eh, IMO Geno has a point about looking at the totality of the game. Heck, just look at the last minute. With about 50 seconds left Baylor has the ball, down by 5. The pretty Baylor girl with the long braids drives to the hoop and missed, but they call a fall on UConn putting her on the line. She makes two FTs so now the lead is down to three. With about 30 seconds left UConn had the ball and a 3 point lead. One of their players drove the basket for a layup that they missed, there was contact with defenders, but no foul call, Baylor ball. Then with about 18 seconds left, the same pretty Baylor player drove towards the hoop while being defended by two UConn players in good position. She just kind of flung herself between them at the basket and the ref again bails her out by calling a foul, two more FTs to cut the lead to one. So the context of that last no-call - again, the same pretty Baylor player shooting on that play - was that Baylor had just gotten two iffy calls to go their way. The pretty Baylor player had already been given four critical FTs in the final minute.

The refs were IMO wise not to give them a third.

(03-31-2021 03:16 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  Love love love that NCAA WBB is having more & more parity each year.

Yeah, but they need to go further with it. The whole "BCS teams must be better than non-BCS teams, based on the concept of SOS" is BS and even worse in WBB than MBB, and that's why the men's tourney has more upsets.

The last bids go to P5 teams that were 3-12 vs NCAA teams in conference; and they get blown out, again. But they'll leave out a 27-3 team that doesn't win their conference tourney.

This has serious repercussions for the growth of interest in the sport. How are the 275 OTHER teams supposed to grow interest in WBB when the NCAA says "Your regular season does not matter at all, only the conference tournament does" ??

If you want to increase interest in WBB, get a more diverse group of schools into the NCAA tournament, and they'll probably pull more upsets than before as well, so it's win-win.


Secondly, why is WBB on the same schedule as MBB with one day difference? The big conferences already play their WBB conference tourneys a weekend early, so they can get their games on TV.

Move the WBB season up a week (or four days). Do the Women's Selection Show on Tuesday of Championship Week before all the power conferences start having noon games in their tournaments. Add 2 teams for a Women's Field (2 at-large play-in games; don't make the 16 seeds square off).

Then have MBB/WBB NCAA Tourney schedule go like this:
MBB Selection Sunday at 6 pm.
WBB First Four Teams at 7 pm and 9 pm. Winners move on to Tuesday's 1st Round games.

WBB First Round on MONDAY & TUESDAY.
WBB Second Round on Wednesday & Thursday

MBB First Four on Wednesday and Thursday
MBB First Round Friday & Saturday
MBB Second Round Sunday & Monday

WBB Sweet 16 Tuesday & Wednesday
WBB Elite 8 Thursday & Friday
MBB Sweet 16 Saturday & Sunday
MBB Elite 8 Monday & Tuesday

WBB Final Four Friday
MBB Final Four Saturday
WBB Championship Sunday
MBB Championship Monday

Didn't even know this. Doesn't make sense. Why shouldn't men's and women's have the same 3 point line.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...basketball

I have a feeling most people on this board could run the women's tournament better than the NCAA could.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...nal-video/

(04-02-2021 10:09 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Didn't even know this. Doesn't make sense. Why shouldn't men's and women's have the same 3 point line.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...basketball

The women use a smaller ball too. But the same size rim, LOL.

Wow, what a finish! So close!

Exciting finish. Stanford advances and congrats to South Carolina for a strong effort.

(04-02-2021 10:09 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Didn't even know this. Doesn't make sense. Why shouldn't men's and women's have the same 3 point line.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...basketball

The decision to move the Men's arc to the FIBA distance was made in 2019 effective last year but was effective this season for D2 and D3 due to the cost of resending and painting those floors.
https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/med...ernational

(04-02-2021 10:46 AM)schmolik Wrote:  I have a feeling most people on this board could run the women's tournament better than the NCAA could.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...nal-video/

Those on the women's basketball committee are just as thirsty for free travel and lodging as the Men's committee, thus disregard the student-athlete, even if they are also women.

(04-02-2021 02:26 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(04-02-2021 10:09 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Didn't even know this. Doesn't make sense. Why shouldn't men's and women's have the same 3 point line.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-bask...basketball

The women use a smaller ball too. But the same size rim, LOL.

The women's basketball clearly has 28.5 in it.

(04-02-2021 07:18 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Wow, what a finish! So close!

It's a shame that the game tiped off at 6pm Eastern/3 Pacific.

So an all-PAC final, Stanford vs Arizona.

PAC doing great in both tournaments.

U OF A

BEAR DOWN ARIZONA
BEAT THE CARDINAL

First Elite Eight
First Final Four
First Championship Game
First ...

(04-02-2021 10:38 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  So an all-PAC final, Stanford vs Arizona.

PAC doing great in both tournaments.

Seeing a non-traditional team in the Final Four, yet the Championship is wonderful for the game.

(04-02-2021 10:38 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  So an all-PAC final, Stanford vs Arizona.

PAC doing great in both tournaments.

As Bill Walton would say, another national championship for the “Conference of Champions.”

That was an embarrassing performance by UConn. They had no business losing this game. I promised not to use that phrase and I won't but they were a #3 seed and they've never been to the Final Four before. I think I saw UConn was favored by something like 14 points going into the game. It's now four consecutive Final Four losses for UConn. One of those losses was to Mississippi State. Playing in the AAC/Big East just might get them to the Final Four but once they get there they're just not prepared for the likes of Arizona and Mississippi State (and we know they were lucky to beat Baylor).

Hopefully Connecticut next year will finally get over the semifinal hump. The only player they could lose is Evina Westbrook. They didn't play a lot of non conference games this year because of COVID-19 and a team like UConn needs those games to prepare for the NCAA Tournament, especially with a young team and with the fact that there was no tournament at all last year. And next year's tournament will be in Minneapolis, Paige Bueckers' hometown, so I'd expect a big home crowd advantage for UConn unless Minnesota's better than I think they are.

(04-02-2021 10:49 PM)AZcats Wrote:  U OF A

I was impressed by the Arizona coach. She seemed calm and in command the whole time, while Geno seemed frazzled and nervous. You'd have guessed she was the one coaching her 21st 21 Final Four, not her first.

That said, it's going to be tough in the final. IIRC, Stanford beat Arizona badly in both games this year. But hey, teams can get better, and Stanford was very fortunate not to fall to South Carolina.

I wonder when the last there was a title game where neither team had won in the past 25 years? Maybe never? Stanford has been to 10 Final Fours since the last time they won in 1992.

Major congrats to both Zona and Stanford. The Conference of Champions will have another title.

As to Schmolik's point about UConn not being fully prepared for the tough competition in the NCAA Tournament (previously having been a member of the AAC and now in the Big East) ... there may be a little bit of accuracy to that. But Geno A. is such an outstanding coach and the UConn players are equally big-time. I simply don't think it matters too much — if it's UConn. Now, for some other AAC or Big East programs, it very well might. Those two leagues (though solid in women's hoops) are not like the P5.

(04-03-2021 06:12 AM)schmolik Wrote:  That was an embarrassing performance by UConn. They had no business losing this game. I promised not to use that phrase and I won't but they were a #3 seed and they've never been to the Final Four before.

Knowing nothing about Arizona, I watched the whole game and never would have guessed UConn was a huge favorite. I mean, I figured they were the favorite because it was #1 vs #3 and they are "UConn", but the way the game played out, Arizona dominated, looked like the better team to me start to finish. In total control the whole way.

IOW's, it didn't look like a case of an obviously inferior team somehow lucking their way past a much better one.

Maybe UConn was distracted by all the media nonsense about how the game with Baylor ended? That just went on and on. Or maybe they foolishly thought Baylor was their biggest obstacle to winning the title so it would be downhill from there and relaxed? Or maybe the Baylor game just took too much out of them physically and emotionally?

I do know I was kind of surprised when I flipped on my TV and saw South Carolina vs Stanford on. Seemed like a pretty small gap of time between the E8 and F4, just four days. Usually it's a week. Is that a new thing because of the virus schedule?

If the men are also having a short gap, it could affect the men's F4 as well.