Women's NCAA Tournament - Duke in West Region

[burnspbesq]

Duke is the number two seed in the Fresno regional. Stanford is the one seed, and St. John's is the three.

Duke plays its first and (presumably) second round games in Nashville, opening against Samford. If they win, they play either Vanderbilt or Middle Tennessee State.

Not bad.

[Duvall]

Duke is the number two seed in the Fresno regional. Stanford is the one seed, and St. John's is the three.

Duke plays its first and (presumably) second round games in Nashville, opening against Samford. If they win, they play either Vanderbilt or Middle Tennessee State.

Not bad.

In what respect is this not bad? The pairings aren't terrible, but the travel is awful.

[DU82]

We have to go to Nashville, and Georgia Tech plays in Chapel Hill? WTF? (No Heels.)

[uh_no]

In what respect is this not bad? The pairings aren't terrible, but the travel is awful.

Stanford is likely the weakest of the 1 seeds.

[DukeGirl4ever]

Stanford is likely the weakest of the 1 seeds.

Yes and we are not in UCONN's bracket.
I feel like every year we are in UCONN's bracket.

Would have liked to see us closer to home, though.

AND, in terms of story lines, I would have liked to see Delaware in UCONN's bracket.
You know the nation would have tuned in to see that.

[Duvall]

Stanford is likely the weakest of the 1 seeds.

Stanford is definitely the weakest of the 1 seeds. That doesn't change the fact that a team with a worse overall record, worse ACC record and weaker strength of schedule is going to play on a neutral floor while Duke is getting shipped out to play a road game just to get to the Sweet 16. What a joke.

[burnspbesq]

Delaware is the three seed in Baylor's region. That's an intriguing potential Elite Eight matchup. Griner has never had to guard anyone like DelleDonne.

[burnspbesq]

Duke plays Samford at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.

[uh_no]

Stanford is definitely the weakest of the 1 seeds. That doesn't change the fact that a team with a worse overall record, worse ACC record and weaker strength of schedule is going to play on a neutral floor while Duke is getting shipped out to play a road game just to get to the Sweet 16. What a joke.


I may be mistaken, but i think the subregional locations may be prefixed by which regionals they feed into, unlike the mens pod system, though I am not sure.


Still...this is the same that happened a few years ago in michigan

[Lid]

We have to go to Nashville, and Georgia Tech plays in Chapel Hill? WTF? (No Heels.)
This seems so strange to me. Why don't we get to go to Chapel Hill?

Also, anyone want some tickets to the Raleigh regional? :(

[Lid]

maryland had a better overall record, won the ACC tournament, split with duke, was 5-3 against ranked opponents vs 1-4 for duke (wins vs UNC are discounted in both cases).

discounting the games against eachother
Duke had UNC, Wake, FSU and VT twice....UNC awas the only one who finished in the top half of the conference
MD had miami, GT, UVA, and UNC....who ALL finished in the top half of the conference

The schedule was so uneven that the conference record is largely meaningless.

In the end Maryland had an overall better record against a better schedule and more wins against top teams. They clearly had the better resume.

I assume the reference was to Tech, not Maryland. Or perhaps I'm confused.
eta: If we win the first round, we'd be playing a Tennessee team in Tennessee. Shades of Michigan State, only not as bad.

[Duvall]

maryland had a better overall record, won the ACC tournament, split with duke, was 5-3 against ranked opponents vs 1-4 for duke (wins vs UNC are discounted in both cases).

discounting the games against eachother
Duke had UNC, Wake, FSU and VT twice....UNC awas the only one who finished in the top half of the conference
MD had miami, GT, UVA, and UNC....who ALL finished in the top half of the conference

The schedule was so uneven that the conference record is largely meaningless.

In the end Maryland had an overall better record against a better schedule and more wins against top teams. They clearly had the better resume.

I'm talking about Georgia Tech.

[DU82]

maryland had a better overall record, won the ACC tournament, split with duke, was 5-3 against ranked opponents vs 1-4 for duke (wins vs UNC are discounted in both cases).

discounting the games against eachother
Duke had UNC, Wake, FSU and VT twice....UNC awas the only one who finished in the top half of the conference
MD had miami, GT, UVA, and UNC....who ALL finished in the top half of the conference

The schedule was so uneven that the conference record is largely meaningless.

In the end Maryland had an overall better record against a better schedule and more wins against top teams. They clearly had the better resume.

I believe Duvall was talking about Georgia Tech going to Chapel Hill while we go play Vanderbilt in Nashville.

[Duvall]

maryland had a better overall record, won the ACC tournament, split with duke, was 5-3 against ranked opponents vs 1-4 for duke (wins vs UNC are discounted in both cases).

Your numbers are way off. What are you talking about?

In any case, Duke needs to immediately cancel all series against teams likely to be in the top 10 next season. The committee obviously isn't interested in rewarding rigorous scheduling.

[uh_no]

If its any consolation, UK may have to play Iowa state or Green Bay in Ames...equally hosed as us

and tennessee will have to play depaul in chicago

all the 2 seeds got screwed except for maryland.

[uh_no]

Your numbers are way off. What are you talking about?

In any case, Duke needs to immediately cancel all series against teams likely to be in the top 10 next season. The committee obviously isn't interested in rewarding rigorous scheduling.

I realized i misunderstood your post, but anyway

as I mentioned I discounted each teams wins over UNC, but

you're right i miscounted, duke would be 3-4
MD is still 5-3...don't think i miscounted there

The teams were clearly very close. If duke had beaten either of ND or Uconn, they'd have it hands down. But the fewer top 25 wins, the split with MD, and the early exit from the tournament (along with the unbalanced schedule being massively in their favor contributing to their regular season title) meant that Duke had a slightly less impressive resume.

[Duvall]

I realized i misunderstood your post, but anyway

as I mentioned I discounted each teams wins over UNC, but

you're right i miscounted, duke would be 3-4
MD is still 5-3...don't think i miscounted there.

Still, let's unpack that. Duke's record against "top 25" opponents consisted of wins over Miami (3-seed), Maryland (2-seed), Georgia Tech (4-seed), and losses against Notre Dame (1-seed), UConn (1-seed), Kentucky (2-seed) and Maryland (2-seed). Maryland's record against top-25 opponents consisted of wins over Duke (2-seed), Delaware (3-seed), Georgetown (5-seed), Georgia Tech x3 (4-seed), and losses against Duke (2-seed) and Miami x2 (3-seed). It seems that the key to getting an "impressive" record against top-25 opponent is playing fewer games against the top ten and more against the bottom fifteen.

[-bdbd]

WTF - playing in the second round as a #2, vs a #7 Vanderbilt playing at home??! Really??! This is MSU and playing in Lansing against a (very) hostile crowd all over again! Geez! And if we survive that we get to play, if we get to round 4, in California vs Stanford at Fresno. Now I realze Fresno isn't exactly in Stanford's back yard, but come'on... Oh to be U-con and never have to play an NCAA round 1-4 game more than 100 miles from home! :rolleyes: :mad:

Well, at least the first two opponents aren't horrible, and I suppose that we coulda done worse than PSU (which lost in their tourney after winning the Big Ten regular season) for a 3-seed match-up. Maybe the committee jobbing us once again will give the women a chip on their shoulder for the next few weeks. Stanford is vulnerable, but playing Vandy at Vandy in round 2 has me at least a little concerned...

At least no North Carolina (or Wake)!

PDF of women's brackets:


http://a.espncdn.com/i/ncaa/12womens_bracket.pdf

[Dukehky]

I'm glad we got put in Stanford's bracket over the other 3 number one seeds. They just have to go and do the best they can against vanderbilt, but I really doubt they're going to present as much of a homecourt advantage as MSU did. That being said, it just sucks that we don't have Richa Jackson, Chloe Wells, or Amber Henson. This year is just another chance for the younger kids to grow and get experience and do the best they can with lower expectations than at the start of the seasons (because of the injuries). Next year, with a healthy team, fingers crossed, I really believe DWB will be the team to beat. Liz is only going to get better on the offensive end, and for those of you who haven't seen Amber Henson play, you are in for a real treat if she's healthy. She is relatively as athletic as her brother and is actually more skilled with the ball.

All that being said, I think these girls have been through a lot this year and that can only help in this tournament and look forward to seeing if they can make some serious noise. It's time for DWB to get back in the Final Four, and despite the injuries, I think this years team can do it.

[MCFinARL]

If its any consolation, UK may have to play Iowa state or Green Bay in Ames...equally hosed as us

and tennessee will have to play depaul in chicago

all the 2 seeds got screwed except for maryland.

Not just the 2 seeds, really. Baylor is on track to meet 8 seed Ohio State in Bowling Green, Ohio (not that an 8 seed is likely to slow Baylor down anywhere). 3 seed St. John's is slated to play 6 seed Oklahoma in Norman. Stanford opens with 16 seed Hampton in Norfolk, VA. I know a 1-16 matchup in the women's game isn't likely to be much of a challenge, but it's the principle of the thing--a one seed has to cross the continent to play a 16 seed that only has to drive across a bridge?

[devildeac]

Not just the 2 seeds, really. Baylor is on track to meet 8 seed Ohio State in Bowling Green, Ohio (not that an 8 seed is likely to slow Baylor down anywhere). 3 seed St. John's is slated to play 6 seed Oklahoma in Norman. Stanford opens with 16 seed Hampton in Norfolk, VA. I know a 1-16 matchup in the women's game isn't likely to be much of a challenge, but it's the principle of the thing--a one seed has to cross the continent to play a 16 seed that only has to drive across a bridge?

Wonder if they had some tutoring from the men's selection committee over the years:rolleyes:?

[uh_no]

Not just the 2 seeds, really. Baylor is on track to meet 8 seed Ohio State in Bowling Green, Ohio (not that an 8 seed is likely to slow Baylor down anywhere). 3 seed St. John's is slated to play 6 seed Oklahoma in Norman. Stanford opens with 16 seed Hampton in Norfolk, VA. I know a 1-16 matchup in the women's game isn't likely to be much of a challenge, but it's the principle of the thing--a one seed has to cross the continent to play a 16 seed that only has to drive across a bridge?

Charlie Creme answered the Stanford question at least. It had to do mostly with the fact that there aren't many sites close to them that would have worked in terms of bracketing rules. Its different for women, where the team must play at home if they can (so UNC would have been guaranteed to play at home...like we did last year). So if the spokane (i think that was a site) had a host who was, say a 4 seed, there is no way that they could have squeezed stanford in there.

There is discussion of just having the first 2 rounds at the highest seeds site....and I think that makes sense....not enough people go to the remote sites anyway....they have 5 days to travel there....they'd have bigger crowds....

this method just isn't working out.

I mean we pretty much know Uconn, Duke, Tennessee, ND, Baylor, Stanford, and even Texas A&M are pretty much guaranteed to be top 4 sites anyway so at least they can prepare...that's 7/16 sites taken care of....and Creme has indicated that there are talks about changing it. It needs to happen. I went to CIS last year for the tournament even without a vested interest really.....and its fun to go watch.....now if only Uconn could have been bad enough to get down into the raleigh region....

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

Vanderbilt is not going to be a cupcake. They are 17-1 at home this season (highlighted by hanging 93 pts on the Lady Vols), with their only loss coming to South Carolina in overtime. Plus, playing on that court and in that strange gym....

As The World Turns....(ESPN Plotlines)

1. It was a guarantee that UConn would have a former player playing against them. Turns out, rather than it being Elena Delle-Donne, it will be Kentucky's Samarie Walker, who quit UConn halfway through the season and transferred to Kentucky. Kentucky is the #2 in UConn's region.

2. Duke vs. Vanderbilt will be a reunion of Coach P and Claire Watkins (yes the girl who went public after P wouldn't honor her verbal scholarship)

3. Louisville at Maryland will feature Jeff Walz, who was an assistant coach on Brenda Frese's National Championship team.

4. Texas A&M vs. Arkansas will feature A&M's coach Gary Blair vs. his old team Arky

5. UT-Martin vs. Tenn will feature Pat's alma mater vs. Tenn. The only time UT-Martin has beaten UT was when Pat was playing.

Lady Vol Senior class: If this year's seniors don't make the Final Four, they will be the first class in Lady Vol history to never play in a Final Four (they were also members of the first team to not make the Sweet 16, the first team in the NCAA era to lose to South Carolina, the first team in 16 yrs to lose to Arkansas, the first team in Lady Vol history to lose 3 home games in a season) - a tall (literally) task considering they must beat Baylor to avoid this distinction.

Conference Wins: WHO did you BEAT?
Clearly that was a major theme this year. This is why Texas, who swept top 10 Texas A&M this year plus a win over Oklahoma, got a bid - despite having a sub 500 conference record and losing by 23 points to Texas Tech in the first round of the Big XII tourney. It's also why Michigan got a bid...and why Virginia did not get a bid.

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

CHALK IT UP
1989 was the last time all 4 #1 seeds made the Final Four. Will this be the year it happens or will Baylor, Notre Dame, UConn, or Stanford get upset?

[CameronBornAndBred]

I love our bracket, but honestly as long as we didn't draw Baylor I'm happy. I don't mind not being in Chapel Hill...for those with short memories, we almost got beaten in Cameron last year by Marist in the second round so being close to home never guarantees success. It's odd that we get shipped to Tennessee though to play Tennessee teams, but regardless of where we went we would have been facing someone near their fanbase. The only place we could have played without that being an issue would have been Carmichael, but I'm not dismayed. Coach P likes it too.

"I love it for our team. We are so young, the last thing you want is the comforts of home," McCallie said. "That's the absolute last thing you want if you're trying to develop a championship program and you're trying to grow as a unit."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/womens_college_basketball/story/10847927/

[-bdbd]

I love our bracket, but honestly as long as we didn't draw Baylor I'm happy. I don't mind not being in Chapel Hill...for those with short memories, we almost got beaten in Cameron last year by Marist in the second round so being close to home never guarantees success. It's odd that we get shipped to Tennessee though to play Tennessee teams, but regardless of where we went we would have been facing someone near their fanbase. The only place we could have played without that being an issue would have been Carmichael, but I'm not dismayed. Coach P likes it too.

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/womens_college_basketball/story/10847927/

I understand your point. I just wish that we weren't playing one SOMEONE ELSE'S HOME COURT (and someone who has a really dominant record on that home court). It didn't help us when we played a much lower-seeded MSU squad in Lansing either. I thought I remembered a semi-apologetic NCAA statement about that one after the fact. Guess not...