bballnut90
LV Adherent. Topic Crafter
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2011
- Messages
- 7,078
- Reaction Score
- 30,955
I'm not sure, but I think this thread was done not too long ago. I'm going into this with the assumption that if a team lost to a team that wasn't UCONN, they wouldn't have won the title because they lost to a different team that eventually lost to UCONN. Flawed logic or not, here's my list:
1995: Tennessee-UCONN and Tennessee were separated from the rest of the pack this year. Out of Geno's 10 title wins, this was probably the closest battle.
2000: Again I'd pick Tennessee here. UCONN had a undefeated-worthy team (similar to 2015's team), but Tennessee played them close in their first match up, and beat UCONN in the 2nd game. Loaded team with Catchings, Randall and Lawson.
2002: Tough call here between Oklahoma and Tennessee. Oklahoma had a better senior laden team led by Stacey Dales, but I also think Pat out coaches Sherri. I'll pick Tennessee here--that was one of Pat's grittier teams and I think they'd prevail in the end.
2003: Tennessee. The best teams outside of UCONN were Duke and Tennessee, and Tennessee won that match up by 10 in the semifinals, so gotta go with Tennessee here. Texas would've made a tough matchup for Tennessee, they had a really strong team that year at all positions.
2004: The three teams to look at are Tennessee, Minnesota and Penn State. Penn State had a really good backcourt and received a brutal draw as the top seed playing at UCONN in the regionals. They had Mazzante/Wright/Strom/Brungo which was a really strong nucleus. Minnesota had the Whalen/McCarville 1-2 punch that had them as the best ever #7 seed. Tennessee's roster was its weakest in years but found ways to win. I'd bet money on Minnesota, as Whalen was the best player on any of those teams and McCarville the best front court player.
2009: Comes down to Louisville or Stanford....I'd choose Stanford. Appel was a beast this year, and Ogwumike/Pederson were strong forwards for Stanford. Louisville had little offense outside of McCoughtry, and Angel has never been an efficient offensive player.
2010: Stanford, easy pick here. That squad was undefeated against teams not named Connecticut and gave the Huskies their only competitive game in a two year span. Baylor made a good run, but they didn't have enough help for Griner, and Griner was also incredibly raw offensively.
2013: Notre Dame, another easy pick. Both UCONN and Notre Dame benefited tremendously from Louisville's upset over Baylor, but there's no doubt in my mind that Notre Dame takes care of business against Kentucky and Louisville to win a title.
2014: Notre Dame, another easy pick. Notre Dame was far and away the best team in the nation that year not named UCONN.
2015: Notre Dame, another easy pick. South Carolina was great, too, but outside of the title game, Notre Dame didn't lose when their entire starting 5 suited up.
Kind of crazy to think that Tennessee could've had 4-5 more titles and Muffett would be coming off three straight titles if there was no UCONN.
1995: Tennessee-UCONN and Tennessee were separated from the rest of the pack this year. Out of Geno's 10 title wins, this was probably the closest battle.
2000: Again I'd pick Tennessee here. UCONN had a undefeated-worthy team (similar to 2015's team), but Tennessee played them close in their first match up, and beat UCONN in the 2nd game. Loaded team with Catchings, Randall and Lawson.
2002: Tough call here between Oklahoma and Tennessee. Oklahoma had a better senior laden team led by Stacey Dales, but I also think Pat out coaches Sherri. I'll pick Tennessee here--that was one of Pat's grittier teams and I think they'd prevail in the end.
2003: Tennessee. The best teams outside of UCONN were Duke and Tennessee, and Tennessee won that match up by 10 in the semifinals, so gotta go with Tennessee here. Texas would've made a tough matchup for Tennessee, they had a really strong team that year at all positions.
2004: The three teams to look at are Tennessee, Minnesota and Penn State. Penn State had a really good backcourt and received a brutal draw as the top seed playing at UCONN in the regionals. They had Mazzante/Wright/Strom/Brungo which was a really strong nucleus. Minnesota had the Whalen/McCarville 1-2 punch that had them as the best ever #7 seed. Tennessee's roster was its weakest in years but found ways to win. I'd bet money on Minnesota, as Whalen was the best player on any of those teams and McCarville the best front court player.
2009: Comes down to Louisville or Stanford....I'd choose Stanford. Appel was a beast this year, and Ogwumike/Pederson were strong forwards for Stanford. Louisville had little offense outside of McCoughtry, and Angel has never been an efficient offensive player.
2010: Stanford, easy pick here. That squad was undefeated against teams not named Connecticut and gave the Huskies their only competitive game in a two year span. Baylor made a good run, but they didn't have enough help for Griner, and Griner was also incredibly raw offensively.
2013: Notre Dame, another easy pick. Both UCONN and Notre Dame benefited tremendously from Louisville's upset over Baylor, but there's no doubt in my mind that Notre Dame takes care of business against Kentucky and Louisville to win a title.
2014: Notre Dame, another easy pick. Notre Dame was far and away the best team in the nation that year not named UCONN.
2015: Notre Dame, another easy pick. South Carolina was great, too, but outside of the title game, Notre Dame didn't lose when their entire starting 5 suited up.
Kind of crazy to think that Tennessee could've had 4-5 more titles and Muffett would be coming off three straight titles if there was no UCONN.
.