Official Selection Show thread

[sun]

Even though the cameras weren't there, I'll bet that the UConn players were watching the selection show and cheered when their seeding was announced.
I imagine that they were ecstatic over it, and making comments about the other teams being selected.
The event might even take on a party atmosphere for them, and not being in front of a camera allows them to relax, have fun and not have their reactions constrained by being in a public setting.

 

[fomalhaut]

A thought experiment:
How many teams in the tournament can field a starting five better than Bueckers, Ducharme, Juhasz, Westbrook, and DeBerry?

 

[fomalhaut]

I stated above that I feel they're under-seeded. However, I'd much rather be a 12 seed than an 8 or 9 seed (which is where I thought FGCU might be) if I want the best chance of reaching the Sweet 16.

8 and 9 are very bad spots. There's an interesting article on the NCAA website giving the combined records of teams at every seed position:

Records for every seed

In 1998, Arkansas made the Final Four as a 9 seed; Boston College in 2006 is the only 8 seed even to make the Sweet Sixteen.

 

[Littlemin]

Why would a new coach, with a relatively inexperienced team, (tournament wise) turn down an opportunity for her team to get all that valuable extra experience and practice? If she did decline, I wonder why?

Maybe the players opted out, it happened to St. John’s mens program last year and 10 of those players wound up transferring out. I am a big fan, and the fallout might have been they got no invite to the mens NIT this year, which they expected to get. They even publicly announced they would accept an invite after they lost in the BE tournament, not even being in the discussion for an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

 

[jaydee602]

The premise of Peck's comment was that this is Geno's practice, which is quite untrue because he develops everyone or tries to, in any case. And, although Geno encouraged Paige to shoot instead of pass and that she did, she was not alone on offense: Christyn and, often enough, Evina were. True that in crucial moments, Paige dominated the offense but the fact that he averaged high enough with the assists tells you she involved others...

My objection to the comment is that it was a swipe at Geno's alleged standard coaching practice that is patently untrue. It just happened to be more that way because there were not too many options with last year's team. Well, those same players are not hesitant any more about shooting, except Nika.

This leads me to wonder if Geno's comment about "a former coach who doesn't snow s_ _ t" referred to Carolyn Peck & not to Muffet McGraw. We could see that her comments would irritate Geno.

 

[Fossil]

What the heck is Kim wearing, I was expecting something different...

Hefty bag with sticker. Odd choice?

 

[LETTERL]

Maybe it's a good omen for NC State to be in the same region with UConn. It worked out well back in 1998, right?

But not so well in 1991, 2003 or 2007.

 

[Childhood]

I miss the selection show. Any playback?

 

[ConwayGmck]

Don't tell anyone on the Duke board.... but I would like to see Big Carolina vs Little Carolina in the sweet 16.

 

[mbr33ct]

Wait. They have a replacement team play? Cool.

If I was one of them "replacement teams" on standby I would hope the four schools hang banners for them for participating in this years "March Madness".

 

[CL82]

Not different rules— just an additional consideration on margin, when appropriate.

I don’t see what the Committee would have sacrificed— nor what other team(s) would have been adversely affected— if UConn & Baylor regional seedings were simply swapped… or even if NC State went with UConn to Wichita, with Louisville joining Baylor in Bridgeport. Neutral Elite 8 sites for both matchups in that case.

I am confident that whispers will/have increase(d) about how UConn has been rewarded for their worst regular season in recent memory. The fact that the ESPN panel has highlighted this issue immediately speaks to its egregiousness, even as strict seeding methodology was sound on its face. UConn has essentially been given a de facto #1 seed & more favorable treatment than ANY team aside from overall top seed SC similarly playing near home until FF. There is more grist for UConn bias discussion after tonight’s seeding reveal than beforehand— whether justified or not.

What I’m appealing for moving forward is common sense latitude/flexibility as a marginal consideration, in the spirit of fairness.

So basically, you’re arguing that the rules should be followed unless they benefit UConn, then they arbitrarily should be ignored, but it’s completely fine for other teams have games that their fans can get to easily.

Does that really sound fair to you.

 

[mbr33ct]

That South Carolina segment felt 3x longer than it actually probably was

...talk about bias.

 

[mbr33ct]

Well, SCar IS in a different state than Greensboro.

Believe me to us Connecticut residents, Bridgeport might as well be in another state.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I know I'm late to the party - didn't get on the boards much last night, but the host of that Selection Show was terrible. Where the heck did ESPN find her? I can understand Lobo and Peck, but the other two? Sheesh.. was everyone else busy?

That said I think I might grab a ticket for Bridgeport. I'd be going alone if anyone wants to meet up.

 

[BRS24]

ESPN’s extended Bracketology coverage just discussed this UConn treatment in more depth. Caroline Peck espoused my aforementioned point, saying she’d be “pissed” if she were NC State’s coach. Panel host Zubin Mehenti cited UConn’s effective home games route to Final Four.

Our own Rebecca Lobo made an insightful counterpoint even in conceding the “fairness” issue. Besides Committee following S-curve with UConn as legit #2 seed slotting, Lobo pointed out that the reason that the NCAAW Tournament has had a regional in either Albany or Bridgeport every year is because of the support of the UConn fanbase in supporting the women’s game. She then highlighted that Bridgeport regional tickets sell for 3x the other sites, which is staggering. As some of you have stated elsewhere, this economic factor likely plays into Committee calculus on margin.

I wanted to punch Mehenti in the face. He brought this up just to make a name, and the topic has been rehashed over and over. Lobo did a great job with the S curve facts/realities and of course CP had to chime in "as a former coach"

 

[UConnCat]

The crowd, yes. But if they play in Bridgeport it will be for the first time this season.

As for unfairness I say no. What UConn has done is available to every other team. Hire a good coach. Support the development of a winning program that is also entertaining, but especially one that wins. Then arenas near that school will bid for regionals. That's available to anyone.

Also strangely ironic that fans of a sport in which the top 16 teams host the first 2 rounds of the tournament on their actual home court are complaining about the unfairness of a team playing in front of a supportive crowd in the regionals.

 

[jchusky]

this was definitely the shortest Uconn was talked about in a selection show. I was even expecting an interview with one of the players, nope. Guess since they left for Fox with the Big East Espn has isolated and focused more on teams they air such as Sec/Acc.

 

[mbr33ct]

NC State has been the top team in one of the premiere conferences for the last 2 years. They are just as good as the other number one seeds so I would not be too eager to play them.

Aren't all P5 conferences "premiere"? To my recollection the ACC have been languishing 4th or 5th best P5 conference for some time. If the ACC is one of the premiere conferences how would you rank the really top two or three?

 

[BRS24]

The premise of Peck's comment was that this is Geno's practice, which is quite untrue because he develops everyone or tries to, in any case. And, although Geno encouraged Paige to shoot instead of pass and that she did, she was not alone on offense: Christyn and, often enough, Evina were. True that in crucial moments, Paige dominated the offense but the fact that he averaged high enough with the assists tells you she involved others...

My objection to the comment is that it was a swipe at Geno's alleged standard coaching practice that is patently untrue. It just happened to be more that way because there were not too many options with last year's team. Well, those same players are not hesitant any more about shooting, except Nika.

After looking up her resume on coaching, I always take her comments with a grain of salt. Studio armchair coaching.

• Led by Katie Douglas, Stephanie White and Ukari Figgs, the Boilermakers posted a 28–1 record during the regular season ... won the 1999 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament (IMHO an inherited team)
• During Peck's three seasons as WNBA coach, the Miracle, which featured Shannon Johnson, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales and fellow Vanderbilt graduate Sheri Sam, posted a 44–52 record
• During her five seasons at Florida (2002–03 through 2006-07), the Gators posted a 72–75 record with two NCAA tournament berths. The 2006–07 season was a disaster—the Gators suffered through a 14-game losing streak and finished 9–22. Following the losing streak, the university fired Peck in February but allowed her to finish the season as coach.

(steps down gingerly from soapbox)

 

[BRS24]

This leads me to wonder if Geno's comment about "a former coach who doesn't snow s_ _ t" referred to Carolyn Peck & not to Muffet McGraw. We could see that her comments would irritate Geno.

 

[ucbart]

She provides no insight. Just repeats talking points!

I hope for the LV Aces that she's better at being Team President than she is at coaching and being on TV. She is horrendous as a TV analyst. She knows how to talk about one thing, the SEC.

Elle Duncan sucked
Carolyn Peck is a mess
Fargas is atrocious
And poor Rebecca has to sit there with them.

Where is Andy Landers? Andreya Carter?

 

[mbr33ct]

If you ever come to Washington to get some apples and Pacific salmon, you can make your way to Leavenworth, which is a faux Bavarian village. Probably half of the restaurants in town have schnitzel. Several bratwurst joints as well, where you can get just about every kind of sausage known to man.

Been to Leavenworth when I lived out there, great little "Bavarian Village". Of course the time to go there was in the winter.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

This should be a great tournament. NCSU fans, MSU feels your pain because we were a 1 seed in 2019 after winning the SEC tournament and had to travel to Portland, where we lost to Oregon in the E8. The FF teams that year were all better than us so no bitterness, but geography, seeding and hosting don't always line up the right way.

Overall I felt the committee did a good job and I can't see anyone really have a gripe with being left out, on either the men's or women's tournaments. The next few weeks look to be fun. Here is to a competitive, exciting tournament.

 

[msf22b]

So basically, you’re arguing that the rules should be followed unless they benefit UConn, then they arbitrarily should be ignored, but it’s completely fine for other teams have games that their fans can get to easily.

Does that really sound fair to you.

The rest of the country thinks so...

The U-Conn. women playing near home makes the Bridgeport Region a nightmare for everyone else​

Washington Post Headline.

Also some good analysis...

Connecticut’s home-court advantage was significant this season. The Huskies scored almost seven points per game more at home than an average team after adjusting for strength of schedule, which is enough to raise a team’s win probability by 14 percent.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/03/13/uconn-womens-basketball-nc-state/

 

[hookshot]

A thought experiment:
How many teams in the tournament can field a starting five better than Bueckers, Ducharme, Juhasz, Westbrook, and DeBerry?

Uconn can with Bueckers, Williams, Ducharme, Juhasz, and Edwards