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ArtBest23
Joined: 02 Jul 2013
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myrtle
Joined: 02 May 2008
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 Posted: 10/20/16 2:10 pm ::: |
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Yawn. Another article without much substance.
Washington - I think it's a big question whether or not Romeo gets to play - the answer to which has not been answered to my knowledge. If she is able to play I think they will be similar to last year.
LA - they always seem to have lots of talent but never quite put it together. Will this be THE year? Ditto Cal.
Stanford is Stanford. They will be in the mix but it will be an uphill battle. Ditto ASU.
OSU lost A LOT but the cute lil gnome seems to be able to put it all together.
Oregon is real interesting. They stocked up on a bunch of pretty good Frosh bigs and have some decent guards plus the Frosh Ionescu to go with them. But young, really young.
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Nixtreefan
Joined: 14 Nov 2012
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| Posted: 10/20/16 2:21 pm ::: |
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Myrtle you got me snickering, I like your descriptions.
Haven't heard about Romeo either and I think they actually lost a lot for them to operate, but heck they never really practiced that much so who knows. Neighbours is all about analytics and he got pretty lucky with some of his statistical scouts which can happen.
Charli is a good coach and she always seems to get her teams to play competitive basketball.
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Brinx
Joined: 03 Oct 2013
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Location: CA
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| Posted: 10/20/16 4:10 pm ::: |
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I was a bit surprised too; and not because they don't have the talent to win it, but because I figured the coaches would vote Stanford or OSU and they have been the schools to beat as of late. Figured they'd keep voting for them until it's proven they can't win it easily.
Anyways, hoping UCLA does win it and that they have a breakout year.
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patsweetpat
Joined: 14 Jul 2010
Posts: 2313
Location: Culver City, CA
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| Posted: 10/20/16 6:39 pm ::: |
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| Love my Bruins, can't wait to watch them play, and I'm sure they'll have a great season, but I'll keep on picking Stanford until they start making me look stupid for not doing so.
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Durantula
Joined: 30 Mar 2013
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| Posted: 10/20/16 9:08 pm ::: |
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| Of all the power conferences, to me the Pac 12 has the most intrigue. No obvious front runner, intriguing teams at the middle of the pack, and new coaches for some rebuilding programs.
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Howee
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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Location: OREGON (in my heart)
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patsweetpat
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ArtBest23
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| Posted: 10/23/16 11:29 am ::: |
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As an aside, it's interesting that three of last year's final four teams are picked to finish 3rd, 4th, and 5th in their respective conferences this year.
I wonder if THAT'S ever happened before.
Other than perhaps OreSt, turnover doesn't adequetely explain that result.
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22
Joined: 31 Mar 2015
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| Posted: 10/23/16 10:28 pm ::: |
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| ArtBest23 wrote: |
As an aside, it's interesting that three of last year's final four teams are picked to finish 3rd, 4th, and 5th in their respective conferences this year.
I wonder if THAT'S ever happened before.
Other than perhaps OreSt, turnover doesn't adequetely explain that result. |
UW did only finish 5th in the conference last year, 3 games back of 4th, and probably lost more thru turnover than either UCLA/Stanford picked ahead of them....
How much of a bump should they get for going to the FF? And who should they move ahead of?
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ArtBest23
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| Posted: 10/23/16 11:08 pm ::: |
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| 22 wrote: |
| ArtBest23 wrote: |
As an aside, it's interesting that three of last year's final four teams are picked to finish 3rd, 4th, and 5th in their respective conferences this year.
I wonder if THAT'S ever happened before.
Other than perhaps OreSt, turnover doesn't adequetely explain that result. |
UW did only finish 5th in the conference last year, 3 games back of 4th, and probably lost more thru turnover than either UCLA/Stanford picked ahead of them....
How much of a bump should they get for going to the FF? And who should they move ahead of? |
Same thing with Syracuse. Finished 3rd in the ACC last year, tied with FSU, two games behind 2nd place Louisville, split with LVille, lost to ND twice, but beat SCar in the tourney and played in the title game, but still picked this year to finish fourth even with returning four starters.
I wasn't suggesting any of them should be higher right now. It's more of a manifestation of how bizarre last year's tournament was. Most of the high ranked, high seeded teams last year and predicted high ranked this year got upset early - SCar, Oh St, Md, ND, Louisville. Other than ultimate winner UConn, only Baylor and Texas of the usual suspects even made it to the Elite Eight. It was a very strange unpredictable tournament year. And the coaches voting this year obviously aren't giving it that much weight. They're going with what they expected rather than with what happened.
FF teams OreSt, Syr, Wash were ranked 10, 23, unranked, last year preseason.
So will this year go more to form, or be another topsy turvey tournament?
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myrtle
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ClayK
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
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| Posted: 10/24/16 10:02 am ::: |
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I think it just shows how random a single elimination tournament can be if there's relative parity amongst, say, 25 to 30 teams.
For me, the regular-season says who the best team is, because we're talking 25 to 30 games. The NCAA tournament is six games, and when two teams of relatively equal ability play, it's not that surprising that the "underdog" pulls the upset. There are just so many variables, from fouls to shooting percentage to bad calls, that it's not at all surprising that an eight-point favorite somehow loses.
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myrtle
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| Posted: 10/24/16 11:49 am ::: |
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| ClayK wrote: |
I think it just shows how random a single elimination tournament can be if there's relative parity amongst, say, 25 to 30 teams.
For me, the regular-season says who the best team is, because we're talking 25 to 30 games. The NCAA tournament is six games, and when two teams of relatively equal ability play, it's not that surprising that the "underdog" pulls the upset. There are just so many variables, from fouls to shooting percentage to bad calls, that it's not at all surprising that an eight-point favorite somehow loses. |
true. At the same time, injuries (sometimes ones we don't even know about) and even 'peaking' at the right time also play a major role.
_________________
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman
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