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stever
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
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 Posted: 01/03/06 8:45 am ::: Parity not apparent in women’s hoops. |
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http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/13538875.htm
"Fast forward to this season, when all that parity of a year ago is beginning to look as if it was a rarity. The top five teams in the Associated Press poll – Tennessee, Duke, LSU, Baylor and North Carolina – are undefeated. Undefeated and almost unchallenged. These teams aren’t cleaning up on lightweights; they’re demolishing ranked teams as well." |
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Carol Anne
Joined: 09 Apr 2005
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Location: Seattle
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| Posted: 01/03/06 9:01 am ::: |
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| When those top teams get into conference play, then we'll see if Phil Bloom is right or not.
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 01/03/06 9:54 am ::: |
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| In other words it looks just like the top of the men's polls, where Duke, UConn, Villanova, Florida, and Illinois are all undefeated at will be 1-5 once Memphis gets dumped.
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styxfan22
Joined: 21 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 01/03/06 10:16 am ::: |
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| The fact that there are five top teams instead of two is an improvement -- and UConn isn't one of the top five!
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accommodatingly
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
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Location: Saint Paul, MN
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| Posted: 01/03/06 10:19 am ::: |
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| Carol Anne wrote: |
| When those top teams get into conference play, then we'll see if Phil Bloom is right or not. |
I'd say that when those top teams get into conference play we'll see whether Maryland belongs up there along with them, we'll see whether UNC can stay focused, and we'll see the 1-5 spots churn internally. Is anyone in the Big XII going to beat Baylor? Is anyone else in the SEC going to beat either Tennessee or LSU? The ACC could be more interesting (or it might not).
The start of conference play is going to make it harder, not easier, for teams currently ranked below 5-- other than Maryland-- to move up: Ohio State, Arizona State and UConn, for example, will not get the chance to play a top five team again until the Big Dance starts. They might not even get to play another top ten team. Realistically I think they (and Purdue and DePaul and so on) can move up in the rankings only if Baylor loses, or if LSU loses to someone other than Tennessee, if Duke loses to someone other than UNC or Maryland, and so on. (I know this sort of thing happens every year, and it happens even more so to midmajors, whose fans feel "stuck" around the 15 spot-- shoutout to Lobo supporters-- but it's rather visible this year.)
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bballjunkee212
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 01/03/06 10:49 am ::: |
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This thread and the linked article suffer from a fallacy often encountered in political discussion: The debated term is not defined while everybody appears to understand what it means.
What does "parity" mean?
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womens_hoops
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 01/03/06 10:53 am ::: |
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| bballjunkee212 wrote: |
| What does "parity" mean? |
we've had that debate here and elsewhere a few times before... i think different people mean it to use different things at different times... that's one of the things that's annoying about all the press coverage about whether we do or don't have parity...
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bballjunkee212
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 01/03/06 10:56 am ::: |
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| womens_hoops wrote: |
| bballjunkee212 wrote: |
| What does "parity" mean? |
we've had that debate here and elsewhere a few times before... i think different people mean it to use different things at different times... that's one of the things that's annoying about all the press coverage about whether we do or don't have parity... |
Exactly. So if we're gonna debate the point in the context of this season, let's at least get on the same page.
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styxfan22
Joined: 21 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 01/03/06 11:05 am ::: |
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| To me, parity means a school besides Evil Empire North or Evil Empire South winning the national championship.
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
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Location: Chicago
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| Posted: 01/03/06 11:07 am ::: |
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| styxfan22 wrote: |
| To me, parity means a school besides Evil Empire North or Evil Empire South winning the national championship. |
Which has only happened three times since 1995.
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womens_hoops
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 01/03/06 11:07 am ::: |
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| bballjunkee212 wrote: |
| Exactly. So if we're gonna debate the point in the context of this season, let's at least get on the same page. |
Yep. I think there are two main senses that people usually mean:
First -- how dominant are the top teams? I.e., how likely are upsets, how far apart is 1 from 20 and 50, etc.
Second -- are the same teams dominant year after year? I.e., is it always the same teams winning their conference and getting to the Final Four, etc.
When you say "the top five teams are undefeated and they're way better than anyone else," you're talking the first sense. When Voepel says "we may be entering a dynasty-free era," she's talking more in the second sense.
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