Final 4
- Thread starter TomD82
- Start date
Happy for UConn and the conference - it's always good when a team from our league wins a national championship.
But let's also be real. UConn has had a very fortunate draw in this tournament. Second round game against the worst 5 seed (St. Mary's), in Albany. Sweet 16 game against an 8 seed, rather than a #1 (Kansas). Elite Eight game against a non-vintage Gonzaga team, who got lucky against injury-riddled UCLA (the best team in the country at full strength IMO). I think UCLA, even sans Clark, beats UConn (but Bona would have had to play). Then they get two 5-seeds in the Final Four en route to a national title.
You have to be good to win a title, but you also have to be lucky. UConn is both.
But let's also be real. UConn has had a very fortunate draw in this tournament. Second round game against the worst 5 seed (St. Mary's), in Albany. Sweet 16 game against an 8 seed, rather than a #1 (Kansas). Elite Eight game against a non-vintage Gonzaga team, who got lucky against injury-riddled UCLA (the best team in the country at full strength IMO). I think UCLA, even sans Clark, beats UConn (but Bona would have had to play). Then they get two 5-seeds in the Final Four en route to a national title.
You have to be good to win a title, but you also have to be lucky. UConn is both.
We played well in the second half that night. We tried to spit it up in the last minute but UConn couldn't knock us out.
UConn was playing poorly during that stretch but I would have liked their chances against a lot better if Hurley was on the sideline instead of Socks the clown's son and a mid-major washout.
IMO UConn kinda blew it. They won the lottery with SDSU playing like dog feces after a quick start. Only up 12?? Like Hurley said, they should be up 20. SDSU is gonna make a run in the second half. If this gets close, and the Huskies somehow blow it, they need look no further than not stepping on their throats when they had the chance. To SDSU, it’s a miracle they’re only down a dozen.
UConn continuing to play stupid in the opening minutes of the second half! Missed Jam: make sure you bring down the two points before you bring the house down.
Lot of Seton Hall talk --which is nice 
Even Pirate fairly prominent on TV ads
Even Pirate fairly prominent on TV ads
Looking like UConn will win every tournament game by double digits. Utter domination of the field. Yet we beat this team once and were within a possession of them with 10 minutes to go at their place. Hoping some of the doom and gloom crowd will remember that before declaring our team DOA next season.
Lots of Seton Hall talk in this game. Love that Hurley empties the bench even in the title game.
True. Jay would not empty the bench in a meaningless game.
In 2021 Houston reached the final four without facing a single digit seed. Of course, they did in the national semifinal and promptly got destroyed, but UConn's path looks like murderer's row compared to theirs.
Kenpom
The ranking of each team improve as they advance in the tournament
The ranking of each team improve as they advance in the tournament
| NCAA Tournament - 4 seed | ||||||||||
| Fri Mar 17 | 76 | Iona | W, 87-63 | Neutral | 26-8 | |||||
| Sun Mar 19 | 13 | Saint Mary's | W, 70-55 | Neutral | 27-8 | |||||
| Thu Mar 23 | 22 | Arkansas | W, 88-65 | Neutral | 28-8 | |||||
| Sat Mar 25 | 8 | Gonzaga | W, 82-54 | Neutral | 29-8 | |||||
| Sat Apr 1 | 24 | Miami FL | W, 72-59 | Neutral | 30-8 | |||||
| Mon Apr 3 | 14 | San Diego St. | W, 76-59 | Neutral | 31-8 |
UConn beat EVERY non-BE opponent this year and EVERYONE by double-digits including Alabama by 15 and Oregon by 24. And their AVERAGE margin of victory in March Madness was 20 points. Beat everyone by double-digits and beat the spread for all six games.
Had that bad stretch in conference, but they were not a 4 seed. We can question the strength of the teams they played, but they obliterated the field.
Congrats to CL82... a good poster who became a friend of our board.
OOC 17-0 with all 17 wins by double digits
In conference 14-8
Yes. His humility may be tested if uconn i as good as they looked this tourney. A big congrats from me!!
Don't look now but you're actually making the argument for using KenPom in seeding. UConn was a 1 or 2 seed all year if you used KenPom exclusively, even through its January slump.
I'm on the fence about this. I think KenPom is a valuable tool in assessing teams, just not sure NCAA decisions should be made using it. In the end, wins and losses is what the game is about. UConn did lose eight games, including two to teams not even close to the NCAA field.
And UConn proved that you can have a January Swoon (5 losses) and win a NC.
Very easy to empty the bench when you won’t be able to go home to the wife if you don’t.
