Dunn Done

[ChelseaFriar]

I don't know that I had them as a tourney team this year- pretty much I thought everything would have to go right for them. OOC schedule not all that strong meant they needed to go like 21-10 or something like that to have a shot. Thought they were a year away realisitcally.

I thought the opposite. I thought this was the year, and next year they would be talented but younger. This year you had Cotton (senior and one of the best scorers in the league) and Batts (fifth year senior who is a very good shooter with a PG getting him open looks). With Dunn and Austin I felt they were a tourney lock this year. Likely would have lost 1 or 2 OOC games (Kentucky and maybe @ UMass) with Dunn and Austin. To be honest, other than Nova none of the BE teams have looked like world beaters so that leads me to believe even more that Dunn/Austin = lock this year.

[stever20]

Does SH have 2 top 10 wins right now like UNC? Nope. Didn't think so. You have to have the top level wins, something the Hall once again doesn't have.

UConn by any stretch didn't need to win the tourney. You don't go from being out of the tourney to 3 seed in 1 weekend. You just don't. Hell, they were ranked #21 going into the Big East tourney in the coaches poll. With wins over then #15 Kentucky, #10 Texas, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Cincy. They could have lost to DePaul and still made the tourney w/o any issues at all. For one, they had 14 games against teams getting votes. If that's not a lock to get into the tourney, I don't know what is. Even though they finished 9th. Do I need to remind you that Villanova LOST on the 1st day that year and still made the tournament? I guess maybe you don't know your BE history then...

[TheHall]

Does SH have 2 top 10 wins right now like UNC? Nope. Didn't think so. You have to have the top level wins, something the Hall once again doesn't have.

UConn by any stretch didn't need to win the tourney. You don't go from being out of the tourney to 3 seed in 1 weekend. You just don't. Hell, they were ranked #21 going into the Big East tourney in the coaches poll. With wins over then #15 Kentucky, #10 Texas, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Cincy. They could have lost to DePaul and still made the tourney w/o any issues at all. For one, they had 14 games against teams getting votes. If that's not a lock to get into the tourney, I don't know what is. Even though they finished 9th. Do I need to remind you that Villanova LOST on the 1st day that year and still made the tournament? I guess maybe you don't know your BE history then...

I stand corrected on Nova that year, doesn't change the fact that Uconn needed to win the BET to get in. As for this year Villanova was unranked and jumped to #14 after beating 2 top 25 teams in 1 week. Uconn beat 4 Top 25 teams, IN FOUR DAYS, yet they still ONLY got a 3 seed. Think about that. You can win the NCAAT and may not play 4 ranked teams and definitely not in four days, yet they only moved up to an equivalent of a #9-#12 poll ranking.

[stever20]

Does SH have 2 top 10 wins right now like UNC? Nope. Didn't think so. You have to have the top level wins, something the Hall once again doesn't have.

UConn by any stretch didn't need to win the tourney. You don't go from being out of the tourney to 3 seed in 1 weekend. You just don't. Hell, they were ranked #21 going into the Big East tourney in the coaches poll. With wins over then #15 Kentucky, #10 Texas, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Cincy. They could have lost to DePaul and still made the tourney w/o any issues at all. For one, they had 14 games against teams getting votes. If that's not a lock to get into the tourney, I don't know what is. Even though they finished 9th. Do I need to remind you that Villanova LOST on the 1st day that year and still made the tournament? I guess maybe you don't know your BE history then...

I stand corrected on Nova that year, doesn't change the fact that Uconn needed to win the BET to get in. As for this year Villanova was unranked and jumped to #14 after beating 2 top 25 teams in 1 week. Uconn beat 4 Top 25 teams, IN FOUR DAYS, yet they still ONLY got a 3 seed. Think about that.

You are a complete idiot if you really think they needed to win the tourney. So if they had lost the final, they are out? That's a load of hooey and you know it.

Also- Nova did their week in the 3rd week of the season. UConn moved up 12 spots in a week at the end of the season. HUGE difference there.

[TheHall]

Does SH have 2 top 10 wins right now like UNC? Nope. Didn't think so. You have to have the top level wins, something the Hall once again doesn't have.

UConn by any stretch didn't need to win the tourney. You don't go from being out of the tourney to 3 seed in 1 weekend. You just don't. Hell, they were ranked #21 going into the Big East tourney in the coaches poll. With wins over then #15 Kentucky, #10 Texas, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Cincy. They could have lost to DePaul and still made the tourney w/o any issues at all. For one, they had 14 games against teams getting votes. If that's not a lock to get into the tourney, I don't know what is. Even though they finished 9th. Do I need to remind you that Villanova LOST on the 1st day that year and still made the tournament? I guess maybe you don't know your BE history then...

I stand corrected on Nova that year, doesn't change the fact that Uconn needed to win the BET to get in. As for this year Villanova was unranked and jumped to #14 after beating 2 top 25 teams in 1 week. Uconn beat 4 Top 25 teams, IN FOUR DAYS, yet they still ONLY got a 3 seed. Think about that.

You are a complete idiot if you really think they needed to win the tourney. So if they had lost the final, they are out? That's a load of hooey and you know it.

Also- Nova did their week in the 3rd week of the season. UConn moved up 12 spots in a week at the end of the season. HUGE difference there.

[XUFan09]

Does SH have 2 top 10 wins right now like UNC? Nope. Didn't think so. You have to have the top level wins, something the Hall once again doesn't have.

UConn by any stretch didn't need to win the tourney. You don't go from being out of the tourney to 3 seed in 1 weekend. You just don't. Hell, they were ranked #21 going into the Big East tourney in the coaches poll. With wins over then #15 Kentucky, #10 Texas, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Cincy. They could have lost to DePaul and still made the tourney w/o any issues at all. For one, they had 14 games against teams getting votes. If that's not a lock to get into the tourney, I don't know what is. Even though they finished 9th. Do I need to remind you that Villanova LOST on the 1st day that year and still made the tournament? I guess maybe you don't know your BE history then...

I stand corrected on Nova that year, doesn't change the fact that Uconn needed to win the BET to get in. As for this year Villanova was unranked and jumped to #14 after beating 2 top 25 teams in 1 week. Uconn beat 4 Top 25 teams, IN FOUR DAYS, yet they still ONLY got a 3 seed. Think about that. You can win the NCAAT and may not play 4 ranked teams and definitely not in four days, yet t they only moved up to an equivalent of a #9-#12 poll ranking.

This is not a fact. This is the direct opposite of a fact. You are putting way too much value in the conference tournament, far more than the Selection Committee actually does (since they understand the unpredictability of an elimination tournament). The range of seeds teams can fall in are generally set, and the conference tournaments are used to finalize the bracket. UConn certainly helped their seeding in a big way by adding some marquee wins to their resume, but they were already in line for a solid at-large seed. If a team on the wrong side of the bubble had done what UConn did, they would have possibly worked themselves into a lower at-large seed, like a 11 or 12. A team simply doesn't jump from an NIT bid to a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. That would be putting way too much value on one long and frequently chaotic weekend and way too little value on the entirety of the regular season.

[TheHall]

Does SH have 2 top 10 wins right now like UNC? Nope. Didn't think so. You have to have the top level wins, something the Hall once again doesn't have.

UConn by any stretch didn't need to win the tourney. You don't go from being out of the tourney to 3 seed in 1 weekend. You just don't. Hell, they were ranked #21 going into the Big East tourney in the coaches poll. With wins over then #15 Kentucky, #10 Texas, #22 Georgetown, and #25 Cincy. They could have lost to DePaul and still made the tourney w/o any issues at all. For one, they had 14 games against teams getting votes. If that's not a lock to get into the tourney, I don't know what is. Even though they finished 9th. Do I need to remind you that Villanova LOST on the 1st day that year and still made the tournament? I guess maybe you don't know your BE history then...

I stand corrected on Nova that year, doesn't change the fact that Uconn needed to win the BET to get in. As for this year Villanova was unranked and jumped to #14 after beating 2 top 25 teams in 1 week. Uconn beat 4 Top 25 teams, IN FOUR DAYS, yet they still ONLY got a 3 seed. Think about that. You can win the NCAAT and may not play 4 ranked teams and definitely not in four days, yet t they only moved up to an equivalent of a #9-#12 poll ranking.

This is not a fact. This is the direct opposite of a fact. You are putting way too much value in the conference tournament, far more than the Selection Committee actually does (since they understand the unpredictability of an elimination tournament). The range of seeds teams can fall in are generally set, and the conference tournaments are used to finalize the bracket. UConn certainly helped their seeding in a big way by adding some marquee wins to their resume, but they were already in line for a solid at-large seed. If a team on the wrong side of the bubble had done what UConn did, they would have possibly worked themselves into a lower at-large seed, like a 11 or 12. A team simply doesn't jump from an NIT bid to a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. That would be putting way too much value on one long and frequently chaotic weekend and way too little value on the entirety of the regular season.

Let me rephrase...Uconn went in to the BET feeling they had to win it all to get in. No team playing on day 1 had ever won it all before or since. If any decent team beats 4 ranked teams in four days in March, they would have been a #1 seed or at worst #2 seed; Uconn only got a #3 seed, so where do you think they were before the BET.

[stever20]

This is not a fact. This is the direct opposite of a fact. You are putting way too much value in the conference tournament, far more than the Selection Committee actually does (since they understand the unpredictability of an elimination tournament). The range of seeds teams can fall in are generally set, and the conference tournaments are used to finalize the bracket. UConn certainly helped their seeding in a big way by adding some marquee wins to their resume, but they were already in line for a solid at-large seed. If a team on the wrong side of the bubble had done what UConn did, they would have possibly worked themselves into a lower at-large seed, like a 11 or 12. A team simply doesn't jump from an NIT bid to a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. That would be putting way too much value on one long and frequently chaotic weekend and way too little value on the entirety of the regular season.

Only remote thing would have been had they lost to DePaul, but I think even with that, they would still have gotten in. Heck, their resume was stronger than Nova going into the tourney, and Nova lost 1st rd and still got in. That should tell him something....

[stever20]

So you know how UConn was thinking going into the BET. OK that's something.

Conference tournaments don't mean anywhere near as much as you are making them out to be. It was 5/35 of their season. The other 30 games meant a lot to the committee as well....

[billyjack]

No conference before 2011 had ever sent more than 8 teams to the NCAAs, and UConn finished 9th. No 9th place team had ever made the tourney. So this was breaking new ground. I personally thought they should've been a lock, but I did wonder if the committee would limit the amount of bids from 1 conference. There was also the concern that teams like the San Diego Toreros would steal some bids, making it more difficult.

Also, from my dimwitted recollection, I think I remember Billy Packer types complaining that a 9th place team shouldn't make the tourney. I think UConn didn't clinch a spot for good til they made the quarterfinals by beating Georgetown. Also, when did the BET champion ever not get a #1 or #2 seed...?