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Would you rather play a team from a big conference who has somewhere around 10 losses, or a 20-4 ish team from a weaker conference in the first round?

We could end up playing someone like a Washington (15-11 but wins over FSU and Tx A&M) or Mississippi State (16-9)....OR we could end up playing a team like Marist (21-4) or a team like Delaware (20-4)

I still can't believe we get anything higher than a 7 seed. This committee is SO biased against non-major conferences. I think we get a 6 at best if all stays the same.

Bring on Ohio State. I smell blood in the water.

Well, lets take a look at Charlie Creme's current bracket. We're currently a 5 seed, and I think 5 or 6 is where we're pretty much locked in. So, that puts us against an 11-12 seed in the first round. Those 8 teams are currently:

Tulane (CUSA, 21-4)
Auburn (SEC, 17-9)
K-State (B12, 16-8 )
Iowa State (B12, 17-7)
Hartford (AEC, 17-7)
UW (Pac-10, 15-11)
Delaware (CAA, 20-4)
Miss. State (SEC, 16-9)

To answer your question in general terms, I would rather see a smaller conference champ or at-large. I definitely don't want any SEC teams, because that conference is brutal, so even the mediocre teams like Auburn and MSU will be mentally tough and battle-hardened. I think the B12 would be ok, because I haven't been impressed by Oklahoma, Baylor, or Texas A&M when I've seen them play. I think we match up well with the top teams in that conference, so we'd probably do well against the middle.

My number one wish from the current group would be Hartford. After that, I'd take Delaware. They're a good team, but we know we're better than them. That probably won't happen though due to the matchup factor.

My reasoning for wanting a small school as opposed to a big conference school is pretty simple. Size. Our most glaring weakness is size in the paint. That can be most easily exploited by the 6-4, 6-5, girls inside like UCLA had. Rebounding becomes very tough, Liz disappears like she did against Bales, and we get into foul trouble, especially Ali. Most of major conf schools on that list have multiple people that size. Most of the smaller schools don't. If we're not "out-bigged" inside, we're nearly impossible to beat.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:Well, lets take a look at Charlie Creme's current bracket. We're currently a 5 seed, and I think 5 or 6 is where we're pretty much locked in. So, that puts us against an 11-12 seed in the first round. Those 8 teams are currently:

Tulane (CUSA, 21-4)
Auburn (SEC, 17-9)
K-State (B12, 16-8 )
Iowa State (B12, 17-7)
Hartford (AEC, 17-7)
UW (Pac-10, 15-11)
Delaware (CAA, 20-4)
Miss. State (SEC, 16-9)

To answer your question in general terms, I would rather see a smaller conference champ or at-large. I definitely don't want any SEC teams, because that conference is brutal, so even the mediocre teams like Auburn and MSU will be mentally tough and battle-hardened. I think the B12 would be ok, because I haven't been impressed by Oklahoma, Baylor, or Texas A&M when I've seen them play. I think we match up well with the top teams in that conference, so we'd probably do well against the middle.

My number one wish from the current group would be Hartford. After that, I'd take Delaware. They're a good team, but we know we're better than them. That probably won't happen though due to the matchup factor.

My reasoning for wanting a small school as opposed to a big conference school is pretty simple. Size. Our most glaring weakness is size in the paint. That can be most easily exploited by the 6-4, 6-5, girls inside like UCLA had. Rebounding becomes very tough, Liz disappears like she did against Bales, and we get into foul trouble, especially Ali. Most of major conf schools on that list have multiple people that size. Most of the smaller schools don't. If we're not "out-bigged" inside, we're nearly impossible to beat.

I have to agree with this - but I want to throw one more thing into the equation: Kate has stepped up her game, especially her scoring. Kate becomes the x-factor even if we are out-bigged. I really think that Kate can totally screw with any team's defense at any time. She might be be best player on the team right now, and I think will lead this team past ANYONE we might meet in the first two rounds. Her speed (She is one of the quickest players in DI), ability to penetrate, and ability to hit the pull-up jumper will cause a huge defensive matchup problem for any team.

She is playing like Kate only even more deadly on offense. It creates even more opportunities for easy buckets...I can't tell you how impressed I have been with Kate the past handful of games. Our M.O. has been scoring off our defense. The defense is still there (maybe even better than the beginning of the year) the offense is still there, but Kate now has the ability not just to make great plays, but to dominate the flow of the game.

We match up so much better with anyone this year because of that.

I want Duke again.

Schadenfreude wrote:Bring on Ohio State. I smell blood in the water.

BGSU is the best team in Ohio

Of course, MSU will probably jump is in the polls

To expand upon your guard quickness point, Jazz has been playing much better as of late as well. Miller said in his last coaches show that he's accomplished his goal of getting Jazz and Kate comfortable on the floor at the same time. Jazz has finally started to slow down and it's paying off big time for her and Kate. Kate may be one of the quickest guards around, but Jazz has another gear that not many possess. If we can run a lineup out there for 5-7 minutes stretches with both of them on top of their game, we match-up even better with the elite teams.

If we run into a team in the tourney that can neutralize Liz with a big, I wouldn't be surprised to see us go with a Kate-Jazz-Thor-Golds/Carin-Ali lineup for long stretches. That's a fantastic defensive lineup, and the drive and kick possibilities are endless for Jazz and Kate. If Megan and Carin heat up from outside, we can beat anyone in the country. Plus you have Ali instead of Liz down low, and she's athletic enough to go around a lot of bigger defenders inside. Miller has a lot of flexibility with his personnel, and he'll use that to his advantage when we get out-talented in the tourney, and we will if we get past the first round or 2. We'll win games with defense, execution, experience, and teamwork as opposed to superior talent.

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:To expand upon your guard quickness point, Jazz has been playing much better as of late as well. Miller said in his last coaches show that he's accomplished his goal of getting Jazz and Kate comfortable on the floor at the same time. Jazz has finally started to slow down and it's paying off big time for her and Kate. Kate may be one of the quickest guards around, but Jazz has another gear that not many possess. If we can run a lineup out there for 5-7 minutes stretches with both of them on top of their game, we match-up even better with the elite teams.

If we run into a team in the tourney that can neutralize Liz with a big, I wouldn't be surprised to see us go with a Kate-Jazz-Thor-Golds/Carin-Ali lineup for long stretches. That's a fantastic defensive lineup, and the drive and kick possibilities are endless for Jazz and Kate. If Megan and Carin heat up from outside, we can beat anyone in the country. Plus you have Ali instead of Liz down low, and she's athletic enough to go around a lot of bigger defenders inside. Miller has a lot of flexibility with his personnel, and he'll use that to his advantage when we get out-talented in the tourney, and we will if we get past the first round or 2. We'll win games with defense, execution, experience, and teamwork as opposed to superior talent.

Amen - when we go "fast" with our lineup, people don't score on us. I think we can play almost any type of game and be competitive. Miller has been great at pushing the right buttons.

I was thinking about Jazz and Kate being so fast...Jazz looks faster, but when Kate plays, the opposition looks slower. It's like watching Vince Young.

Falcon30 wrote:

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:To expand upon your guard quickness point, Jazz has been playing much better as of late as well. Miller
I was thinking about Jazz and Kate being so fast...Jazz looks faster, but when Kate plays, the opposition looks slower. It's like watching Vince Young.

Wow, great analogy Falcon30! Yes, I too have been likeing the Jazz Kate lineup very much as it gives us our quickest backcourt lineup. Actually a lineup of Jazz ,Kate, Thor, Ali and Amber gives us good things as well. It takes Ali away from having to guard the other teams center and Amber is so good in the paint and has at times and most of the time a better finisher down low than Liz.

Schadenfreude wrote:Bring on Ohio State. I smell blood in the water.

For purely selfish reasons, I wanna shot at the Buck$ as well. BG is a better team than OSU. As J4H pointed out, it's the size advantage these BCS schools have. I'll match our forwards and guards against anyone in the nation. No disrespect whatsoever to Liz, but we saw what happened against Duke. She simply is at a disadvantage in those situations.

GO FALCONS!!!

I want Furman.

Falconfreak90 wrote:

Schadenfreude wrote:Bring on Ohio State. I smell blood in the water.

For purely selfish reasons, I wanna shot at the Buck$ as well. BG is a better team than OSU. As J4H pointed out, it's the size advantage these BCS schools have. I'll match our forwards and guards against anyone in the nation. No disrespect whatsoever to Liz, but we saw what happened against Duke. She simply is at a disadvantage in those situations.

GO FALCONS!!!

However - I think Liz did a very respectable job on Bales (13 points on 5-10 shooting) and if we re-matched with them again, Liz wouldn't have an 0-fer night.

I like the idea of Liz matching up with some of these bigs and running them all over the floor if they go man to man. All Liz needs to do is play great defense. I think our offense can come from ANYONE else on the team. I want Duke again.

I'd rather play a 24-4 team froma smaller conference any day. The 17-10 team from a big conference is going to have a big post player. A big team is what scares me most. I think we match-up better against a quick team versus one that likes to band down low.

Rollo83 wrote:I'd rather play a 24-4 team froma smaller conference any day. The 17-10 team from a big conference is going to have a big post player. A big team is what scares me most. I think we match-up better against a quick team versus one that likes to band down low.

Bingo! We were out bigged and out 3'd last year against UCLA. I hope the ladies are the ones taking somebody out to the woodshed this year!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/bracketology

Charlie's new Bracketology is out with us now playing in Austin as a #5 seed against #12 Hofstra. Also someone needs to tell him that we're not Tulane as he calls us the Green Wave, when you run the cursor over BG's game you'll see what I mean.

jpfalcon09 wrote:http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/bracketology

Charlie's new Bracketology is out with us now playing in Austin as a #5 seed against #12 Hofstra. Also someone needs to tell him that we're not Tulane as he calls us the Green Wave, when you run the cursor over BG's game you'll see what I mean.

http://www.collegerpi.com/women/

Palm has us as a 5 in the Fresno Region, playing USC in LA