"Quality Wins"

[AirLonghorn]

When the NCAA determines the seedings, as well as who will host sub-regionals, two things are of the utmost importance:
1.) RPI
2.) Quality Wins

The Unversity of Texas is sitting "very pretty" in both categories. I don't think the Big XII will host 6 sub-regionals; 5 will be the number. Who will be left out? Kansas State, Colorado, or Iowa State? The next couple of games will be of utmost importance for those three teams. If I were guessing, I'd guess that Colorado will be the "odd-woman-out."(quite literally..ha!)

Am I correct that The Longhorns are THE ONLY Big XII team to have won 2 games against the top 3 teams in the country? Hummm!
Talk about quality wins! If Texas doesn't stumble in their next two games, their RPI will be in the top 8 in the nation. Their "quality wins" will be the best of any team in the country!

Great game tonight. Another prediction accomplished! Hook'em Horns!

And thanks for the intense effort from the entire team. Thanks to Jody for out-thinking Sherry Coles and having the team ready to roll.

"Mobile-homa" wrecks in Austin!

[RaiderPower1]

Of course it is the utmost importance to get out of the first round of the NCAA tournament too. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/wink.gif

[grojc]

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[This message has been edited by grojc (edited 02-20-2002).]

[horntooter]

Grojc -

I thought RaiderPower's comment was a friendly jibe, and it did have the cute little winkie face. No need to be reactive. And besides, it is the utmost importance to win the first round. It's been a few years for us, and I think we're building up a head of steam.

[AirLonghorn]

Well, I saw where Tech upset A & M tonight. Rumor has it that Marsha's aunts (Poly and Ester) and her uncle (Stretch) were the refs. 40 foul shots for Tech 17 for A & M. There's a pattern here. That's why every team that goes to Lubbock has to question the calls.
As for the first round losses for Texas in recent years, there are two good reasons for it:
1.) We haven't had the depth to compete (injuries and talent)
2.) We had to play "on the road" in these first rounds. Let's see what Tech does this year "on the road" for a first round game. Can Poly, Ester, and Strech ref these games?


Sleep well, princess!


[This message has been edited by AirLonghorn (edited 02-20-2002).]

[This message has been edited by AirLonghorn (edited 02-20-2002).]

[RaiderPower1]

You're right about Poly being there, but Ester must have been sick or something cause there was only one woman ref. I guess they weren't at the game when UT lost to A&M. Getting into the NCAA's won't be a problem for Texas Tech. As for my comment about UT getting past the first round, it was just a "friendly jibe" because of what UT has done the past two years. I am 100% sure that they will win at least one game in the NCAA's if not then I just jinxed them. I was just testin' your temper is all. Don't know what grojc said though because the message was edited before I could get back. It was probably just a friendly comment anyways. Good luck to UT though in the NCAA. I think that they will be Tech's main competitor besides KSU in the next couple of years in the Big XII.

[grojc]

Thank you Horntooter, I misunderstood the post, read it too quickly. My apologies RaiderPower. I deleted my snide comment. Best of luck to your team for the rest of the season.

[horntooter]

RaiderPower -

I agree, I think Tech, UT and KSU will be scratching for the top spot in the next few years. Although there is talent throughout the conference and you can always count on the Big12 coaches to pull out a few surprises.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by AirLonghorn:
And thanks for the intense effort from the entire team. Thanks to Jody for out-thinking Sherry Coles and having the team ready to roll.


So if OU hits one more free throw in regulation, suddenly its Coale who outthought Conradt? Sometimes it just comes down to the players execution.

[AirLonghorn]

Originally posted by schooner:

After the Baylor game, there were lots of "arm-chair quarterbacks" questioning Jody's sitting of Stephens with 17 minutes left in the first half. She had just collected her 2nd foul. In the Oklahoma game last night, Coles let Hill play with 2 quick fouls, and she immediately collected her 3rd. Then, in the second half,Hill got her 4th quickly. Down-"Hill" from there for her! That's coaching strategies. Jody plays the probabilities. Coles didn't.

In the first game with OU in Norman, Bowers was the "hot hand" for Texas in the first half. When she collected her 2nd foul, Jody pulled her. Coles thanked Jody for pulling Bowers and said that she would not have done the same. Once again, it's coaching strategies. I guess Jody thanked Coles (in her mind...not in the newspaper, as Coles did) for letting Hill keep playing and getting her 3rd and 4th fouls quickly.

All coaches have their own "philosophies," and that's what makes things so interesting. I'm just glad the Longhorns have Jody to "guide our ship."

Congratulations to The Horns on a great win and a fantastic game. Good luck to OU in their next game with Tech. (Sooner Power vs. Baby Powder)


So if OU hits one more free throw in regulation, suddenly its Coale who outthought Conradt? Sometimes it just comes down to the players execution.

[AirLonghorn]

That WAS Ester out there, too. Scary, isn't it? Ha!

Originally posted by RaiderPower1:
You're right about Poly being there, but Ester must have been sick or something cause there was only one woman ref. I guess they weren't at the game when UT lost to A&M. Getting into the NCAA's won't be a problem for Texas Tech. As for my comment about UT getting past the first round, it was just a "friendly jibe" because of what UT has done the past two years. I am 100% sure that they will win at least one game in the NCAA's if not then I just jinxed them. I was just testin' your temper is all. Don't know what grojc said though because the message was edited before I could get back. It was probably just a friendly comment anyways. Good luck to UT though in the NCAA. I think that they will be Tech's main competitor besides KSU in the next couple of years in the Big XII.

[Big12Bear]

Don't forget about bad losses either.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by AirLonghorn:
After the Baylor game, there were lots of "arm-chair quarterbacks" questioning Jody's sitting of Stephens with 17 minutes left in the first half. She had just collected her 2nd foul. In the Oklahoma game last night, Coles let Hill play with 2 quick fouls, and she immediately collected her 3rd. Then, in the second half,Hill got her 4th quickly. Down-"Hill" from there for her! That's coaching strategies. Jody plays the probabilities. Coles didn't.

The probabilities are that Hill doesn't get 5 fouls in the fastest time in NCAA history. Well, if not, probably close. Hill has had some early exits before, but that was ridiculous. And don't read into this that I'm blaming the refs. I'm not - I didn't see what happened. Just saying that Coale would bank on Hill not getting 5 fouls in 7 minutes played and be right 99.9% of the time.

In the first game with OU in Norman, Bowers was the "hot hand" for Texas in the first half. When she collected her 2nd foul, Jody pulled her. Coles thanked Jody for pulling Bowers and said that she would not have done the same. Once again, it's coaching strategies. I guess Jody thanked Coles (in her mind...not in the newspaper, as Coles did) for letting Hill keep playing and getting her 3rd and 4th fouls quickly.

All coaches have their own "philosophies," and that's what makes things so interesting. I'm just glad the Longhorns have Jody to "guide our ship."

And I don't find any fault at all with Coale playing Hill to the point of getting her third. And then after Hill getting her fourth. It did expose OU's weakness in that we don't really have anywhere to go to beyond Hill and Talbert underneath. Selmon simply has not produced this season and OU can't go to Wadsworth with her season-ending injury.

But my original point is if OU sinks just one more free throw, OU wins the game in regulation. So I guess you are saying if that had occurred, Jody out-thought Sherri, but would have still lost the game.

[BEAR SKIN]

Airhorn --

Congratulations on your two quality wins; especially the one on the road. There are some girls up I-35 with a couple of "quality" wins themselves who are really appreciative.

Seriously, does last night's game negatively impact the chances of a Big 12 team in the Final Four? i.e. does OU drop to a two seed?

[mred]

Originally posted by BEAR SKIN:

Congratulations on your two quality wins; especially the one on the road. There are some girls up I-35 with a couple of "quality" wins themselves who are really appreciative.


You confused me for a sec... http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif I thought you were talking about ISU, although we are especially appreciative of their "quality" road win as well. ISU is a bit farther up I-35...

Driving directions:
Austin to Waco: Take I-35 90 miles north.
Waco to Ames: Take I-35 roughly 850 miles north...

[This message has been edited by mred (edited 02-20-2002).]

[This message has been edited by mred (edited 02-20-2002).]

[AirLonghorn]

Originally posted by Big12Bear:

The problem with da'Bears is that they have a low RPI, compared with the other top 6 or 7 teams in the Big XII. They don't have a "bad loss," as of yet, but their schedule is so much weaker than the other top teams. That's why Purdue stays ahead of them in the polls. If they don't "win out" and take the Big XII tournament title, their seeding may not be quite as spectacular as one might hope for.
Don't forget about bad losses either.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by BEAR SKIN:
Airhorn --

Congratulations on your two quality wins; especially the one on the road. There are some girls up I-35 with a couple of "quality" wins themselves who are really appreciative.

Seriously, does last night's game negatively impact the chances of a Big 12 team in the Final Four? i.e. does OU drop to a two seed?

I don't think so. Coach Coale doesn't think so. One thing the selection committee will be thinking - they've said as much in years past - is OU will be the regular season champion from the strongest conference (or at least neck-n-neck with SEC). That's been enough to consider OU as the #1 seed.

I think OU needs to win it's final two regular season games and I think they need to get to the championship game of the Big 12 Tourney. Short of that, and it will be interesting to see if the selection committee takes Duke or La Tech or maybe even Purdue over OU as a #1 seed.

[JK]

I don't think OU has to worry about losing a #1 Seed. If they don't run the table from here on out -- maybe? I don't see that it would matter anyway. I think OU can take anybody. The only scary scenario is if they were to get a #2 seed in the same region as UCONN or maybe DUKE. If we can take Tennessee, then OU can take them too. La Tech, Purdue, Stanford, or Vandy could not handle OU.

[Jennifer]

I don't think it hurt them either, though I agree that they need to make the conference tourney final.
And if they did get bumped to a #2, they would be considered a strong 2, thus would be with a weaker #1 (Stanford, Duke, Purdue?). If they hold onto the #1, will they be considered the weakest #1, and still possibly be matched with one of the above mentioned teams as a #2?

[schooner2]

Originally posted by JK:
I don't think OU has to worry about losing a #1 Seed. If they don't run the table from here on out -- maybe? I don't see that it would matter anyway. I think OU can take anybody. The only scary scenario is if they were to get a #2 seed in the same region as UCONN or maybe DUKE. If we can take Tennessee, then OU can take them too. La Tech, Purdue, Stanford, or Vandy could not handle OU.

They could if we shot 51% from the free throw line with 29 free throw attempts. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif And if they were able to go at Caton Hill like UT did last night.

Last night's game should really get under the skin of the Sooners I think. Coach Coale mentioned burning the game film and just moving on. Sure, that sounds great - but hopefully lesson learned here. To be bounced from the NCAA Tourney because a team can't hit free throws and a key person commits 5 fouls in 7 minutes - bottom-line is that means that you weren't able to play to your potential and you didn't leave everything you had on the floor at the end of the game (to steal a sports phrase). Would make me ill cuz it leaves you with so many what-ifs. There are too many good teams out there that will defeat you if you don't play smart and with focus (even on the free-throw line) in all aspects of the game.

[JK]

Hey. Don't WE know that!!!!!? I think we - - with all the youth playing such key roles - - are learning how to finish a game. By the way, given the elements of the game, those free throws weren't as easy as they seemed. The refs had both teams so frustrated that I'm sure it was difficult to concentrate. We were on our home floor, and that made a big difference in the free-throw shooting IMO. Again, OU will gain from this and be even more ready for the NCAA's.

[AirLonghorn]

Originally posted by schooner:

My point, Schooner, is that Sherry Coales put "her team" in the position of having to sink a free throw to win the game. If she'd pulled Hill earlier, that may not have been the case. It's all probabilities! At any rate, I don't think this hurts OU's chances AT ALL of being a #1 seed.

B] And I don't find any fault at all with Coale playing Hill to the point of getting her third. And then after Hill getting her fourth. It did expose OU's weakness in that we don't really have anywhere to go to beyond Hill and Talbert underneath. Selmon simply has not produced this season and OU can't go to Wadsworth with her season-ending injury.

But my original point is if OU sinks just one more free throw, OU wins the game in regulation. So I guess you are saying if that had occurred, Jody out-thought Sherri, but would have still lost the game.[/B]

[Jennifer]

Airlonghorn, could you please not put your text into or with the text of the person you are replying to? It makes it very difficult to read, and sometimes even to distinguish what you are saying vs. what the person you are quoting is saying without having to scroll up and reread other things.
Thanks.

Originally posted by AirLonghorn:

[swok34]

I think the general "thinking" out in the world today in regards to NCAA #1 seeds is that Stanford could draw a #2 seed and get the weakest #1 seed in the West.

How can this affect OU's #1 seed?......you would have to take away Tennessee's also...they lost back to back games vs Vandy on the road and vs Texas at home.....fortunately at this juncture, OU sits solid with Iowa State game being back in mid-January.

There's some talk that Duke could grab a #1 seed, Purdue's chances may have left with that Minnesota loss. The RPI and SOS of the Big XII vs the SEC speaks for itself......and OU's didn't suffer at all last night, may even be up one SOS-wise.

the conference rpi's:

1) SEC .6042
2) Big XII .5964
3) Big 10 .5835
4) ACC .5728
5) Big East .5527
6) Mountain West.......who is this, Colorado State?
7) West Coast
8) Conf USA
9) Pac-10.....wow, I didn't realize they were this far down.

[Jennifer]

Seems like the only sure team for a #1 seed is Uconn.

After that you have Tennessee, OU, Stanford, Purdue, Duke, and Vandy, and I guess La Tech (by repuation). I think if OU makes the conf. champ game, they're a #1. If Tennessee falters any more, are they in jeopardy of being pushed to a #2? If Vandy were to win the SEC tourney, would they get a #1? Duke will probably win out. If Purdue wins the Big 10, could that wipe away their bad loss to MN? There's still so much that can happen, it's hard to predict much beyond Uconn. What happens to any of our teams in regards to seeding also depends on how things end up in the SEC, ACC, and Big 10.

[swok34]

In 1999, Texas received an at-large bid despite a 16-10 record

someone alert Marsha, there's hope.......actually Texas was in the conference tournament final game, losing to Iowa State to get into the tourney.

[mred]

Not only that, but Texas was not a top-4 seed, so they actually had to win 3 games (including Texas Tech and Oklahoma) to make it to the finals. That kind of performance gets the committee's attention.

[carolann]

Of course it is the utmost importance to get out of the first round of the NCAA tournament too.

Raiderpower's jibe, friendly or not, is all to true. It will not be a joke in Austin if the Horns go out and lose to another 'Saint Somebody' in the 1st round. Fortunately, I do think this year's Horns have what it takes to avoid one of those first round losses to a lower ranked team. The Horns just need to keep taking care of business to get a decent seed.

[dem]

Originally posted by Jennifer:
Seems like the only sure team for a #1 seed is Uconn.

After that you have Tennessee, OU, Stanford, Purdue, Duke, and Vandy, and I guess La Tech (by repuation).


NO WAY will La Tech get a #1 seed this year -- their RPI is way too low. They're at #22 right now, while the past two years they were at #9 and #6. On top of that, they have not a single quality win this year. Their best wins are over #37 Michigan and #40 Hawaii (twice). They lost to all three ranked teams they played (UCONN, Tennessee, and Duke). Any ordinary team -- absolutely any other team in the country -- would be looking at a #5-#6 seed at best with their record. But because La Tech always does well in the tournament -- even though they never face any real competition in their conference -- they are considered to have proven themselves so completely that they literally do not have to do anything but mop up all their weak conference opponents to get a very high seed.

And their conference is REALLY weak. Besides La Tech, there are only two other teams in the conference with RPI's under 100 (Hawaii, 40, and Rice, 52). I really believe that the Committee is going to look very hard at whether Tech merits a top-four seed this year. More than likely, if they get it, it will take one away from a Big 12 team ranked in the top-18, having an RPI under 20, with 2-5 wins against ranked teams. That should be worth some serious complaints, in my opinion. (Not least, I should candidly admit, because it could well be Iowa State that ends up getting shafted!)

I agree that only UConn is completely guaranteed a #1 seed right now. Any of the other contenders could potentially play themselves out of it even in the few remaining games. I would guess that if Stanford loses even a single game, they fall to a #2. Same goes for Purdue. Duke could maybe get away with one loss. Tennessee could probably have one more, but not two. Oklahoma, I think, is in good shape. They could probably lose the Texas Tech game and still not have to win the conference tournament to keep their #1 seed. Depends on what the other contenders do, and on how many games Oklahoma wins in Kansas City. Vanderbilt would probably have to win out to get a #1, as would South Carolina. And that really completes the list of contenders.

I would feel pretty confident about seeing any of the top-seven Big 12 teams go up against anybody besides UConn. I think any of the seven would be close to even money or better in any of those matchups on a neutral court.

And if Iowa State is fortunate enough to make it all the way to the Elite Eight, is there any team in the country that could feel very confident about beating them at Hilton? Not likely, although I'm sure UConn would love the opportunity to crush ISU on its home court. They have not forgotten about 1999.


[This message has been edited by dem (edited 02-21-2002).]

[Bball Girl]

We've all had quality wins this year...

TAMU beat UT and ISU
OKU beat TTU and ISU
ISU and UT beat OU
BU took both games against UT
NU and ISU beat KSU
...and one it goes

As long as it doesn't completely wear all our teams out, the NCAA's should be easy.

However, being an Arizona grad..it's pretty easy going into the NCAA being a #1 seed (and a #1 ranked team) and get beat by a #16 seed...cause they have nothing to lose and you have everything to lose. And losing in the first round forever haunts you!

I do think what OU does during the next two weeks can have an affect on their seeding...