NCAA Tournament 2022-23


Seven B1G teams are in:


The interesting news to me:

Iowa and Caitlin Clark are a #2 instead of a #1. The talk was between Stanford with the better season achievement or Iowa hot lately. Stanford lost lost 2 of last 3 games to Utah and UCLA -- and the Pac-12 championship tournament. Iowa struggled a bit early while Stanford was on fire but now Clark made that last minute winning shot and blew away Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament. Those teams are in the same region and can settle it if they converge.

Iowa and Clark will generate ratings.

Maryland is stuck in the same bracket as South Carolina, though opposite sides. That will be the end of the line for Brenda Frese but put her in the glory spotlight to the end if she were to win (which she will not).

Indiana and Michigan are in the same region but opposite sides so they can't knock off the other until the end of that region.

Illinois has to play a First Four against Mississippi State. We'll learn early if Illinois is a paper tiger.

I will guess that Indiana goes far and Ohio State does not.


Happy to see UConn coming in as a #2 and not a #1. UConn will play like a #1 but the other teams earned that seed -- the final #1 being Stanford.

South Dakota State plays USC with Sissoko that had an outperform season.

Indiana has a pretty good shot.
 


From a No. 16 seed to a No. 1, and everywhere in-between, Minnesota is well-represented in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The total: There are 27 women from Minnesota on the rosters of the 68 teams that made the field, including UConn's Paige Bueckers and UNLV's Nneka Obiazor, who had season-ending knee injuries. In some cases there are multiple players; South Dakota State has five, Creighton has four, Illinois, Indiana, Utah and Drake two. Here's a look:
 


Didn't realize Creighton had so many Minnesotan's on the roster. Their head coach must have a good relationship with the AAU coaches and area HS coaches.
My daughter played AAU with Brake and Jensen. Jensen started out at Iowa then transferred. She also had offers from many others including Minnesota. She was the number 2 player in Minnesota her senior year behind Bueckers. Rooting for Creighton!
 


My daughter played AAU with Brake and Jensen. Jensen started out at Iowa then transferred. She also had offers from many others including Minnesota. She was the number 2 player in Minnesota her senior year behind Bueckers. Rooting for Creighton!
Didn't Creighton take out Iowa and Iowa State last year in the tourney?
 

Illinois opens the tournament versus Mississipi State tonight at 6:00 PM on ESPNU. It's the first appearence in 20 years for Illinois; but 4 Illini (Cook, Bostic, Bryant and Shoup-Hill) have been there before.

 
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My daughter played AAU with Brake and Jensen. Jensen started out at Iowa then transferred. She also had offers from many others including Minnesota. She was the number 2 player in Minnesota her senior year behind Bueckers. Rooting for Creighton!
Yes, I will be rooting for Creighton too, that and all the Big 10 teams.
 








Lasha Petree taketh and giveth
Yep costly enough to knock Purdue out. I didn't think that was intentional foul, but could have been yes or no on the call. Really thought Purdue would win this game after they rallied in second half. Thought the Boilers played well enough to win. They gave a better accounting of themselves than Illinois.
 

Some games I find interesting today:

Marquette 3 point underdogs against South Florida.

USC 6.5 point underdogs to South Dakota State. USC is a big turnaround story. Sissoko who transferred from Minnesota to USC is doing great, finally living up to her high prospect rating at #10 per ESPN. South Dakota State advanced last year by winning an upset game and often underrated.

Michigan 3 point favorites over UNLV.

Creighton against Mississippi State. Last year Creighton upset Iowa.


 

Some games I find interesting today:

Marquette 3 point underdogs against South Florida.

USC 6.5 point underdogs to South Dakota State. USC is a big turnaround story. Sissoko who transferred from Minnesota to USC is doing great, finally living up to her high prospect rating at #10 per ESPN. South Dakota State advanced last year by winning an upset game and often underrated.

Michigan 3 point favorites over UNLV.

Creighton against Mississippi State. Last year Creighton upset Iowa.


I think UNLV is going to beat Michigan. Just think they will play run and gun and outscore. I have watched highlights of South Florida, they are good but think Marquette can take them. Best game of the day is likely Creighton and Mississippi State. I will cheer for Creighton due to Minnesota connections. I swear I saw a Creighton Scout, taking notes at MN State tournament yesterday.
 




Creighton missed way to many shots. Mississippi State is talented. They will give Notre Dame fits if they play Sunday night like they did tonight.
 





Didn't realize Creighton had so many Minnesotan's on the roster. Their head coach must have a good relationship with the AAU coaches and area HS coaches.


The discussion about South Dakota State University Johnston was informative. How does that team perform so well with unranked regional high school recruits? Mostly coaching.

It also shows the upper Midwest can provide the talent to win if you know what to look for and can coach.

And then this article in the Star Tribune showed all these local names.

Yes, having a Caitlin Clark or Aliyah Boston is nice and will make a coach look good. But the South Dakota coaches -- and now Minnesota coach -- showed you can win with regional talent we maybe don't know.

Thus, the new coach hire must be more than x's and o's. The gegional recruiting angle must be a little bit if it.

Most important was to get someone who can coach really well. Done.

And then a bonus is a record of recruiting and coaching overlooked regional recruits that the South Dakota teams proved you can win with.

Big name recruits often do not want to come to freezing Minnesota. This is not the Maryland players pipeline from that area.

Just for discussion. I do not know.

Go Gophers!

Let's go Gophers!

Way to go Gophers!
 







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