Do any of you wonder why Minnesota is still in the poll, after a 4 game losing streak over the last 2 weeks? They beat out Notre Dame for the most overranked team at any point this season.
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Do any of you wonder why Minnesota is still in the poll, after a 4 game losing streak over the last 2 weeks? They beat out Notre Dame for the most overranked team at any point this season.
I don't know. I'll have to defer to MEMDAWG on that subject.Originally Posted by champion110
SOS in the Hundreds, per CSTV.com. Gotta get out of the WAC !!!!!!!!
The LADY TECHSTERS are gettin some love from the coaches too! #20 in the ESPN COACHES POLL released today!!
Movin on UP!!!!
WOotWooT!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/rankings
Duke and UNC are #1 and #2 in women's basketball, and they faceoff this Saturday in Chappel Hill.
YESSSSSSSSSSS
I have just moved back to Arkansas and have dish, it appears to me that every mens and womens basketball game in CUSA is on dish. As many as three or four a night. It would be heaven if we were in CUSA at least for AR.:bigcry:
The WAC has a HORRIBLE TV package. I have seen a SOUTHLAND wbb game on TV for God's sake. Amazing!
It would help us tremendously to be seen more on TV. That helps with poll votes and recruiting.
I looked at the records of the top 25 women's teams last week, and we had a better record than twelve of the teams listed above us. Being in the WAC just kills us on strength of schedule.
Realistically, though, I don't see a viable option for other conferences that will reap great benefits for women's basketball. Certainly, I would love for us to get into CUSA too, as the travel would be so much easier, and that conference would be good for many of our other sports. Nonetheless, I can't imagine that any conference we might reasonably hope to get into at some future date is going to help much with women's basketball's strength of schedule and/or RPI.
The Lady Techsters, though, will do what they've traditionally done: Work hard, and win ball games. If they take care of business, they'll be just fine.
Those between #10-20 are dropping like flies. They are getting to the "meat" of their schedules. If the Techsters can hold their course, we will be in the top 15, before tourney time and possibly flirting with the top 10.
Top 15 and I would consider us having returned!
The future is looking bright, Thanks Coach long!
Kurt Budke
Actually, I think that the WAC has improved a lot in WBB since Tech arrived. I have to credit that to us raising the bar. IF/WHEN the move to CUSA comes about, I predict the same thing will happen there as well. If you look at their standings, the top 3 all played in the WAC last year... :icon_wink
Yes, I understand your point completely. I think you're right.
I guess what I was trying to say is that it would be nice if the women could go into a strong conference; instead, it's likely to be as you wrote--that we'll raise the bar in CUSA (or in most other reasonable options).
It's good to be at the top, but I sometimes think that playing weaker opponents contributes to lethargy and/or brain cramps ("lapses" as someone else called them) when our kids have to play in a tight or tough game.
i think this is what has hurt us historically in the tournament. we play all our tough games early in the season, then forget how to play a competitive game. this puts us at a severe disadvantage in the tourny. but that's what we're stuck with until God's hand moves the big 12 or sec to invite us to join.:bigcry:
Well, one small correction. Historically, we are one of the best tournament teams in the country. It is only the past few years that we have not been as dominant.
We need the WAC to step it up. They did step it up and then the best teams (behind us) left. Now, it is the turn of the current WAC teams to do the same.
if you want to go very far back in history, there were only a very few dominant teams, so everyone's conference schedule did little to prepare them for the post-season. now teams in the sec and big 12 and big east play against good teams every week of the season, keeping them much sharper. since the 90's, Tech has struggled against lesser teams early in the tournament (even in games we won, we did not do so as decisively as we should have). some of this can be attributed to the poor seadings we've been stuck with, but i think it is largely because of our weak conference schedule.
Until 2004, the Tech usually hosted the first and second round games. In 2004 the NCAA changed the rules to make the women play at predetermined "neutral" sites. I believe that some of the Lady Techsters "struggles" can be attributed to the new game sites. Last season as an 11 seed, the Lady Techsters were assigned to play in Connecticut against a Temple team out of Philly, a game that Buttke threw. In 2004, the Lady Techsters were assigned to play in Missoula, Montana against the underrated Montana Lady Griz who had the longest current home winning streak in the nation at the time. With a remarkable performance by Erica Smith-Taylor, the Lady Techsters prevailed in a nailbiter. They went on to defeat Texas Tech as well to advance to the sweet 16 to play #1 Duke in Virginia. In 2003, the last year the Lady Techsters got to play the opening rounds in Ruston, the Techsters soundly beat their two opponents to advance to play LSU in Palo Alto, CA, another game in which we were in control and then Buttke blew. In 2002 in the first round in Austin, the Lady Techsters lost a heartbreaker by 1 point to a very underrated UCSB team. It was a sad way to see Leon Barmore walk away in contrast to all of his remarkable runs in the NCAA tournament. In both 2000 and 2001, the Lady Techsters advanced to the Elite 8 after opening up the tournament at the TAC, and in 1999, the Lady Techsters advaced to the Final Four beginning their run with 2 games in the TAC. Last year we were underdogs, and the game was lost because of Buttke. I guess we haven't been dominant losing in the first round 2 of the past 4 years, but we haven't been bad either advancing to 2 sweet 16s. Those 2 years we didn't advance past the first round, the Lady Techsters were playing at road locations as opposed to the friendly confines of the assembly center as well as the hard fought victory against Montana on their intimidating home court. This year I believe we will be back in the Sweet 16 where we belong. Historically, we have been dominant: all 24 NCAA tourneys, 20 sweet 16s, 13 final fours, 8 title games, and 3 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!! I believe that we are not too far removed from dominance thanks to the short 3 year stint of Buttke, and I believe that Chris Long is well on his way in bringing the Lady Techsters back to national prominance. GO TECHSTERS!! WE BACK!!
Last edited by Dawg06; 02-24-2006 at 04:22 AM.
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