ESPN WBB Bracketology

[RhodyMadness072]

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... rojections

Too early to follow bracketology? URI in as the A10 automatic qualifier. #12 seed in Ames vs Michigan

UMass next 4 out. A10 could position themselves as 2 bid league again

[RhowdyRam02]

At this point we're listed as the automatic qualifier on the strength of our best in conference out of conference winning percentage, but I don't think that makes us an at large contender. Looking at the NET rankings this is probably a one bid conference. One exception is if UMass dominates in league play and someone else wins the conference tournament. That said, it's more fun to follow than the men's side right now

[SmartyBarrett]

Rhody is the AQ once again (it has fluctuated between UMass, URI, and St. Joe's) in today's bracketology.

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... rojections

Agree that the A-10 is likely a one-bid league this year. Here are the NET rankings of the 16 teams on the bubble (plus Rhody) as of today:

35 - Mississippi State
37 - USC
39 - Virginia
41 - Nebraska
42 - Washington St.
43 - Marquette
44 - Miami
47 - Seton Hall
48 - Purdue
52 - Missouri
53 - Georgia
55 - Princeton
57 - St. John's
61 - Syracuse
65 - West Virginia
68 - Kansas State
72 - Rhode Island

[SGreenwell]

I wonder if the women have an even worse time scheduling than a men's mid-major team would, or if they simply didn't schedule aggressively this year because of the roster turnover. They're sitting at a NET of 72. One of their losses is to Princeton, who's currently on the bubble and 55 in NET. Their other losses are Wake Forest (71) and Harvard (90). The women's NET breakdown doesn't list Q1, Q2, etc. But their best wins would be UMass (74) Providence (115), and... I don't even know who else. I didn't look up their entire schedule, but from spot checking, they had 5+ games against teams 250+ in NET. If they went undefeated in conference play but lose in the tournament, maybe they get in, but short of that I think they need the AQ.

[Jersey77]

I wonder if the women have an even worse time scheduling than a men's mid-major team would, or if they simply didn't schedule aggressively this year because of the roster turnover. They're sitting at a NET of 72. One of their losses is to Princeton, who's currently on the bubble and 55 in NET. Their other losses are Wake Forest (71) and Harvard (90). The women's NET breakdown doesn't list Q1, Q2, etc. But their best wins would be UMass (74) Providence (115), and... I don't even know who else. I didn't look up their entire schedule, but from spot checking, they had 5+ games against teams 250+ in NET. If they went undefeated in conference play but lose in the tournament, maybe they get in, but short of that I think they need the AQ.

It would have been huge if we got the win at Princeton.
That was a tough loss, had a great opportunity but it slipped away.

[SGreenwell]

I wonder if the women have an even worse time scheduling than a men's mid-major team would, or if they simply didn't schedule aggressively this year because of the roster turnover. They're sitting at a NET of 72. One of their losses is to Princeton, who's currently on the bubble and 55 in NET. Their other losses are Wake Forest (71) and Harvard (90). The women's NET breakdown doesn't list Q1, Q2, etc. But their best wins would be UMass (74) Providence (115), and... I don't even know who else. I didn't look up their entire schedule, but from spot checking, they had 5+ games against teams 250+ in NET. If they went undefeated in conference play but lose in the tournament, maybe they get in, but short of that I think they need the AQ.

It would have been huge if we got the win at Princeton.
That was a tough loss, had a great opportunity but it slipped away.

It definitely would have helped, but we probably would have been in the 60s, maybe 50s at best for NET. I crapped on the Fordham men's team for their schedule, but the URI women's schedule is almost as Charmin at this point. They haven't had a game against a Top 50 opponent, as far as I can tell, and they're roughly 2-2 against teams in that 50 to 100, 125 range. (Again, I'm not sure if that's because they couldn't schedule tougher opponents, or if they didn't schedule tougher opponents.)

If they win out or come close to it, it suggests they might be a Top 50 team anyway - it's hard for even a paper tiger to rack up victories every night like that. But kind of like the men's Dayton team, their margin of error here is really, really small for at-large consideration.

[jcru]

Rhody Women with the #13 seed in a projected bracket. Exciting stuff.

[SmartyBarrett]

Rhody is the AQ once again (it has fluctuated between UMass, URI, and St. Joe's) in today's bracketology.

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story ... rojections

Agree that the A-10 is likely a one-bid league this year. Here are the NET rankings of the 16 teams on the bubble (plus Rhody) as of today:

35 - Mississippi State
37 - USC
39 - Virginia
41 - Nebraska
42 - Washington St.
43 - Marquette
44 - Miami
47 - Seton Hall
48 - Purdue
52 - Missouri
53 - Georgia
55 - Princeton
57 - St. John's
61 - Syracuse
65 - West Virginia
68 - Kansas State
72 - Rhode Island

Rams up to 64 after last night's blowout. Approaching bubble territory... just keep winning!

[Cameron_Dollar]

Big "IF", but if we run the table and lose in the finals of the A10 Tournament, we will get in. That will mean that we beat St. Joe's and UMASS twice and Fordham. NET is important but not etched in stone. That will be a decent body of work and I believe enough to get us an at large. It was the same scenario last year for Dayton.

[ramster]

Big "IF", but if we run the table and lose in the finals of the A10 Tournament, we will get in. That will mean that we beat St. Joe's and UMASS twice and Fordham. NET is important but not etched in stone. That will be a decent body of work and I believe enough to get us an at large. It was the same scenario last year for Dayton.

It is a big if, but possible as this team continuously improves. We could run the table. 9 Remaining games with current NET:

193-George Mason Away Jan 25 Wed 7pm
99-St Joseph's Home Feb 1 Wed 6pm
129-Davidson Away Feb 4 Sat 7pm
160-George Washington Home Feb 8 Wed 6pm
204-VCU Away Feb 12 Sun 12pm
72-UMASS Home Feb 16 Thurs 6pm
99-St Joseph's Away Feb 19 Sun 2pm
90-Fordham Away Feb 22 Wed 7pm
218-Dayton Home Feb 25 Sat 1pm

[ramster]

I wonder if the women have an even worse time scheduling than a men's mid-major team would, or if they simply didn't schedule aggressively this year because of the roster turnover. They're sitting at a NET of 72. One of their losses is to Princeton, who's currently on the bubble and 55 in NET. Their other losses are Wake Forest (71) and Harvard (90). The women's NET breakdown doesn't list Q1, Q2, etc. But their best wins would be UMass (74) Providence (115), and... I don't even know who else. I didn't look up their entire schedule, but from spot checking, they had 5+ games against teams 250+ in NET. If they went undefeated in conference play but lose in the tournament, maybe they get in, but short of that I think they need the AQ.

It would have been huge if we got the win at Princeton.
That was a tough loss, had a great opportunity but it slipped away.

It definitely would have helped, but we probably would have been in the 60s, maybe 50s at best for NET. I crapped on the Fordham men's team for their schedule, but the URI women's schedule is almost as Charmin at this point. They haven't had a game against a Top 50 opponent, as far as I can tell, and they're roughly 2-2 against teams in that 50 to 100, 125 range. (Again, I'm not sure if that's because they couldn't schedule tougher opponents, or if they didn't schedule tougher opponents.)

If they win out or come close to it, it suggests they might be a Top 50 team anyway - it's hard for even a paper tiger to rack up victories every night like that. But kind of like the men's Dayton team, their margin of error here is really, really small for at-large consideration.

At the beginning of the season Tammi said she found it difficult to schedule good teams. She said she called people she knows who would normally be receptive to games but they were not too receptive this year. She wanted to play a tougher schedule.
Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Buffalo games this season were all completion of home-home agreements. We played all 4 last year.
It’s tough to schedule P6 Teams in WBB and MBB - unfortunately for Mid Majors - and getting tougher.

[Jdrums#3]

Make it difficult to schedule tough games but hold them to the metrics of the NET. That makes sense.

Just another big FU courtesy of the P6 and the NCAA. I smell collusion. Have for years and the stench just gets more noticeable over time.

[Rhody72]

One bad loss such as losing to a GM team and our NCAAT at-large chances are gone.

Our scheduling problems will end if we become a perennially winning program.

While our defense is stiffening, our offense is too dependent on three point shooting. Opponents will learn to defend us as GM did tonight. I keep hoping that Magassa will provide an inside scoring option that will force defenses to sag off our shooters to help out inside. Magassa showed a lot of rust tonight in limited minutes. Other than Dolly, there is too much dribbling in the half-court, and a lack of player movement leading to TOs. H-C and Lassister need to pass in transition rather than looking to score.

Our stiffening defense got us a win tonight in spite of a poor offensive effort.

[Ramulous]

Have you seen Maye score in the paint. Very smooth!

[ramster]

UCONN loses to Marquette last night, following their loss to #1 Ranked South Carolina.

UCONN had not lost back to back games since 1993 - 30 years ago.

[Jersey77]

Have you seen Maye score in the paint. Very smooth!

Yes, she is special.
She should be a lock for A10 Most Improved and receive high ALL-A10 Conference honors.

[PeterRamTime]

UCONN loses to Marquette last night, following their loss to #1 Ranked South Carolina.

UCONN had not lost back to back games since 1993 - 30 years ago.

That's a crazy stat!

But if they played in the SEC or ACC it would not have been the case.