2017 WNCAA Viewing Guide: Round 1
Yeah, so among other things, while I was under the weather, the women's team went from "bubble lolwut" to "Of course they aren't on the bubble, don't be foolish." About four weeks ago, I was sitting in Mackey, watching the Hawkeyes make Purdue look like the mediocre team they seemed destined to finish as. Yes, halftime adjustments (I know, right?!) turned that game into a 20-point rout, and the Boilers went on to knock off Minnesota and Northwestern, but I still thought they had too much ground to make up.
Instead, they'll be playing just up the road in Shamrocksville, with a potential second-round matchup against the host Irish. It'll be nice to see Ashley Morrissette get one or two more chances to put up some solid numbers ... and who knows? Not every #1 seed is UConn.
Here's the rest of the scoop from the UConn Invitational, First Round - all lines per Massey.
5:00 PM Friday: 9 Purdue (-1) vs 8 Green Bay, ESPN2
The Horizon League is a pretty weak conference these days; the Phoenix did what they could, sweeping their home games and dropping just three road games, but they didn't help their cause any by losing to a woeful Wisconsin team in December. They did, however, play on this very floor in November, putting up an outstanding effort in a 71-67 loss to the Irish, and they also notched wins against #27 Drake and #29 Marquette.
Like Purdue, they're strong on defense and not great on offense; if anything, it'll keep both teams from running away with this one. Unfortunately, these games tend to be rather difficult for the average fan to follow, so I won't blame you if you keep the score up in a tab and keep your TV on the men's games, or whatever it is non-basketball people watch on St. Patrick's Day.
Noon Friday: 3 Maryland (-23) vs 14 Bucknell, ESPN2
That's not a misprint. Maryland has just two losses - a six-point loss to UConn and an 11-point loss at Ohio State - and yet they're a 3 seed. Fortunately, the Big Tenteen tournament champs get to host first- and second-round games anyway, although this is definitely the kind of situation where you could end up playing at the 6, losing in the second round, and wondering why it is that selection committees are so bad at the one job they're given each year.
The Bison will be playing the role of "team just happy to be here", surviving an OT thriller against Navy to nab the Patriot League bid. Bucknell's one reasonable opponent this season was Elon, a 64-58 winner in November. Since then, they've slogged through weak DI competition. They shouldn't be much of a threat to Maryland.
2:30 PM Friday: 5 Ohio State (-8) vs 12 Western Kentucky, ESPN2
Surprisingly, Massey doesn't see the Buckeyes as underseeded; there isn't much difference between the last 4 seed and the first 5 seed. The Hilltoppers might look like a little more of a threat than they should be, with a November win over Indiana and competitive losses to DePaul and Louisville. Still, the regular-season co-champs had their wakeup call in the conference tournament, courtesy of the Good Gals, and if Ohio State is going to stumble in the NCAAs, it won't be at home to a 12 seed.
7:30 PM Friday: 9 Michigan State vs 8 Arizona State (-6), ESPN2
MSU, like Ohio State, is right about where they should be ... but Arizona State is not. The Sun Devils should probably be a 6 seed, but instead they're making the trip to Columbia to face a Spartans squad that wasn't particularly impressive in conference play, with a few surprising losses alongside their sweep at the hands of Purdue.
ASU's 19-12 record looks kind of rough until you see where their losses came from: 9 of the 12 were against top-25 opponents, with 8 of those in conference play (the exception was a neutral-court thumping that Maryland administered in November, 83-42). The Pac-12 seemed to be everything the Big Tenteen was not this year, and this game is likely to reflect that; it'd be a surprise to see South Carolina facing the Spartans on Sunday.
That's it. Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, and Indiana (but not Northwestern) made the WNIT, so if you're not a Maryland fan, you will have a few other games to watch over the next week or so, just not where you were maybe expecting to see them. (The omission of Michigan is bizarre, especially given that Michigan State wasn't a bubble team. Indiana was maybe a bubble team; the other two were definitely WNIT bound.)
