Quote from: Roundball999 on March 04, 2013, 10:18:44 PMQuote from: pointlem on March 04, 2013, 10:01:08 PMQuote from: sunkiss on March 04, 2013, 03:33:38 PMSunkiss, the Hope women's teams I regarded as most likely to win a national championship--the Carrie Snikkers-era teams--didn't make it, thanks, in her senior year, to exceptionally cold shooting and a 52 point game against a team they would normally beat.
Still cant believe Calvin is out of tourney. what do you guys think, not enough good competition ? bad luck? got outplayed? bad decisions? took team for granted ?![]()
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On the other hand, the 1990 and 2006 women's teams that won national championships played their best, which is what it took to eek out upset victories against higher rated teams (e.g., 92 to 89 against Wash U in 2006). Anything can happen . . . as Michigan basketball realized after losing recently to Penn State, which was winless in the Big Ten. And that uncertainty, I guess, is what makes sport exciting. The best team--which I do believe was Calvin against St. Thomas, and should be Hope against St. Thomas on Friday--doesn't always win.
Well said pointlem, I agree completely. These one-and-done tournaments can be heartbreaking to the favorites that lose and exhilarating to the underdog that wins. What fun would it be if the favorite always won?
The one and done is awesome but especially in DIII basketball where one team has a home court advantage it seems so often that the best team does not always make it out of a weekend.
The 2008 Hope women are an example of this. I think after watching Hope for years this was probably the best team I have seen there. Anyone that watched them play down the stretch in the regular season and during that first weekend of the tournament at Baldwin Wallace would probably agree. They were absolutely rolling over everybody and were loaded with talent (Snikkers, Greene, Cowen, Boles, Lange, Henderson, Warsen, and probably more that I am missing. Their 2nd string would have won the MIAA that season.
Unfortunately they had a rough draw and didn't host either of the first two weekends. Anyone that was unfortunate enough to make the trip to Howard Payne that year witnessed the mysterious magic of home court advantage mixed in with some highly questionable officiating.
This being said having to travel is not always easy. Best of luck to hope this weekend. I think if they can come back home with two wins this weekend they would definitely be the team to beat at home.