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Post by roofed! on Dec 11, 2004 1:01:33 GMT -5
Without jinxing anything, what would really give them braggin rights would be to have 3 out of 4 teams in the Final Four. All fans of Pac-10 teams need to come together and support each other in the regional finals tomorrow. First, we will all focus our energy to Green Bay regional to support and shout for Stanford. Then, we will turn our attention to Louisville regional, and root for USC. After that is over, we can take a breather, collect our thoughts and get dinner while Minnesota and Ohio State do their thing. As for UCLA vs Washington, well, who should we root for?
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Post by Gorf on Dec 11, 2004 1:07:52 GMT -5
UCLA's win over Penn State swings the elite 8 from being 4-3 Big 10 to being 4-3 Pac 10.
The Pac 10 team's losing only 2 games out of their matches going 12-2 in games which is impressived.
The Big 10 teams that won were all stretched to 5 games, plus with Penn State losing to UCLA they were 10-9 in games.
Three of the four regional hosts survived into the elite eight.
Tomorrow's matches ought to be interesting.
Ohio State and Minnesota will fight to see who can maintain the most energy after long matches Friday night.
Will Wisconsin have enough left to give Stanford a fight, or perhaps even pull off another upset?
Will USC be able to continue their run to make it to a 3rd straight final four?
Will UCLA be able to pull off another upset to return to the final four for the first time in mucho years?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2004 1:09:10 GMT -5
So will the PAC-10, have at least 25% Pac 10 is guaranteed 1 of the final 4 and, depending on tomorrow, could have 3 of the final 4. Big 10 is guaranteed 1 of the final 4 and could have 2, at most, of the final 4. Big 12, at best, could have 1 of the final 4.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2004 1:21:01 GMT -5
Three of the four regional hosts survived into the elite eight. Tomorrow's matches ought to be interesting. Will Wisconsin have enough left to give Stanford a fight, or perhaps even pull off another upset? Even if you consider #14 seed Wisconsin a regional host for playing in the same state--tho they apparently have not played at Green Bay this year before Dec. 10-- and accord them a HCA, I seriously doubt they will "upset" #11 seed Stanford.
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Post by Gorf on Dec 11, 2004 1:23:29 GMT -5
The final four this year could potentially end up with 3 of the 4 teams from last year's LBSU regional as Stanford, Washington, and Minnesota are still alive with USC or Nebraska replacing Pepperdine.
I guess you'd have to give Stanford the definite edge over Wisconsing tomorrow night, however, the other 3 mathes would seem to be candidates to be more thrillers.
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Post by Gorf on Dec 11, 2004 1:26:04 GMT -5
Even if you consider #14 seed Wisconsin a regional host for playing in the same state--tho they apparently have not played at Green Bay this year before Dec. 10-- and accord them a HCA. Yeah, I was sort of "giving" them the hosting seed there since it is in their home state. OTOH: How many people said the same thing about their changes knocking off Hawaii? I don't expect Wisconsin to win the match, but I wouldn't be unhappy if they did win it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2004 1:43:26 GMT -5
OTOH: How many people said the same thing about their changes knocking off Hawaii? I don't expect Wisconsin to win the match, but I wouldn't be unhappy if they did win it. **sigh** Upsets go with the territory. No need to resurrect the discussions about Hawaii not facing a good team on the road because that certainly isn't the case with Stanford. Even with Wisconsin seeded only 3 places behind Stanford, and discounting the Badgers' possible HCA, if the Cardinal do not win, that would certainly be the upset of the NCAAs. Wisconsin has got to be stoked, but. . . .
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Post by Gorf on Dec 11, 2004 2:46:56 GMT -5
It don't expect Wisconsin to win the match.
That said, they ARE capable of winning it, however, they'll have to have another career type match from Odenthal, play some of their best defense (digging and blocking) of the season, and serve extremely well.
I think Stanford even down the stretch of the season has had some matches where their serve receive has been less than stellar so that gives the Badgers a bit of an opening if only the slightest opening at that.
Frankly though, I'm pretty sure I'm be a "bit distracted" watching the Ohio State vs. Minnesota match tomorrow night to be overly concerned / worried about how the Badgers do against Stanford.
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Post by hwy101 on Dec 11, 2004 2:52:11 GMT -5
I look at it this way: Even though the Pac-10 has a supposedly down year, their teams are still better than the other conferences!!
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Post by cbrown1709 on Dec 11, 2004 2:53:35 GMT -5
I look at it this way: Even though the Pac-10 has a supposedly down year, their teams are still better than the other conferences!! Boy you are just asking for it now....lol
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Post by SaltNPepper on Dec 11, 2004 6:26:05 GMT -5
I for one have posted several times this fall how the Pac-10 was having a little bit of an off year and that their recent run as the top conference was over with both the Big 10 and Big 12 having better non-conference records, etc.
Well, when it came time to put up or shut up, the Pac 10 put up. . . . and I'll shut up!
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Post by bigfan on Dec 11, 2004 10:35:34 GMT -5
I look at it this way: Even though the Pac-10 has a supposedly down year, their teams are still better than the other conferences!! That has been the general unstated feeling here for me for the last few weeks.
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Post by The Bofa on the Sofa on Dec 11, 2004 11:06:51 GMT -5
I for one have posted several times this fall how the Pac-10 was having a little bit of an off year and that their recent run as the top conference was over with both the Big 10 and Big 12 having better non-conference records, etc. Well, when it came time to put up or shut up, the Pac 10 put up. . . . and I'll shut up! As Gorf has noted, really the only real surprise out of the Pac 10 was UCLA over Penn St. Stanford's win over Florida was good, but they were seeded. No one didn't really expect USC or Washington to get to here. Had Penn St beaten UCLA, one would say that the Pac 10 has done as well as expected (and that is very well, BTW). UCLA's win over Penn St is the one place where the Pac Ten really stepped up to perform above expectations, and showed its strength. The Big Ten meanwhile had the big upset from Purdue, a nice win by Michigan, and Wisconsin's win over Hawaii, which, while not much of an upset according to Pablo (especially if you consider Wisconsin at home), must be considered an upset by seeding standards. Therefore, even with Penn St's apparent premature loss, the Big Ten has also really flashed its muscle in this tournament. Two very strong and deep conferences, both of them. And Nebraska is a good team to throw in as the 8th member of the final group.
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Post by silversurfer on Dec 11, 2004 12:16:19 GMT -5
I look at it this way: Besides an highly unexpected win by UCLA, the Pac 10 had another good year, same as the Big 10. One win by the Bruins does not suddenly create an "A-ha" as to who is the superior conference.
And who said this was a down year for the Pac-10? Stanford and UCLA were not top 5, so is that the definition of a down year?
I don't think you can definitively say the Pac-10 was better than the Big 10.
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Dec 11, 2004 12:26:45 GMT -5
I look at it this way: Besides an highly unexpected win by UCLA, the Pac 10 had another good year, same as the Big 10. One win by the Bruins does not suddenly create an "A-ha" as to who is the superior conference. And who said this was a down year for the Pac-10? Stanford and UCLA were not top 5, so is that the definition of a down year? I don't think you can definitively say the Pac-10 was better than the Big 10. If you want to say the Big 10 is better than the Pac-10, fine with me. Everyone can talk about how great the Big 10's preseason record is, but Pac-10 fans will talk about our 4 teams in the Elite Eight and possibly three teams in the Final Four.
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