TENNESSEEE LADY VOLS

ESPN.CONN PR arm of UConn & the BEast ?

2011-03-26T15:27:00.002-04:00

In Women's College Basketball there is one media outlet that exclusively broadcasts the tournament while maintaining the most widely read website for the sport. This is the result of several weeks of research sparked by a widespread general opinion of ESPN's coverage of Women's College Basketball expressed on The SUmmiTT and a few other forums used by Lady Vol fans.

It is 17 miles from Bristol to the XL Center and 44 miles from Bristol to Storrs - the homes of the UConn Huskies. Doris Burke - Providence grad, Rebecca Lobo - UConn grad, Trey Wingo - Greenwich native, Graham Hays - Stonington resident, Beth Mowins - Syracuse grad, Charlie Creme - St Bonaventure upstate NY, and Michelle Jackson - Bristol resident . comprise the most visible of ESPN WCBB experts along with Michelle Voepel - Big 12, Kara Lawson - former Lady Vol but present Connecticut SUN and ESPN employee, and Carolyn Peck - NC winner at Purdue with ties to Florida and Tennessee. Does this proximity along with the affiliations of these major WCBB personalities contribute to a bias toward the BEast and UConn?

It may be difficult to view and read content from ESPN broadcasts and websites with enough detachment to correctly assess bias, but it appears to this Lady Vol fan that the bias toward the Big East in general and UConn in particular is overwhelming. The perception is so strong it has resulted in numerous threads on The SUmmiTT that decry the constant mention of UConn and Maya Moore by the ESPN coverage team no matter which teams happen to be playing the game in progress. The ESPN Drinking Game Thread is a recent example of this phenomenon

Playing the ESPN Drinking Game involves tossing back a measure of one's favorite beverage every time an ESPN talking head launches into gushing praise of UConn or a UConn player during the course of a game involving teams other than UConn or anytime some UConn video clip is played during these games and anytime the studio commentators do the same. Those who like to stay sober will not enjoy this game since there is an amazing amount of opportunity to imbibe - particularly if Doris Burke is anywhere in the vicinity of a microphone.

The ANATOMY OF AN NCAA WCBB BRACKETOLOGY PREJUDICE post back on March 5th was my initial effort to articulate some observations that were just coming in to focus. The emphasis on that limited (Bracketology) prejudice did not quite cover a situation that is far more pervasive. From the results thus far in the tournament it seems clear that the Big East did indeed deserve to have 9 teams included - if not the 10 or 11 that Charlie Creme and Burke, Peck and Jackson often claimed should have been. The Bracketology and the actual NCAA invitations are the effect - not the cause - of this ESPN.CONN bias

This A QUESTION OF BALANCE - the unbalanced Charlie Creme edition thread analyzes the ESPN website coverage following the announcement of the brackets and shows the astounding amount of attention paid to UConn and the Big East entries to the detriment of all other conferences and teams. There are links to 7 articles promoting UConn and Notre Dame vs zero mention of some other teams the first day after the brackets were released while 2 of 4 experts picked UConn to win it all and three chose Tennessee as the first one seed to be eliminated while Creme picked ND to replace UT in the Final Four. Taken alone any of those prognostications is reasonable but given the total imbalance in coverage it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to disrespect everyone but the BEast. Creme's DAYTON REGIONAL PRIMER highlighted the great guards in the region but failed to even mention Meighan Simmons - the AP "Newcomer of the Year" for the SEC and leading scorer for the ONE SEED.

It's interesting to read remarks like OSU coach Jim Foster's in the "FOSTER WON'T BE WEARING ORANGE" article where he says " Like everyone else, he sees top-ranked and two-time defending champion UConn as the clear front-runner overall in the tournament." It seems that Foster must get his opinion from ESPN since he seems to believe "everyone else" shares his opinion. Of course 'everyone else' thinks no such thing but you might get that idea if you read and watch ESPN.

The premise I wish to expound and discuss is this: Proposed: The proximity of ESPN to UConn and the Big East along with the affiliation and loyalties of the commentators employed by the network, website, and publications, has created a damaging bias and prejudice in the most influential media monopoly involved with Women's College Basketball to the detriment of every other conference and university in the USA.

I don't think anyone can argue that ESPN is the most influential media involved with WCBB and as far as the post season goes that media has an effective monopoly since ESPN and it's affiliated networks covers the NCAA tournament exclusively. Aside from a limited presence here on SB Nation and a few obscure Women's Basketball publications and websites there is very little internet presence that isn't specifically individual school oriented like Scout or Rivals or the websites of the athletic departments of the involved schools. This makes ESPN by far the most read and watched purveyor of WCBB in the world.

It is my hope that interested Tennessee fans at Rocky Top Talk and perhaps fans of other programs who follow SB Nation's Swish Appeal will join me in trying to assess the bias of ESPN (if you agree with me that such bias exists) in order to provide the other conferences and coaches compelling evidence that might encourage them to address this imbalance and compel ESPN to provide a fair and balanced coverage of the sport we enjoy. Now that you've become aware that someone thinks this might be a problem will you pay a little more attention to what you see and hear in order to confirm or refute my suspicions?

Here is why this is important : You're a 14 -18 year old HS player who wants to play WCBB

What do you watch and read in order to satisfy your interest in the sport you love?
What effect does that have on which conference and team you would like to consider?
Does ESPN coverage of the BEast or UConn give them an unfair advantage in your recruitment?
If it does what effect does that influence have long term on the sport of WCBB?
If what I presume here is true wouldn't you want your conference and your coach and her staff to be aware of the problem so they might be open to a solution?
is ESPN to the BEast as FOX is to the TEA PARTY?

Has ESPN become the equivalent of FOX News as promoter of Tea Party Rallies as a Public Relations arm of the Big East and UConn? FOX News has serious equivalent competition in the news business but there is no alternative for WCBB. CBSSports and ABC, NBC and FOXSPORTS cover Men's basketball and football but they do not offer any equivalent coverage of the women's sport. WCBB broadcasting is owned by ESPN.

Is there anything that can or should be done to try to mitigate this problem? Is the strength of the Big East this year just a cyclic phenomenon or are we seeing a shift in the balance of power from the SEC, ACC and Big 12 to the monster conference who's markets encompass a full third of the US population soon to be increased by the addition of TCU in the DALLAS FORT WORTH Market?

in addition: 18 of the 40 AP Poll voters live and work in Big East Markets while only 5 are located in SEC markets. When the ESPN and AP polls are voted on by more Big East affiliated voters does that create an unfair result?

I can admit to a serious Lady Vol bias so I ask you to visit the ESPN WCBB WEBSITE and read the links to the right of the main article to make your own evaluation of the situation and to view the games in the Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four with an ear to the commentators and the balance of their commentary to see if you perceive the same things I've been hearing and reading. I actually did a word count analysis of Michelle Voepel's TAYLOR MADE LOOK AT THE SWEET 16 to determine 220 words devoted to Tennessee vs 670 devoted to UConn. That's obviously borderline obsessive but it mirrors the method used by Media Matters and other media watchdog sites to measure fairness.

Isn't a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD the result we all wish to preserve in every college sport? Does having a billion dollar network as an effective public relations firm predominantly devoted to one conference and team constitute a threat to that illusion of fairness? What is more problematic - inviting a couple of Juniors to a barbeque or hearing your rival praised 24/7 on the nation's leading WCBB media outlet that gives private tours to your rivals top recruits? I wish we could poll the HS sophomores and juniors watching ESPN coverage of the WCBB NCAA tourney this week to evaluate the impact of ESPN coverage on their impressions of the conferences and teams and recruiters outside the BEast to see if they are concerned.

Anatomy of the STREAK

2011-03-26T01:38:00.006-04:00

Much has been made of the amazing 90 game winning streak of the UConn Huskies. Quite a feat to go for 2 plus years without a defeat in any sport. But nobody has taken the time to analyze that streak to see exactly what made it possible.

How many of those games were played on UConn's home courts for instance?
How many were played vs significant highly ranked out of conference foes?
We all realize that the best chance of being beating in WCBB is to play a top 10 team on the road and that is intensified by playing 2 or 3 top 10 opponents in a row on the road so the team has more limited time to prepare So how often did UConn take a significant risk to it's streak?

XX Out of Conference Road game
YY Conference Road Game
Italics - NCAA Tournament Neutral Court Game Sweet 16 to Final Four
BOLD = significant top 10 ROAD Win Out of Conference

2008-2009 SCHEDULE
11/16/08 vs. Georgia Tech Storrs, Conn. W, 82-71
11/20/08 vs. San Diego State Hartford, Conn. W, 99-55
11/22/08 vs. Rhode Island Hartford, Conn. W, 91-43
11/25/08 at BYU Provo, Utah W, 96-47...XX
11/30/08 vs. Oklahoma Storrs, Conn W, 106-78
12/03/08 vs. Holy Cross Storrs, Conn W, 96-37
12/14/08 vs. Penn State Madison Sq Garde W, 77-63
12/18/08 vs. Washington Cancun, Mexico W, 109-51
12/19/08 vs. N Colorado Cancun, Mexico W, 85-40
12/21/08 Florida State Cancun, Mexico W, 83-71
12/28/08 South Carolina Columbia, S.C. W, 77-48..XX
12/31/08 vs. Hartford Hartford, Conn. W, 78-41
01/03/09 vs. LSU Hartford, Conn. W, 76-63
01/06/09 at USF * Tampa, Fla W, 83-37..YY
01/10/09 at W Va Morgantown, W.Va W, 85-55..YY
01/13/09 vs. DePaul * Storrs, Conn W, 77-62
01/17/09 vs. Syracuse * Hartford, Conn. W, 107-53
01/19/09 at North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. W, 88-58XX
01/24/09 at Cincinnati * Cincinnati, Oh W, 65-34..YY
01/26/09 vs. Louisville * Storrs, Conn. W, 93-65
01/31/09 at Georgetown * Washington, D.C W, 80-61..YY
02/03/09 vs. Rutgers * Hartford, Conn. W, 75-56
02/07/09 at Marquette * Milwaukee, Wisc. W, 83-49..YY
02/11/09 at St. John's * Queens, N.Y. W, 77-64..YY
02/15/09 vs. Pittsburgh * Storrs, Conn. W, 95-42
02/18/09 at Providence * Providence, R.I W, 75-39..YY
02/22/09 vs. Notre Dame * Hartford, Conn. W, 76-66
02/24/09 vs. Villanova * Storrs, Conn. W, 74-47
02/28/09 vs. Seton Hall * Hartford, Conn. W, 81-50
03/02/09 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. W, 69-59..YY
BIG EAST Tournament
03/08/09 vs. USF Hartford, Conn. W, 79-42
03/09/09 vs. Villanova Hartford, Conn W, 72-42
03/10/09 vs. Louisville Hartford, Conn. W, 75-36
NCAA Tournament
03/22/09 vs. Vermont Storrs, Conn. W, 104-65
03/24/09 vs. Florida Storrs, Conn W, 87-59
03/29/09 vs. California Trenton, NJ W, 77-53
03/31/09 vs. Arizona State Trenton, NJ W, 83-64
04/05/09 vs. Stanford St. Louis, Mo. W, 83-64
04/07/09 vs. Louisville St. Louis, Mo. W, 76-54
21 games AT HOME
Out of Conference significant road wins – ONE vs NC in Chapel Hill
significant neutral court wins – ONE vs Stanford in Final Four

2009-10 UConn Women's Basketball Schedule
11/17/09 at Texas San Antonio, Texas(AT&T Center) W, 83-58
11/20/09 at Holy Cross Worcester, Mass. (DCU Center) W, 87-34..XXX
11/27/09 vs. Hofstra Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 91-46
11/28/09 vs. Richmond Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 91-37
11/29/09 vs. Clemson Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 87-48
12/03/09 vs. Vermont Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 84-42
12/10/09 vs. Hartford Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 80-45
12/20/09 vs. Iona Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 90-35
12/23/09 vs. Stanford Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 80-68
12/28/09 at Florida St Tallahassee, Fla. W, 78-59..XX
01/02/10 at Seton Hall * Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center) W, 91-24..YY
01/04/10 vs. USF * Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 84-42
01/07/10 vs. Cincinnati * Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 83-51
01/09/10 vs. North Carolina Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 88-47
01/13/10 at Marquette * Milwaukee, Wisc. (Al McGuire Center) W, 68-43..YY
01/16/10 vs. Notre Dame * Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 70-46
01/18/10at Duke Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor)W, 81-48XX
01/23/10 at Villanova * Villanova, Pa. (The Pavilion) W, 74-35..YY
01/26/10 vs. Rutgers * Hartford, Conn.(XL Center) W, 73-36
01/30/10 at Pittsburgh * Pittsburgh, Pa.(Petersen Events Center) W, 98-56..YY
02/02/10 vs. West Virginia * Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 80-47
02/07/10 at Louisville * Louisville, Ky. (Freedom Hall) W, 84-38..YY
02/10/10 at DePaul Chicago, Ill. (McGrath Arena W, 95-62..YY
02/13/10 vs. St. John's * Storrs, Conn. (Gampel Pavilion) W, 66-52
02/15/10at Oklahoma Norman, Ok (Lloyd Noble) W, 76-60XX
02/20/10 vs. Providence * Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 85-53
02/24/10 at Syracuse * Syracuse, N.Y. (Carrier Dom W, 87-66..YY
02/27/10 vs. Georgetown * Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 84-62
03/01/10 at Notre Dame *South Bend, Ind. (Joyce Center) W, 76-51..YY
BIG EAST Tournament
03/07/10 vs. Syracuse Hartford, Conn.(XL Center) W, 77-41
03/08/10 vs. Notre Dame Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 59-44
03/09/10 vs. West Virginia Hartford, Conn. (XL Center) W, 60-32
NCAA Championship
03/21/10 vs. Southern orfolk, Va. (Constant Convocation Center) W, 95-39
03/23/10 vs. Temple Norfolk, Va. (Constant Convocation Center) W, 90-36
03/28/10 vs. Iowa State Dayton, Ohio (UD Arena) W, 74-36
03/30/10 vs. Florida State Dayton, Ohio (UD Arena) W, 90-50
04/04/10 vs. Baylor San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome) W, 70-50
04/06/10 vs. Stanford San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome) W, 53-47
19 home games
2 significant out of conference road wins at Duke and at Oklahoma

12/28/10 Stockton, Calif. (Alex G.Spanos Center) 85, Pacific 42.. XX
12-21-10 XL Center (Hartford, Conn.) 93, Florida State 62
12/19/10 New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden) 81, OHIO STATE 50
12-09-10 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) 79, Marquette 47
12-05-10 XL Center (Hartford, Conn.) 86, Sacred Heart 32
12-02-10 Tampa, Fla. 80, USF 54..YY
11-28-10 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) 81, LSU 51
11-27-10 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) 81, Lehigh 38
11-26-10 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) 86, Howard 25
11/21/10 Alexander Mem Col, Atlanta, Ga 71, Georgia Tech 51.. XX
11-16-10 XL Center (Hartford, Conn.) 65, Baylor 64
11-14-10 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) 117, Holy Cross 37
12/30/10 Stanford, Calif. Stanford 71 UCnn 59

48 HOME GAMES compared to 37 for the Lady Vols
26 True Road Games compared to 36 for the Lady Vols
16 Neutral Court Games compared to 17 for the Lady Vols
6 ROAD GAMES VS TOP 2O RPI vs 18 ROAD GAMES VS TOP 20 RPI
See Tennessee's comparative schedule in the post directly below this one

UConn played an amazing 48 home games during this streak. In part because UConn gets the incredible advantage of playing every Big East Tournament game on it's home court at the XL center in Hartford.

IN addition UConn played 16 neutral court games during their long streak

Leaving only 26 of 90 games on the road on opponent’s courts and 18 of those 26 games were against conference foes YY leaving a total of 8 games on the road Out of Conference designated by XX Those 8 out of conference road games:
Holy Cross
Pacific
Florida State
Georgia Tech
South Carolina
BYU
Duke
UNC
Oklahoma

in conference road games 16
USF
West Virginia
Cinn
Georgetown
Marquette
St John's
Providence
Rutgers
Seton Hall
Marquette
Villanova
Louisville
DePaul
Syracuse
Notre Dame
USF

Here are the top 20 teams by RPI for the 2009 and 2010 seasons
Teams in bold were UConn opponents during the year

2010 Top 20 RPI
1 Connecticut 33-0 0.7323 2 0.6431 1 1
2 Stanford 31-1 0.6996 9 0.6098 2 2
3 Tennessee 30-2 0.6955 7 0.6148 4 4
4 Nebraska 30-1 0.6769 31 0.5800 3 3
5 Duke 27-5 0.6735 5 0.6167 9 8
6 Texas A&M 25-7 0.6646 3 0.6258 15 14
7 Notre Dame 27-5 0.6635 12 0.6034 6 7
8 Oklahoma 23-10 0.6583 1 0.6454 11 12
9 Ohio State 30-4 0.6517 39 0.5748 10 10
10 West Virginia 28-5 0.6453 33 0.5775 7 9
11 Xavier 27-3 0.6400 61 0.5533 5 5
12 Oklahoma St 23-10 0.6367 6 0.6167 20 20
13 Texas 22-10 0.6288 10 0.6093 18 22
14 Florida St 26-5 0.6286 54 0.5585 8 6
15 Baylor 23-9 0.6266 14 0.5958 14 15
16 Virginia 21-9 0.6233 13 0.5977 24 19
17 Michigan St 22-9 0.6226 17 0.5935 25 23
18 Georgetown 24-6 0.6212 50 0.5615 12 11
19 Kentucky 25-7 0.6193 48 0.5653 19 18
20 Vanderbilt 22-10 0.6187 1 0.5958 unranked

2009 TOP TWENTY RPI
Connecticut 33-0 0.7064 7 0.6086 1 1
2 Oklahoma 28-4 0.6984 2 0.6396 3 3
3 Maryland 28-4 0.6959 3 0.6361 4 4
4 Louisville 29-4 0.6728 10 0.6041 5 5
5 Duke 26-5 0.6687 6 0.6120 6 8
6 Baylor 27-5 0.6618 12 0.6012 7 7
7 Texas A&M 25-7 0.6609 5 0.6208 10 9
8 Auburn 29-3 0.6562 33 0.5729 8 6
9 Stanford 29-4 0.6519 30 0.5762 2 2
10 Tennessee 22-10 0.6518 1 0.6399 19 24
11 North Carolina 26-6 0.6512 14 0.5974 11 11
12 Florida St 25-7 0.6484 11 0.6041 13 13
13 Ohio State 27-5 0.6441 26 0.5776 9 10
14 Iowa State 23-8 0.6280 17 0.5900 18 19
15 Notre Dame 22-8 0.6252 18 0.5891 24 20
16 Pittsburgh 22-7 0.6221 29 0.5765 14 17
17 Rutgers 18-12 0.6217 4 0.6290
18 Texas 21-11 0.6197 8 0.6075 23 21
19 Virginia 23-9 0.6170 22 0.5831 25 23
20 LSU 18-10 0.6152 9 0.6060

Comparing Schedules TN 2007 08 and 09

2011-03-24T14:01:00.004-04:00

11/11/07 vs. UT-Chattanooga Knoxville, Tenn. W, 76-56
11/15/07 vs. Oklahoma Tampa, Fla. W, 70-67
11/18/07 vs. Texas Knoxville, Tenn. W, 92-67
11/21/07 at West Virginia Charleston, W. Va. W, 67-49
11/26/07 vs. Louisiana Tech Knoxville, Tenn. W, 81-60
12/02/07 vs. North Carolina Knoxville, Tenn. W, 83-79
12/05/07 vs. Old Dominion Knoxville, Tenn. W, 83-51
12/13/07 vs. Middle Tennessee State Knoxville, Tenn. W, 84-61
12/16/07 vs. Gonzaga Knoxville, Tenn. W, 96-73
12/19/07 at UCLA Los Angeles, Calif. W, 82-70
12/22/07 at Stanford Stanford, Calif. L, 73-69 (OT)
01/02/08 at DePaul Chicago, Ill. W, 102-68
01/05/08 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. W, 87-63
01/10/08 vs. Auburn * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 85-52
01/13/08 at South Carolina * Columbia S.C. W, 71-48
01/17/08 at Kentucky * Lexington, Ky. W, 65-40
01/20/08 vs. Vanderbilt * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 79-63
01/24/08 vs. Arkansas * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 98-55
01/28/08 at Duke (Big Monday) Durham, N.C. W, 67-64
01/31/08 at Mississippi * Oxford, Miss. W, 68-44
02/03/08 vs. Kentucky * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 79-51
02/07/08 at Mississippi * Starksville, Miss. W, 87-69
02/11/08 vs. Rutgers Knoxville, Tenn. W, 59-58
02/14/08 vs. LSU * Knoxville, Tenn. L, 78-62
02/17/08 at Vanderbilt * Nashville, Tenn. W, 81-68
02/21/08 at Alabama * Tuscaloosa, Ala. W, 85-58
02/24/08 vs. Mississippi State * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 72-46
02/28/08 vs. Florida * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 88-61
03/02/08 at Georgia * Athens, Ga. W, 72-63
SEC Tournament
03/07/08 vs. Florida Nashville, Tenn. W, 92-61
03/08/08 vs. Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. W, 63-48
03/09/08 vs. LSU Nashville, Tenn. W, 61-55
NCAA Tournament
03/23/08 vs. Oral Roberts West Lafayette, Ind. W, 94-55
03/25/08 vs. Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. W, 78-52
03/30/08 vs. Notre Dame Oklahoma City, Okla. W, 47-46
04/01/08 vs. Texas A&M Oklahoma City, Okla. W, 53-45
NCAA Final Four
04/06/08 vs. LSU Tampa, Fla. W, 47-46
04/08/08 vs. Stanford Tampa, Fla. W, 64-48

15 Home Games
9 Neutral court games
13 True Road Games

11/12/06 vs. Chattanooga Knoxville, Tenn. W, 102-72
11/16/06 vs. UCLA Knoxville, Tenn. W, 83-60
11/19/06 at Arizona State Tempe, Ariz. W, 83-74
11/24/06 vs. Stanford Knoxville, Tenn. W, 77-60
11/26/06 vs. Mid Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. W, 88-64
11/28/06 at Louisiana Tech Ruston, La. W, 71-50
12/03/06 at North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. L, 70-57
12/05/06 vs. Tennessee-Martin Knoxville, Tenn. W, 85-29
12/07/06 vs. G Washington Knoxville, Tenn. W, 85-62
12/17/06 at Texas Austin, Texas W, 67-46
12/20/06 vs. West Virginia Knoxville, Tenn. W, 66-51
12/22/06 at Old Dominion Norfolk, Va. W, 75-59
12/30/06 vs. Notre Dame Knoxville, Tenn. W, 78-54
01/03/07 vs. Alabama Knoxville, Tenn. W, 72-36
01/06/07 at Connecticut Hartford, Conn. W, 70-64
01/11/07 at Florida * Gainesville, Fla. W, 80-58
01/14/07 at Georgia * Athens, Ga. W, 52-41
01/18/07 vs. Missi State * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 73-44
01/22/07 vs. Duke Knoxville, Tenn. L, 74-70
01/25/07 at Vanderbilt * Nashville, Tenn. W, 67-57
01/28/07 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. W, 80-51
02/01/07 vs. South Carolina * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 72-36
02/05/07 vs. Georgia * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 73-57
02/08/07 at Auburn * Auburn, Ala . W, 72-62
02/11/07 vs. Kentucky Knoxville, Tenn. W, 84-62
02/15/07 vs. Mississippi * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 81-69
02/19/07 at LSU * Baton Rouge, La. W, 56-51
02/22/07 at Arkansas * Fayetteville, Ark. W, 75-68
02/25/07 vs. Vanderbilt * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 73-53
SEC Tournament
03/02/07 vs. South Carolina * Duluth, Ga. W, 81-63
03/03/07 vs. LSU Duluth, Ga. L, 63-54

NCAA Tournament
03/18/07 vs. Drake University Pittsburgh, Pa . W, 76-37
03/20/07 vs. Pittsburgh Piitsburgh, Pa . W, 68-54
03/25/07 vs. Marist Dayton, Ohio W, 65-46
03/27/07 vs. Mississippi Dayton, Ohio W, 98-62
04/01/07 vs. North Carolina Cleveland, Ohio W, 56-50
04/03/07 vs. Rutgers Cleveland, Ohio W, 59-46

15 Home Games
8 Neutral court games
13 True Road Games

73 games prior

11/21/08 at Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tenn. W, 66-63
11/23/08 vs. Louisiana Tech Knoxville, Tenn. W, 94-59
11/25/08 vs. Western Carolina Knoxville, Tenn. W, 83-56
11/30/08 vs. DePaul Knoxville, Tenn. W, 88-67
12/02/08 at G Washington Wash, D.C. W, 71-59
12/11/08 vs. MidTenn State Knoxville, Tenn. W, 81-52
12/14/08 at Texas Austin, Texas L, 73-59
12/18/08 at Old Dominion Norfolk, Va W, 81-76
12/21/08 vs. Stanford Knoxville, Tenn. W, 79-69
12/30/08 at Gonzaga Spokane, Wash. W, 77-58
01/03/09 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. W, 55-51
01/08/09 vs. Kentucky * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 69-64
01/11/09 at Vanderbilt * Nashville, Tenn. L, 74-58
01/15/09 at Mississippi State * Starkville, Miss. W, 63-56
01/18/09 vs. South Carolina * Knoxville, Tenn. W, 68-56
01/22/09 at Arkansas * Fayetteville, Ark. W, 76-67
01/25/09 at Auburn * Auburn, Ala. L, 82-68

7 Home Games
10 True Road games

90 Game Total
37 Home Games
36 Road Games
17 Neutral Court Games
18 ROAD GAMES vs TOP 20 RPI TEAMS

2006-7 RPI - Teams in BOLD on Lady Vols Schedule
1 Tennessee 28-3 0.7270 1 0.6683 2 2
2 Duke 30-1 0.7100 2 0.6241 1 1
3 Connecticut 29-3 0.6803 6 0.6050 3 3
4 Purdue 28-5 0.6726 4 0.6139 15 14
5 Maryland 27-5 0.6700 5 0.6121 6 5
6 North Carolina 30-3 0.6699 18 0.5902 4 4
7 Oklahoma 26-4 0.6620 16 0.5938 12 11
8 Ohio State 28-3 0.6585 32 0.5769 5 6
9 Vanderbilt 27-5 0.6575 13 0.5954 13 13
10 Stanford 28-4 0.6538 28 0.5801 7 8
11 Georgia 25-6 0.6524 9 0.6010 10 12
12 Rutgers 22-8 0.6484 3 0.6201 18 22
13 Middle Tenn St 29-3 0.6482 47 0.5622 17 17
14 LSU 26-7 0.6457 10 0.5983 11 10
15 George Washington 26-3 0.6430 50 0.5585 8 9
16 Arizona St 28-4 0.6415 46 0.5636 9 7
17 Baylor 25-7 0.6409 15 0.5941 16 15
18 Marquette 25-6 0.6407 21 0.5855 23 19
19 Michigan St 23-8 0.6329 11 0.5966 22 23
20 Old Dominion 24-8 0.6265 22 0.5854

2007 - 08 RPI Teams in BOLD on Lady Vols Schedule
1 Tennessee 30-2 0.7287 1 0.6592 3 3
2 Connecticut 32-1 0.7222 3 0.6397 1 1
3 North Carolina 29-2 0.6933 6 0.6126 2 2
4 Rutgers 24-6 0.6842 2 0.6456 7 7
5 Maryland 30-3 0.6839 9 0.6088 5 6
6 Stanford 30-3 0.6655 26 0.5843 4 4
7 Texas A&M 26-7 0.6557 7 0.6116 11 12
8 LSU 27-5 0.6544 19 0.5913 6 5
9 Duke 22-9 0.6526 4 0.6336 10 10
10 Baylor 24-6 0.6496 13 0.5994 9 8
11 Old Dominion 29-4 0.6489 29 0.5723 14 14
12 Louisville 24-9 0.6443 5 0.6167 23 22
13 Oklahoma 21-8 0.6385 8 0.6099 13 11
14 Notre Dame 23-8 0.6355 12 0.6000 17 19
15 Virginia 23-9 0.6307 11 0.6014 24 23
16 UTEP 27-3 0.6240 82 0.5321 22 25
17 Vanderbilt 23-8 0.6240 25 0.5847 20 20
18 California 26-6 0.6230 44 0.5598 8 9
19 West Virginia 24-7 0.6227 30 0.5721 16 18
20 Oklahoma St 25-7 0.6209 36 0.5675 18 17

2009-10 RPI BOLD = Lady Vols opponent
1 Connecticut 33-0 0.7064 7 0.6086 1 1
2 Oklahoma 28-4 0.6984 2 0.6396 3 3
3 Maryland 28-4 0.6959 3 0.6361 4 4
4 Louisville 29-4 0.6728 10 0.6041 5 5
5 Duke 26-5 0.6687 6 0.6120 6 8
6 Baylor 27-5 0.6618 12 0.6012 7 7
7 Texas A&M 25-7 0.6609 5 0.6208 10 9
8 Auburn 29-3 0.6562 33 0.5729 8 6
9 Stanford 29-4 0.6519 30 0.5762 2 2
10 Tennessee 22-10 0.6518 1 0.6399 19 24
11 North Carolina 26-6 0.6512 14 0.5974 11 11
12 Florida St 25-7 0.6484 11 0.6041 13 13
13 Ohio State 27-5 0.6441 26 0.5776 9 10
14 Notre Dame 22-8 0.6252 18 0.5891 24 20
15 Rutgers 18-12 0.6217 4 0.6290
16 Texas 21-11 0.6197 8 0.6075 23 21
17 Virginia 23-9 0.6170 22 0.5831 25 23
18 LSU 18-10 0.6152 9 0.6060
19 Middle Tenn St 28-5 0.6151 81 0.5373
20 Florida 23-7 0.6129 52 0.5616 21 22

SUmmiTT Sixteen Bracket Challenge

2011-03-23T00:02:00.004-04:00

DAYTON REGION
Tennessee vs Ohio State Winner ________________

Oklahoma vs Notre Dame Winner __________________

PHILADELPHIA Region
5X vs GTown Winner____________________

Depaul vs Duke Winner_____________________

SPOKANE REGION
Stanford vs UNC Winner_____________________

Gonzaga vs Louisville Winner _________________

DALLAS Region
Baylor vs Green Bay Winner____________________

Texas A&M vs UGA Winner_____________________

DAYTON
game 1 winner vs game 2 winner = DAYTON Winner _____________

PHILADELPHIA
Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner = PHILADELPHIA winner _____________

SPOKANE
Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner = SPOKANE Winner ______________

Dallas
Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner = DALLAS Winner ________________

DAYTON vs Philadelphia Winner _________________

SPOKANE vs Dallas Winner ___________________

National Champion winner __________________ Score _________

Sample Entry
Elite Eight
Tennessee vs Oklahoma

GTown vs Duke

Stanford vs Gonzaga

Baylor vs Texas A&M

Final Four
Tennessee vs Duke

Baylor vs Gonzaga

National Championship
Tennessee over Baylor 77 to 74

Anatomy of an NCAA WCBB Bracketology Prejudice

2011-03-05T23:36:00.002-05:00

It is now being postulated by Charlie Creme and his ESPN Bracketology that the Big Least might get 10 teams in the NCAA tournament. This seems grossly unfalr to the members of conferences with 10 or 12 teams for the following reasons.

Bear with me.

Big East W-L GB PCT W-L PCT STRK
#1 UCONN 16-0 -- 1.000 29-1 .967
#12 DePaul 13-3 3 .813 26-5 .839
#7 N Dame 13-3 3 .813 24-6 .800
Rutgers 11-5 5 .688 18-11 .621
#20 Marquette 10-6 6 .625 22-7 .759
Louisville 10-6 6 .625 19-11 .633
Syracuse 9-7 7 .563 22-8 .733
#17 Gtown 9-7 7 .563 21-9 .700
St. John's 9-7 7 .563 20-9 .690
W Virginia 8-8 8 .500 22-8 .733
Providence 6-10 10 .375 13-15 .464
Pittsburgh 5-11 11 .313 14-16 .467
South Florida 3-13 13 .188 12-19 .387
Villanova 3-13 13 .188 11-18 .379
Cincinnati 2-14 14 .125 9-19 .321
Seton Hall 1-15 15 .063 8-22 .267

There is talk about this league getting 10 teams into the NCAA tournament and many of us have decried the rankings of some of these teams all season long

Perhaps it would be edifying to understand the unfair advantage this 16 team conference has over those of us who have teams in 12 or 10 member conferences.

At first it's clear that it's an incredible advantage to play any of the bottom 6 teams in this league. All of the bottom 6 have losing records In comparison there are only 2 SEC teams with losing records - Ol Miss 10 and 19 and Miss State 13 and 16. Our worst SEC team is better that the bottom two above and Ms State is better than the bottom four. The bottom 6 BEast teams scored 4 wins vs the top 10 teams in over 60 games. Some of those top 10 teams played Seton Hall, Cinncinatti, Pittsburg or Providence twice this season since the 16 game league schedule allows for 2 games vs a single team.

To take it further
Pittsburg has one win over the top 10 in the league over W.Va and losses to Dusquene, St Francis, and 12 win 18 loss Minnesota
Providence has ONE win - a 2 point win over Louisville and they lost to Alabama *our 3rd worst and Florida
and they lost to Hofstra and St Josephs
South Florida eeked out a win over GTown but lost to Samford, Nebraska and Morgan State
Villanova failed to win vs any of the top 10 and lost to Delaware, Drexel and St Josephs
Cinncinatti got a final game win over Marquette and lost to Miami Ohio, Wright State and Dayton
Seton Hall no top 10 BEast wins and losses to Drexel, Hofstra and Fla Gulf Coast

So it's clear that these TOP 10 Beast teams get a start with a 6 and 0 Beast record unless they seriously mess up and it's clear that Marquette, WVa and Louisville have some explaining to do along with St John's and Rutgers as NCAA quality teams.

WVA's best win is over IOWA STATE ranked 17 and if you look at their record you will find it difficult to justify their ranking. They also beat a then ranked 25 TCU that is now out of the NCAA it seems. So why is WVA at 22 and 8 in the tournament? They lost to Pittsburg.
ST John's best win was the first game vs Marist. - So their 20 and 9 record is NCAA bid worthy? BS
Syracuse best win is over Ohio State and we know Ohio State but 22 - 8 with one win over a questionable Big 10 team is good enough for a bid to the dance?
Louisville's best win is the mystery win over KY. - but they lost to ODU Marist Houston and Providence so at 19 and 11 they get to dance?
Marquette beat Wisc Green Bay by 3 and lost to Creighton out of conference but they are 22 and 7 with a win over DePaul in conference and a loss to Cinncinatti. Yet they are ranked 22nd? and dancing.
and finally
RUTGERS lost to Cal Temple and Boston College on the way to a 18 and 11 record yet they are in Charlie Creme's bracket.

Here's my theory. The BEast covers territory from Florida to Mass to Chicago and the cities where they play have lots of papers and writers. There are also a plethora of coaches in a 16 team league with associations with the voting coaches. The more teams in more cities equals more votes. The more coaches with more associations equals more votes.. The votes in the rankings tend to effect the Charlie Creme Bracketology and lest we forget that Bracketology is done in Bristol and it ain't Bristol Tennessee.

The Big East schedule is a very weak schedule - No home and home with the best teams facing each other on the road and at home. Instead a team my go through their schedule playing the 7 best teams at home and the worst teams on the road - what an incredible advantage.
No way this situation is fair to teams in a league where they play home and away vs the best teams in their league. Do you see it any other way?

Example of a great BEast schedule is Marquette
they got ND DePaul, Rutgers, Syracuse WVa St John's and Lousiville AT HOME and still lost to SYR ND and Rutgers.
Louisville got St Johns, Rutgers Gtown WVa and DePaul at home and ND 5x and Syr on the road losing to all of them
So is it fair to compare a Big 12 or Big 10 or SEC or Pac 10 team that has to play home and away vs the top teams in their league with a BEast team that only plays one game vs the best in their league and pads their specs with wins over 6 teams with losing records - four of which don't even get to play in the Big Least tournament. What say you? BOGUS or FAIR?
There is much more detailed data included in THIS THREAD on The SUmmiTT message board Several of the least deserving Charlie Creme NCAA Tournament Teams records from the BEast are broken down in detail according to the Real Time RPI.

2008

2008-11-16T04:53:00.000-05:00

KEEPING UP TO DATE ON MAYAGATE

2008-04-04T01:02:00.002-04:00

Jeff Jacobs the Hartford Courant dropped this strange quote by the caustic creepy coach from the North:

"We've had to answer a lot of questions about how we recruit, what we did in recruiting, what we didn't do," Auriemma said on the conference call. "I, quite frankly, am sick of it. Our university spent a lot of time and a lot of effort having to defend ourselves against a lot of accusations that turned out to be nothing, or the NCAA would have come down hard on us — which they didn't."

Auriemma was making it sound as if he was blaming Tennessee for having to endure the scrutiny.

"That's where the allegations came from, the SEC," he said. "That's public knowledge."

The clouds that Summitt brought are dark ones. For months, nameless people also have speculated in chat rooms that Auriemma may have made callous remarks about Summitt's personal life. I've gotten my share of e-mails on it. Auriemma has flatly denied such a thing. You see what Summitt's silence has done. How can Auriemma defend himself against stuff like that?

"spent a lot of time and effort?" on what?
Filling out that secondary violation form that's been floating around the net?

And as far as "nameless people in chat rooms making callous remarks about Summitt's personal life? Well try on this one from The Boneyard

By Gotham Blue

Member

Posted: Thursday April 3 8:13 PM

Re: Fly on the wall...

Geno: Prison rules OK by you?
Pat: Sorry Geno, I don't understand?
Geno: You will!
Geno: Hey, I saw Mickie DeMoss in Bridgeport.
Pat: (silence, glare)
Geno: She didn't shake my hand after we beat Texas, I think she was a little upset with the outcome, but she looked great.
Pat: (silence, glare, rapid blinking)
Geno: I thought she said she was retiring back in April? Was surprised when she came out of retirement so quickly in July and ended up with Gail in Texas? Looks like things are working out pretty good for both of them down in Austin!
Pat: (silence, glare, rapid blinking, clenched lips)
Geno: (staring at Pat's tightly clenched lips, thinks..hasn't this woman heard of botox?)
Geno: Well good luck (turns, walks away, mutters under breath...you'll need it!).
Pat: (turns, walks away, mumbles)

Or this piece of crap from
by eric sandiego

Posted: 3/13/2008 12:59 PM

Re: Livid link

the fact that she is a lesbian who cheated on her husband for years and then proceeded to cheat on her then lesbian lover who happened to be an assistant coach?

GEE NO does it seem as if the UConn faithful may be guilty of echoing the whispers of their coach and hero?

The SEC reported the FACT that someone at UConn arranged a PRIVATE TOUR of ESPN for Maya Moore and her mother. That is a fact.

It does not matter who revealed the information to the SEC does it? The information was correct. Why should anyone care who brought it to the attention of the SEC?
What does that change?

Actually the only story today in the Tennessean revealed by a search for "Pat Summitt" includes this:

Recruit rehash: Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma's latest Final Four squad will have to wade through the distractions that come with being on the sports biggest stage — the hype, the media and, of course, the feud. The other semifinal features defending champion UT and LSU.

Summitt did not renew the yearly regular-season series with UConn this season and UT had alleged that UConn violated a minor NCAA rule when courting Moore, who also was sought by UT.

"It's unfortunate its got to this point," Auriemma said. "We've had to answer a lot of questions about how we recruit and I'm quite frankly sick of it. Our university had to spend a lot of time defending itself and nothing came of it. I'm worried about Stanford and Connecticut. And that's it."

Some of us are not so naive as to believe that much is known that might be better left unsaid. The aim here on Pat's part is to make certain that he changes his ways with some hope that he may do that in his own self interest without bring to light specifics that may well be harmful to players she would prefer to see unharmed.

Walking the fine line between getting him to play by the rules without exposing the kids who are not at fault seems like Pat to me. So she is leaving it up to him if he wants talk about it. He knows what he did and Pat knows. Now we wait to see if he will do as he has said and talk about it if he gets to the final four. Meanwhile she is doing exactly what she said she would do.

Knowing the situation and knowing what the NCAA will or will not do the best strategy to keep a cheater form cheating may well be the threat of exposure to bad publicity instead of relying on an ineffective NCAA to properly investigate and punish offenders for cheating.

For instance we know that a coach from UConn arranged a private tour of ESPN
But here is what we do not know
Did Maya tell her friends that her decision to sign with UConn was greatly influenced by that visit?
Who took Maya and her mother to ESPN?
Who did they meet on that tour?
What was said to Maya on that tour about her future and ESPN?
Was Rebecca Lobo involved?
Was Doris Burke involved?
Did they stay the night in Birstol?
At whos expense?
Did ESPN offer to help Mrs Moore with the sale of her products?
How many UConn fans work at ESPN in Bristol?
How many UConn supporters work at ESPN in Bristol?
Was Maya promised an internship or any part time employment?
How many on screen personalities did she meet?
How many of them encouraged her to sign with UConn?
Was she told that they would try her out as a color commentator after graduating from UConn while playing in the WNBA?

Once we know that the illegal arrangement for the private special tour was made and that the NCAA considered that a secondary violation we know that the NCAA waited on a report from UConn and that nothing else was done.
UConn issued a statement that the investigation has ended.
But none of the questions above were either asked or answered

So you can believe whatever you wish about the situation
I believe that the questions above are very relevant and important because Pat would never violate the spirit and letter of NCAA regulations and put herself in a position where these questions could be asked.

The NCAA is either unwilling or incapable of investigating to the point of getting the answers to my questions. As far as I am concerned if you or anyone else does not think that undue influence by the major force in WCBB broadcasting on an impressionable HS junior is possible you aren't thinking.
Like Caroline Doty telling the press that she made up her mind while eating Wendy's in Geno's office Maya may well have told someone that she made up her mind because of something to do with someone at ESPN.

If you think that is fair and within the rules then you and I have very different views of the situation.

MAYAGATE links deleted by ESPN moderators

2008-03-15T15:25:00.000-04:00

Today I posted a simple link to this NYT Story on the WCBB board

A very nice story AurabassPost #1: 1:54 pm Quote | Report ViolationTotal Posts: 2140
from the New York Times
the original link

These are links to an article and they in no way violate any rule of this board.

These posts were deleted by the moderators FIVE TIMES while threads containing links to the Jim Rome Pat Summitt story by cferraro
and links to the Geno article in CT newspapers were allowed to remain

ESPN moderators are deleting perfectly acceptable posts on the WCBB forum at the request of UCONN fans and it has to stop.

MAYAGATE from the NYT

2008-03-15T13:04:00.000-04:00

RECRUITS NOT WELCOME BUT COACHES ARE

"You can't just call ESPN willy-nilly and ask for a tour, so you have to be a somebody or a friend or relative of someone at ESPN. I called the ESPN switchboard Thursday and asked for group tours.

Those tours ended, for security reasons, after the 9/11 attacks.

ESPN has changed its policy to end all visits like Moore's, which makes you wonder how many other hot recruits coveted by local universities like UConn have taken the tour."

So there you have it from the venerable NYT.

These open tours have not been available since Sept 2001 long before the arranged visit and the question is raised was this tour gambit used before or since?

"So the call went to ESPN's programming department, which schedules a billion hours of college hoops for the 7,321 ESPN platforms. If any part of ESPN should have known, or at least guessed, that such a tour might give Moore a benefit, however minor, that could help UConn woo her, you would think it would be programming. Yes, you would think."

ESPN WCBB BOARD NEWS

2008-01-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

A quick thank you to Community EDs from ESPN
and the moderator from the Prospero messageboards group who have communicated with me about the situation concerning the ESPN WCBB Messageboard.

A quick recap.
Over the past few weeks several posters as fans of both UConn and UT have seen posts deleted and have been banned for 24 hours for no apparent reason.
The situation began when Slewbopper joined by Glenn MacGrady posted requests for ESPN WCBB message board participants to use the REPORT VIOLATION utility on any post made by the poster known as "Ladyvolsrbest08", "parker08", "ladyvolsrchamps08", and a hundred variations on those names and any post that I made.
Glenn MacGrady tried his best to convince ESPN WCBB Message board participants that I was the same poster as the one using these hundred screen names. From Mid-December through January many of my posts were deleted using this method. It seemed that the moderators did not bother to read the posts but simply deleted everything that was reported.

After pointing out this problem to Community EDs I was contacted by a moderator for Prospero who has exchanged several e-mails with me.
Here are a couple of things all participants on the ESPN WCBB boards need to know.
1) Posters who report excessive violations will be "flagged"
2) Attacks on public figures like announcers are not considered fair game and they can be reported and deleted. This was a surprise to me.
3) There are live moderators despite the assumption by some that there were none.
4) Now at least one of these moderators has been made aware of the situation.

A post of mine called CRYSTAL BALL was deleted in the past few days and it can be read just as it was posted below this post on this weblog. It obviously did not violate any rule. The moderator deleted the entire thread and asked that I repost it as I did.

Thank you Community EDs and Mr. Moderator for taking the time to look into the situation.
Hopefully the ESPN WCBB messageboard participants will now refrain from using the 'Report Violation' utility to try to eliminate posts that are within the rules just to discourage posters who might disagee with their point of view.

Good participants like cferraro, VolAddict, Chaffon, and others have found themselves banned for 24 hours or with deleted posts that were not in violation and it's time these campaigns by certain posters to eliminate opponents by reporting good posts as violations were stopped.
I hope Slewbopper and MacGrady got the message.

and I suggest that ESPN and the messageboard moderators see fit to clarify the rules publicly
by stating that misuse of the 'REPORT VIOLATION' utility will not be tolearated
and making it known that public personalities are not considered fair game on the message board.

Recent post to the ESPN WCBB Board
What I have learned
First I made a post on The LadyVols Weblog to cover this in case it disappears
That post is particularly complimentary to the Moderator and Community EDS for their communication with me on this subject.

This forum is run by PROSPERO - a well known forum operator and the moderation is done by them not ESPN.
so they are paid by ESPN
or
they get the advertising $$$ by using the ESPN name in an agreement
at any rate it is profitable for Prospero.

Of some nearly 2000 posts over 6 years I have been banned some 6 or 8 times
some of those were deserved when I replied in kind or in anger
I have had maybe 20 posts deleted
This has increased dramatically since mid-December when some people decided to target me as responsible for "ladyvolsrbest08" and all of his incarnations.

Community EDS is a responsible ESPN agent who was kind enough to communicate about this issue
Community EDS had a moderator contact me by email
and that EMAIL was from PROSPERO

The moderator sent a post I made about Nancy Liberman which was indeed a catty personal comment about her announcing - that post was deleted and I was banned for 24 hours for making the comment.
I responded that I did not think personal comments about public figures were bannable offenses.
I was told I was wrong about that
I suggested that the RULES clearly show that 'personal attacks' are not allowed no matter who they are directed toward.

I sent an email making the moderator aware of the plan issued by some to use the REPORT VIOLATION button to eliminate unwanted posters.
I was told that indiscriminate use of the REPORT VIOLATION button would result in an account being flagged.

Here is what I think everyone who wants a fair and open forum should do
Keep a record of posts and threads that disappear.
I now keep a copy of my posts for a week and certain time consuming posts like the CRYSTAL BALL post or HOME COURT ADVANTAGE are also posted to my blog on the ESPN PROFILE.
When a thread or post disappears without cause it should be reported.
I cannot post how to report it here but I will let cferraro and VolAddict know who and how if they want to take the time to pass these reports on to the proper person.
Maybe VandyWhit should do it.

Maybe we can get this to stop
I am obviously not the person to do the reporting
but cferraro for UConn and VolAddict for UT should be respected enough to do the right thing. If anyone thinks there should be someone else say so now.

I don't think ESPN realizes that PROSPERO uses a BOT to decide these issues
PROSPERO should upgrade the BOT if they are going to use it.
I'm relatively certain that there are only a few paid moderators at PROSPERO to handle 100's of message boards.

I think we all want a place where we can argue on equal footing
Where no one group can decide the fate of any single poster
no matter how much they disagree with what that poster has to say
we should all respect the right to say it.

CRYSTAL BALL

2008-01-26T18:17:00.000-05:00

CRYSTAL BALL
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, no matter what he does.--C. S. Lewis

With only 10 or 12 games remaining on each teams regular season schedule it is now possible to make some reasonable predictions as to the outcome of the rest of the season prior to the start of conference tournaments and the invites for the BIG Dance

Barring further injury or academic/behavioral loss we've seen what the teams are capable of doing. Given the schedules and hopeful that there are no more games with glaring discrepancies in fouls called we can weight the home court advantages and the strenghts of the current teams and make a fairly educated gusss as to the outcome

So here's a shot at prognostication

1) TENNESSEE - 28-1 (Duke in Durham is the biggest obstacle and the Blue Devils have improved but I think not enough to handle the Lady Vols - the next biggest test is LSU but that game is at TBA where two fairly evenly matched teams give UT the benefit of home court advantage

2) MARYLAND 29-2 (UNC in Chapel Hill coming up should be the last loss of the season for the excellent Terrapins who also play Duke in Durham with much the same outcome as Tennessee

3/4) Connecticut 27-2 ( Predicting UConn to lose at the RAC on Feb 5 and the PMAC on Feb 25 after managing a close win at ND and at home with RU.

3/4) Baylor 27-2 (The toughest conference to predict is the Big 12 but since Baylor handled Oklahoma in Norman I expect they will do the same in Waco but there are 4/5 teams in the Big 12 that can play well enough on any given night to beat any other team
Baylor could easily lose 2 or 3 more. Baylor is a strange team losing by 24 to Stanford and beating Oklahoma in Norman by 11 and Cal by 15. But A&M & Texas seem to be falling apart and they handled Oklahoma. Seems like OK State is the only real threat so I'm going with Baylor to win out barely with several squeakers.

5) ODU 27-3 (No way ODU is the 5th best in the country - they aren't even top 12 but their record will be 27-3 and they could easily end up ranked here above a few teams with four losses like:
5A) LSU 25-4 (Will run the table except for their trip to TBA)
5B) Rutgers 25-4(Will lose at TBA and in Hartford or Storrs to UConn)
5C) Stanford 23-4 (Will win both games with CAL)
5D) UNC 25-4 (Loses to MD and Duke on the road)
9) CAL 25-4 (Drops two to Stanford)
10,11) Wyoming, George Washington (Wy may have a 1 loss record GW only 4 losses)
12-19) WVA, ND, UGA, Vandy, Okla State, Oklahoma, Duke all end up with 6 or 7 losses

NCAA Tournament seeds
1 Tennessee vs 8 Stanford - New Orleans
2 Maryland vs 7 Rutgers - Greensboro
3 UConn vs 6 LSU - Oklahoma City
4 Baylor vs 5 UNC - Spokane

3 seeds
CAL, ODU, Oklahoma, WVA
4 seeds
Wyoming, GW, WVA, OK State

Final Four
UT over Stanford
Maryland over Rutgers
LSU over UConn
UNC over some lower seeded team that eliminates Baylor like CAL or Wyoming or ODU

LSU over Maryland
Tennessee over UNC

LSU VS TENNESSEE for the National Championship

LADY VOL VIEWING ADVANTAGE

2007-11-29T18:52:00.000-05:00

The command center for audio/visual stimulation
an ultimate input arrangement
60 inch SONY GRAND WEGA LCD HDTV
27 inch Olevia Computer Monitor & Television
52 inch TOSHIBA DLP HDTV
17 inch Toshiba Laptop Screen
22 inch Hitachi CRT on computer #3
Integra 7.1 Audio Visual receiver
Comcast Motorola HDTV DVR with DVI-D to HDMI output
5 SLS Studio Monitor Loudspeakers
Seismic Subwoofer used as TV stand for Sony Grand Wega
EAW back surround speaker
2 Carver amplifiers for HF Ribbon speakers
2 Kenwood KMX 1000 amplifiers for LF 8" loudspeakers
1 Foster 1500 watt amplifier for subwoofer
1 Onkyo amplifier for surround speakers
1 Sony 400 disk DVD changer
1 Sony HDMI HD DVD player
1 Sony 300 disk CD changer-player

CLICK ON PICS FOR THE BIG VERSION

ALL SET FOR VIEWING THE LADY VOLS AND VOLS

I added this Olevia 27 inch TV/Display for the computer

This Toshiba 52 inch LCD is in the exercise room
with a computer and a full 5.1 surround sound audio system
for playing DVD's, CDs, LDs, and my old vinyl record collection
while pedaling away on my recumbent stationary bicycle

The images below are from the 60" SONY GRAND WEGA
in the main system in the living room

EBAY - The best way to buy
This SONY GRAND WEGA 61 inch diagonal HDTY found nearby with a winning bid about 25% of what it is selling for at FRY'S in Indianapolis and 20% of it's sale price at Best Buy
The 52 inch TOSHIBA LCD HDTV cost only $255 requiring a new lamp for $140

Vol viewing this year will be spectacular

Photo Favorites

2007-11-19T06:57:00.000-05:00

A BANNER DAY in TENNESSEE

2007-11-18T19:05:00.000-05:00

BANNER'S UP IN TBA
and Texas went down in a hail of points
Click on Pics for the Big Picture
and enjoy
It's a great day in Tennessee

TBA is BANNERLAND

Banner Going Up

Banner at the Top

Sidney looked Great

Sidney and Dom w/ Trophy

Four Freshmen get a look at the Banner going up

The FINAL FOURS

Seeing Double? Candace and Alex in Duplicate

Vicki on the big screen

The Shannon Bobbitt intro

Candace on the Big Screen

Nice game Angie and Candace

Scoreboard tells the story

Lady Vols under the Lights

Micki and Pat

Pat hugs Micki

Gail on the big screen

Not the cheap seats

Vicki and Alex

Alexis and Vicki

Lady Vol Warm Up

Shannon Candace Alex

Candace and Alexis

Candace Nicky and Alex

Candace and Bird

Angie Vicki Lexis and Candace

Alex Vicki and Syd

Lady Vol 76 UT-Chattanooga 56

2007-11-12T00:52:00.000-05:00

Slow start big second half -
and the ball gets stuck above the goal
Smokey saves the Game

click on pictures for the big version

Ball Stuck above the Goal

Vicki and Alex

Vicki

Alex Vicki Candace Bird

Bird Lexis Sydney

Shannon

Starters

Shannon in the Huddle

Angie Shannon Nicky Lexis and Vicki

Syd Bird Alex Shannon and Vicki

On the Bench

To the Bench

Time Out

Candace on Video

Free Throw Practice

Warming Up

Carson Newman Exhibition Arena Pictures

2007-11-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

A Few Shots from the New TBA
at the Carson Newman Exhibition Game

Timeout Huddle Up

Shannon Nikki Alex Lex Angie

TBA

Retired Jersey Banners

The New Score Panel

Kelley Shoots A Foul shot

Lex Candace Nikki Cait Shannon Timeout

Vicki Syd Angie Shannon Lex

Pat & Nikki on the Video Screen

Scoreboard for National Anthem

Kelley Vicki Lex Angie

National Championship Banners

The Freshmen

Candace Parker

The Renovated TBA

Beauty in Black and White

2007-11-02T17:22:00.000-04:00

Recruiting Advice - 10 reasons to choose Tenn

2007-10-30T21:20:00.000-04:00

So you're one of the greatest young women basketball players in the country.
You are entering your Senior year in High School and about to make a choice that will shape your life for the next four years and beyond.

Why should you choose Tennessee as Amber, Alicia, Shekinna, and Brianna have?

Here are 10 reasons to consider

1) Pat Summitt and her Fantastic Four - Winningest college basketball coach of all time with a 947-180 record + Holly Warlick, Nikki Caldwell, Dean Lockwood and Jenny Moshak
You have the honor of being a contributor to her 1000th win coming between the 15th and 20th game of the 2009 season. It's a guaranteed place in history since no coach has ever made the 1000 win mark and it's quite probable that no coach ever will again. But that's just some very impressive icing on the cake of playing for Coach Summitt. Women who play for coach Summitt not only learn how to win basketball games and championships - they graduate - ALL OF THEM GRADUATE - and even more important they learn to win at the game of life.

2) Incredible teammates With the number ONE recruiting class of 2007 already on campus and 3 of the top 10 prospects from the class of 2008 you already know that a team is being assembled that will challenge to expand and possibly surpass the amazing records amassed by the Lady Vols who preceded your arrival at Tennessee. Angie Bjorklund of Washington State, Victoria Baugh of California, Kelley Cain and Alicia Manning of Georgia, Sidney Smallbone and Brianna Bass of Indiana, Amber Gray of Ohio and Shekinna Stricklen of Arkansas already represent back to back recruiting classes unsurpassed in Tennessee recruiting history. They join Cait McMahan and Alex Fuller of Tennessee and possibly Candace Parker of Illinois in one of the most impressive collections of Women College basketball players ever assembled. This terriffic group of great young female athletes comes from across America providing a wonderful national perspective.

3) Excellent Education The point of being a student athlete is quite obviously a superior education. The University of Tennessee is ranked in the top 40 of public universities and is climbing in that regard every year. The educational facilities at Tennessee are second to none. The specific educational advantages for student athletes include the Thornton Academic Center created and designed to offer the student athlete at Tennessee a place to study with the assistance of a qualified staff. The Lady Vols consistently become Academic All Americans and every Lady Vol graduates.

4) The Finest Facilities You will play on average 16 games at home in Thompson Boling Arena undergoing a 15 million dollar renovation this Summer in time for the 2007 - 08 season
Home games will be on the floor named for your famous coach Pat Summitt and practice in the luxury of the brand new Pratt Pavilion Practice facility.

These are simply the finest basketball facilities anywhere built by donations from the greatest fans in the world

5) Unequaled NCAA success. There have been 26 NCAA tournaments in the history of Women's College Basketball and only one program has been to every one. That school is the University of Tennessee. There are no guarantees in life and especially in competitive sports but this amazing record of success is about as close as to a guarantee as possible.
Added to this 26 year history of 26 straight NCAA appearances is the more amazing feat of 26 consecutive Sweet 16's. That's right Tennessee has been in the top 16 teams every year the NCAA Tournament for WCBB has been held. In 18 of those 26 years Tennessee has made it to the Final Four and 12 times Tennessee has reached the National Championship game. 7 of those 12 trips has resulted in a National Championship.

6) The Toughest Conference in the USA is the SEC 31 teams from the SEC have made the final four in NCAA play. Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Auburn, and Alabama have all made trips to the Final Four. The SEC consistently has 4 teams ranked among the top 15 teams in the national polls. Women's College Basketball is taken seriously in the South and at Tennessee you play for the best team in the best conference.

7) A great place for year round sports. From the 107,000 seat Neyland Stadium where the 1998 National Champion Volunteer Football team plays, the new Jones Aquatic Center for the swimming teams, Tom Black Track, the Lindsay Nelson Baseball stadium, to the new facilities for Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and Women's softball and the best in physical fitness and weight training facilities anywhere Tennessee has the greatest infrastructure for students athletes anywhere in the county.

8) There is no better schedule One thing that particularly sets the Tennessee Women's basketball program apart from all others is the schedule played by the Lady Vols every year. No other team in the country plays a schedule that is close to the Lady Vols in degree of difficulty. 50% of the Lady Vol games are played against ranked teams. This great schedule means you will play in front of the best fans across the country since successful teams build strong fan support.
You will travel to California to play Stanford and UCLA and to Arizona to play Arizona State. UNC and Duke will take you to North Carolina and you'll see Austin, Texas, South Bend, Indiana, Piscataway, New Jersey, Norfolk, Virginia and Washington DC. You'll stay south in the winter for the most part with trips to Gainesville, Florida, Baton Rouge, LA., Auburn and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Oxford and Statesville, MS and Columbia South Carolina all reasonably warm places in January and February. Sorry but you won't get those hour long bus trips from Storrs to Hartford and back 12 times each winter in the snow and ice.

9) 450.000 screaming fans Nearly 240,000 people attended the 16 home games at the University of Tennessee last season - an average of over 14,000 fans per game. Add to that the attendance at 14 road games, 3 games in the SEC tournament and 6 NCAA tournament games that always command the largest crowds of the season and you get the maximum number of fans in the seats - more than any other team in WCBB.
Nobody else has the insanely creative MEANIE HEADS who will provide you with your own song and rabid vocal and visible support from the stands and the BOOST HER club - a slightly more conservative support group. You will appear on TV so often you may need a personal hair stylist and a SAG card. And of course you will receive the full support of The SummiTTeers on this most active WCBB message board in college sports. You will also get the full attention of our own Maria Cornelius the best writer in the game for Women's College Basketball on Rocky Top News.
And of course you will get to hear Rocky Top so often you'll be singing it in your sleep.

10) Beautiful East Tennessee From the summit of Clingman’s Dome at 6,643 feet in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park to the beautiful Valley of the Tennessee River which forms just over a mile upstream from Thompson Boling Arena where the French Broad and Holston rivers converge there is no more beautiful place on earth to spend your college career. Within and hours drive there are scenic wonderlands of woods and water that offer a peaceful distraction from the rigors of competitive sports and college courses. You may enjoy a quiet walk along a singing mountain stream or a boat ride on one of the 20 lakes nearby.

Knoxville is big enough to offer a wide variety of restaurants, shopping and entertainment opportunities while maintaining a college town appeal with the University as a dominant part of the cities life. Beautiful Springtimes with the Dogwood Arts Festival and colorful Falls in a botanical wonderland make the transition from mild winters with minimal snow and warm Summers great for water sports on the lake or sitting around the pool at Camp Summitt. Knoxville and East Tennessee is the perfect setting for an exceptional college career.

We certainly don't wish to add to the pressure of your choice Elena, Glory, April and others that may be considering Tennessee as their home away from home for four years. This is meant to point out some things I'm sure you have considered and maybe something you might have overlooked. We love our Lady Vols here in Tennessee and we wouldn't want you to miss out on the best that WCBB has to offer because we failed to give you every reason we could think of to choose Tennessee. Despite my obvious bias in favor of Tennessee as a choice I want to wish you a great college career wherever you may choose to go.

Kamiko Williams picks Lady Vols

2007-10-23T00:23:00.000-04:00

The Tennessee Lady Vols picked up a commitment this week and got a head start on the Class of 2009.

Clarksville's Kamiko Williams announced she would sign with the Lady Vols in November of 2008. The word came after Williams took an unofficial visit to Knoxville.

A junior at Northeast High School, Williams brings an international flavor to the game after living extensively in Europe while her father served in the United States military. Williams is touted as the best player in Europe.

ESPN MESSAGE BOARD PROFILES

2007-10-19T17:48:00.000-04:00

The new ESPN messageboard profiles are the best thing ESPN has ever done

Check out Chaffon's Profile and see the comment below
if anybody else want's their profile featured here just add a comment.

and check out Paizleygurls Profile and see her comments below Chaffons

The Lady Vols weblog is going to do a series on WCBB fans this season
so if you want to write up a post as a WCBB fan I will put it in the blog
Just leave a comment here or a private message on The SUmmiTT or the ESPN profile.

Questions of Conduct for Mr Nelson

2007-10-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

Caroline Doty's Teeth

A True Blue Chipper

By HoopGurlz Correspondent

Posted Wed, 07/25/2007 - 20:47 A player known for her all-out style of play, Caroline Doty chips her two front teeth while diving for a loose ball.

Erica LaLonge was targeted by fans of Name Redacted when several questioned her integrity and lobbied for her removal as a HoopGurlz correspondent. Surprising since this article was in glowing praise of Name Redacted's 2008 recruit Caroline Doty. Doty is a key figure in the now infamous Wendy's meal in the head coaches office where Caroline says she reached her final decision after eating Wendy's with Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. Taurasi told the press in an attack on the Tennessee program that she "only talked to players and former players" while visiting Name Redacted in direct contradiction of Doty's statements to the Connecticut press.

In a lengthy discussion on HoopGurlz started July 28, 2007 by Glenn Nelson the publisher began this way:

glenn

Publisher

HoopGurlz / Boneyard Controversy

Some of the idiots at the Boneyard (not all of the regulars, mind you) have made the outrageous accusation that we are biased toward Tennessee on this website. It is just so off-base that we filled a page over there and the mods have locked the thread - a smart move on their part since something like this shouldn't dominate that forum.

I find the accusations RIDICULOUS because of my relationship with the publishers of that site, the fact that Husky Nan USED TO BE ON OUR RANKING PANEL, plus the fact that we've covered UConn commits as well as any - particularly Maya Moore, but during the past year alone Caroline Doty and Tiffany Hayes and in the past Lorin Dixon and Tina Charles. Not because they were UConn commits, mind you, but because they all were great players.

The first accusations were leveled at us in general. Now they revolve around our use of Erica LaLonge, who is a Tennessee grad and used to be a frequent poster at the SummiTT. I knew of Erica's connection to Tennessee, but all I judge is her work, which has been a positive contribution to our website. Case closed.

If any of the Boneyard posters have the guts to post some of their accusations and rationale over here (which I doubt), I guarantee it won't be deleted, nor will any of them be banned (unless they break forum rules).

So Mr. Nelson these questions are raised by your removal of Erica's byline;
Why would the publisher of Hoopgurlz remove the byline from the work of a writer who's work has "been a positive contribution" to your website?
Did you cave in to demands of the Name Redacted fans?
Do you think it is proper to remove the credit for work by your writers?
Was this done as some kind of retribution against Erica?

NAME REDACTED PROTEST

2007-10-03T17:57:00.000-04:00

MY SUPPORT PAT SUMMITT'S DECISON PROTEST

I want to ask everyone's opinion and to clarify what I am doing and why. It occurs to me that I have been remiss in explaining why I am doing what I have done particularly after I learned that volfanincali's Dad is a big Name Redacted fan.

I support Pat Summitt's decision to eliminate Name Redacted from interaction with the Lady Vols. I support her ethical and principled decision to cease to have a relationship with a program and coach that violates her principals.

Since it appears I am in the minority in hoping that The SUmmiTT would follow the example of our coach and eliminate all interaction with NAME REDACTED - I decided to do what several friends have done and just put every NR fan on IGNORE USER as a form of protest in support of Pat's decision.

For that to work it requires one small concession from those of you who wish to continue to interact with the fans of a program our coach has eliminated from her schedule.

Now I wouldn't for a minute try to deny your right to make up your own mind about interacting with Name Redacted fans who just cannot live without posting on The Summitt after our coach has eliminated their team from our reality.

So I am asking as nicely as I know how - please don't quote NR fans in your posts.
If you quote them we still have to read their ignored posts or place those who quote them on ignore.

I realize some of you may think this is silly but I'm serious about what I think is the only right thing to do to support what Pat has done. I think it a small concession on the part of those who still wish to respond to NR posters.

I would truly appreciate your cooperation in this small matter. In the wake of the elimination I feel very strongly about doing what I can to support Pat's decision and this is what I have concluded is the only thing I can do.

If you have some objection to this stand and request I will be happy to consider your replies and respond and I am anxious to hear eveyone's opinion.

It is not that I have anything against a few of the NR posters who have come here and still come here. My decision comes from a desire to support what Pat has done the only way I know how and not because I dislike ALL of the NR posters.

I am using Name Redacted as a form of shunning. A simple declaration that for me NR no longer exists. I intend to continue this protest of what I consider to be unethical behavior on the part of NR's coach until at least an unavoidable resumption of interaction is required by the NCAA tournament.
I won't ask that you join my protest. I just ask your assistance in keeping the board NR free for me and others who do not wish to be confronted with NR posts. That only requires you to cease quoting NR posts in your answers.
Thank you for considering this request and I look forward to hearing your opinions. Feel free to tell me if you think I am wrong or being unreasonable.

Lauren Avant

2007-10-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

LAUREN AVANT PHOTO FROM TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE

The LADY VOLS 2008 - A PERFECT TENN?

2007-07-21T00:24:00.000-04:00

It would have been very handy to have a quick reference for the top teams last year so you could find the players, their positions, height, minutes played, and scoring average to do a match up comparison for games. I'm getting a jump on next season this Summer by creating this quick reference for myself to see how well my predictions go this far in advance of play. Might as well share it so you can save it if you like to have access to this information during the season.

First a look at this TENN TEN and last year's stats for reference.

55 Nicky Anosike 6-4 SR F-C
33 Alberta Auguste 5-11 SR F
00 Shannon Bobbitt 5-2 SR G
44 Alex Fuller 6-3 JR F-C
14 A Hornbuckle 5-11 SR G
3 Candace Parker 6-4 JR F-C-G
52 Kelley Cain 6-6 FR C
21 Vicki Baugh 6-4 FR F
5 Angie Bjorklund 6-0 FR G
20 Sidney Smallbone 5-9 FR G
2 Cait McMahan 5-4 RS HEART

Remember that these statistics were gained against the toughest schedule in the nation.

PPG FGM -A % 3ptM A % FTM A % Min played

03 Parker, Candace 19.6 267 505 .529 6 18 .333 166 233 .712 30
14 Hornbuckle, Alexis 10.2 150 341 .440 29 84 .345 49 67 .731 31
00 Bobbitt, Shannon 8.7 98 265 .370 69 167 .413 49 62 .790 26
55 Anosike, Nicky 7.5 100 234 .427 0 0 .000 78 129 .605 27
44 Fuller, Alex 6.0 81 163 .497 15 41 .366 45 58 .776 20
33 Auguste, Alberta 5.0 62 143 .434 5 21 .238 55 82 .671 16

Spencer 11.6 points in 28 min
McMahan & Redding 6 points in 14 min

Some keys to the 2008 season as i see them:

The Lady Vols lose the considerable contribution of Sidney Spencer
who is proving in Los Angeles how truly valuable she is.
Her 11.6 points: 186 from beyond the arc 314 from within with 54 FT's
in 28.6 minutes per game must be made up somewhere.

Cait as a freshman gave us valuable minutes at PG in relief of Shannon
but Cait and Dom combined scored a little less than 6 points in 14 combined min per game.
Remember we don't lose Cait and her contribution from the bench and the locker room will be considerable. There isn't a bigger heart in WCBB.

Enter Angie Bjorklund at 6 feet tall she's a bit shorter than Sidney but she has a high release and is long. Sidney was nowhere to be found on pre-recruitment ranking lists
While Angie is touted to be the 2nd most coveted recruit of 2007

Angie calls to mind a taller quicker Shanna Zolman
Shanna's freshman numbers looked like this
05 SHANNA ZOLMAN. 7.5 95-227 .419 37-96 .385 58-65 .892 18.2
I would think we could expect to see numbers that meet or exceed these from Angie.
Sid shot 39.7 % from 3 point range last year - very respectable but not unmatchable.
Gwen Jackson, Kara Lawson, Loree Moore, Tasha Butts, and Ashley Robinson were the starters Shanna's freshman year with Shyra as the usual first off the bench as a Soph.
Brittany Jackson, Tye'sha Fluker. and Courtney McDaniel also saw significant minutes.
This Lady Vol team is taller and they are defending a National Championship.

But Angie won't have to make up for Sidney's contribution by herself
Alex Fuller at 6'4 is taller and equally as athletic as Sid
Her 3 point percentage in 2007 was .366
With more time on the court from a possible starting slot expect Alex with another year behind her to improve to match or exceed Sidney's offensive output. Increasing her scoring by 6 points a game shouldn't pose a problem.

Bird at 5'11 is the other 'favorite' to replace Sidney in the starting line-up.
Bird and Alexis are like bookends at 5'11 with similar speed and skills.
Birds scoring average went way up at the end of the season her best games coming in the NCAA
From 16 minutes expect Bird's time on court to grow to take up some portion of the 42 minutes vacated by Sid, Dom and Cait and expect her productivity as far as scoring to double with the confidence she gained.

In addition we now have Vicki Baugh
At 6'4 she is a taller more athletic option to Sidney
At times near the end of the season we found Sidney in the paint guarding the likes of Erlana Larkins and Kia Vaughn. Once Vicki gets her feel for the college game she has the height and athletic ability to surpass Sid's excellent job at that particular defensive task. Vicki isn't regarded as a 3 point threat but her ability to rebound and score inside should be better.
If and when Tennessee goes tall Vicki at 6'4 will allow Candace at 6'5 to move to the outside where she certainly has the ability to hit the three.

Kelley Cain at 6'6 is another player who will effect where Candace plays since her minutes in the paint can give Candace more time on the perimeter in Sidney's old spot.
and we cannot forget Sidney Smallbone who is a legitimate 3 point threat anytime she takes the floor.

Tennessee will not lack the ability to score from the perimeter with
Shannon Bobbitt our leading 3 point shooter last year
Angie Bjorklund the best 3 point threat in the entire national incoming class
Candace Parker who has terrific range and will have more opportunity to show it.
Sidney Smallbone - perhaps the 2nd best 3 point threat of all available freshmen
Alex Fuller who has the proven ability and will get the chance to show it on a more regular basis.
Bird Auguste who needs to improve her 3 point shooting this Summer
and Alexis Hornbuckle who can create shots from anywhere

The fact is that these Lady Vols don't actually need a lot of 3 point shooting
This Tennessee team is the tallest and most athletic in memory
6'6 Cain, 6'5 Parker. 6'4 Baugh, 6'4 Anosiki, and 6'3 Fuller along with 6'0 Bjorklund
give the Lady Vols the tallest team in the hunt for this year's National Championship.
Given all that height it's certain that Pat will have the offense going inside as the first option.

With only TEN players this team may be the best combination of height, speed, athleticism, quickness and scoring ability to ever take the floor at TBA. With 6 virtual Seniors to tutor 4 incredible incoming freshmen their development should be should be rapid and excellent.

Between Angie, Sidney, Alexis, and Bird we have the guards to relieve and assist Shannon.

Don't be terribly surprised if this PERFECT TEN gives us and themselves a perfect season ending in NC Eight. There will be a couple of mis-steps along the way with the usual toughest schedule but come tournament time they have to be PERFECT

UP next - comparing the Lady Vols to the top contenders for their crown.

LSU - Can This Be The Year?

2007-07-21T00:21:00.000-04:00

The top SEC foe and perhaps the second best team in the country should be LSU

1 Kathy Graham G 5-11 Fr.
3 Latear Eason G 5-8 Fr.
22 Porsha Phillips F 6-2 So.
23 Allison Hightower G 5-10 So.
44 Kristen Morris F 6-2 Jr.
4 Katie Antony G 5-10 Sr.
5 Erica White G 5-3 Sr.
10 Khalilah Mitchell G 5-11 Sr.
12 R LeBlanc G 5-7 Sr.
15 Quianna Chaney G 5-11 Sr.
24 Marian Whitfield G 5-9 Sr.
25 Mesha Williams C 6-3 Sr.
34 Sylvia Fowles C 6-6 Sr.
54 Ashley Thomas F 6-0 Sr.

LSU Players minutes and scoring average vs the LSU schedule

34 FOWLES, S 30.6 16.9
15 CHANEY, Q 26.7 11.8
05 WHITE, E 29.6 8.2
23 HIGHTOWER, A 20.0 6.2
12 LeBLANC, R 26.4 6.1
54 THOMAS, A 23.9 4.7
22 PHILLIPS, P 12.8 3.8
04 ANTONY, K 10.4 2.9

This LSU team of nine seniors has made so many consecutive final fours it is difficult to believe they haven't seen the championship game yet. Could this be their year?

LSU was one of 3 teams to top the Lady Vols last year. They couldn't get it done in Baton Rouge in the first meeting but they really dominated in the second round of the SEC tournament in Duluth in March. LSU shut down Candace Parker and managed to hit from the perimeter with impunity. They actually made Tennessee look as if they didn't belong.

So if the Lady Vols don't play their best and LSU does this is a team that could unseat Tennessee and finally reach the goal they have been so close to attaining for 3 consecutive years. The added incentive is the last time around for 9 Seniors. The downside is that these seniors don't seem to have much 'room' to improve. By that I mean the improvement has to come from each individual player who's minutes will most likely remain close to the same.

Where the Lady Vols can look at 42 average minutes from departed or red shirt players and see who might fill those minutes and what they might do, LSU only adds two freshmen to an established rotation.

Of course there is a new coach in bayou country and the question is what he can do to improve the LSU offensive performance. If he is successful this will be a formidable opponent.

Tennessee only managed 54 points in our last meeting with the Lady Tigers and we were beaten by 9. That was only 4 points better than the final Connecticut performance of the season. LSU trashed Connecticut by 23 a 14 point greater margin. They only managed 35 points in their final game with Rutgers. At times it seemed like LSU didn't recall how to score.

LSU went 30 and 7 last year even though they handily beat two of the better teams in the country prior to losing to Rutgers in the semi-finals. Maybe Coach Chancellor will bring some consistency to the LSU performance and help them get beyond the final four semi-finals. Figuring out how to score consistently will be the trick.

It remains to be seen but I think the Lady Vols upside is far better than that of LSU. The additional height and athleticism of Cain and Baugh giving Sylvia Fowles a bit more to concern herself with besides Candace and NiKKi. It will most likely be the Tennessee LSU show in the SEC and the SEC will be well represented by these two in the NCAA Tournament.

The Lady Vols seem to have more offensive weapons and they definitely have more height.

Second Sight on the Scarlet Knights

2007-07-21T00:20:00.000-04:00

Last years runners up Rutgers comes back with the entire team and adds one Hoopgurlz top 10 Freshman.

12 ADAMS, KATIE G Sr. 5-10
22 AJAVON, MATEE G Sr. 5-8
5 CARSON, E F/G Sr. 6-0
4 JERNIGAN, D G So 5-11
43 JUNAID, R C So 6-4
24 MCCURDY, MYIA F So 6-1
10 PRINCE, E G So 5-9
35 RAY, B G So. 5-9
15 VAUGHN, KIA C Jr. 6-4
21 ZURICH, H F Jr 6-1
x Rushdan Kadijah G FR 5-10

Last years minutes and scoring average for Rutgers

15 VAUGHN, Kia........ 32.5 12.8
05 CARSON, Essence.... 35.9 12.3
10 PRINCE, Epiphanny.. 32.8 12.2
22 AJAVON, Matee...... 29.5 12.0
35 RAY, Brittany...... 19.4 5.3
21 ZURICH, Heather.... 24.9 4.9
43 JUNAID, Rashidat... 9.4 2.7

This Rutgers team was an enigma last season but when they finally bought into what C Viv was trying to get them to do they became the second best team in the country. Rutgers lost to Pepperdine, DePaul, and Old Dominion before turning things around at season's end and winning the Big East Tournament prior to the run to the NC game. They dropped a game to Duke by 40 and two to Connecticut by 10 and 26 before beating the Huskies by eight in the finals of the Big East.

Five sophomores could offer significant offensive improvement for Rutgers particularly Prince, Ray and Junaid. Rushdan gives them another offensive threat. She is regarded as a "big time scorer" by Scout's evaluation and Prince was the 113 point girl a year ago.

Rutgers has the best upside of the top teams returning all players due to the sophomores and Rushdan. If this team learns to score like they learned defense last year everybody else better watch out. This team is a bit guard heavy and Vaughn and Junaid are the only height.

Tennessee matched up well with Rutgers and when both teams are playing well the Lady Vols should have a significant edge in experience, height, and scoring potential.

Rutgers matches up better against their Big East foe Connecticut. where the size is similar

The Mystery that is Maryland

2007-07-21T00:17:00.000-04:00

What is this Brenda? Guards Are Us? With NINE guards and 5 F/Cs this little team is a bit back court heavy isn't it?

25 Marissa Coleman G/F JR 6-1
15 Laura Harper F/C SR 6-4
1 Crystal Langhorne C/F SR 6-2
11 Christie Marrone G SO 5-6
21 Ashleigh Newman G SR 5-10
55 Jade Perry F/C SR 6-1
20 Kristi Toliver G JR 5-7
33 Emery Wallace F SO 6-1
2 S WGatewood G SR 5-9
x Drey Mingo F FR 6-2
xx Kim Rodgers G FR 5-9
xx Kathy Lyons G FR 5-10
xx Mariah Strickland G FR 5-11
xx Anjale Barrett G FR 5-10

Here are last years minutes and scoring average vs an SOS slightly better than UCONN

01 Crystal Langhorne.. 27.4 14.9
25 Marissa Coleman.... 28.7 13.2
20 Kristi Toliver..... 26.7 12.3
22 Shay Doron......... 27.3 11.8
15 Laura Harper....... 22.9 10.4
21 Ashleigh Newman 19.4 6.4
02 Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood 20.3 6.3
55 Jade Perry......... 17.8 5.7

Well the Freeze must have thought that Shay Doron would be hard to replace. She signed the 4th, 24th, 26th, and 31st ranked guards by Hoopgurlz and the 6th best forward in Drey Mingo for the 2nd best recruiting class in the country.

SWG finally got a chance to start near the end of the year but she only managed a 6.3 average in 20 minutes a game. So what is the Freeze gonna do with four new guards?

You've got to figure that Toliver gets one starting slot and SWG the other and Coleman on the wing as the small forward. Ashley Newman is first off the bench and the four freshmen? The line starts at the rear with the sophomore Marrone.

6'4 Harper, 6'2 Langhorn and 6'2 Mingo is as tall as the Terps go. At least these Terps won't be slow. They can run quick little guards til the wheels come off.

These Terps lost to Duke twice, UNC twice, Ga Tech and to Ol Miss to end the season. They lose less than Duke or UNC in the ACC and should most likely be the favorites to take the conference but I don't see how they make it past Tennessee with this team.

This team did win the NC in 06 so they do know how but so does Tennessee.

A New Day for Duke

2007-07-21T00:15:00.002-04:00

GG certainly did not leave the cupboard bare for J P McCallie. This is one heck of a group of basketball players. Duke added two top 10's and number 31 from Hoopgurlz for the third best class in 2007 to a team that gets Chante Black back from a redshirt season.

11 Chante Black C 6-5 Jr.
21 Joy Cheek F 6-1 So.
13 Karima Christmas G 5-11 Fr.
30 Carrem Gay F 6-2 Jr.
31 Keturah Jackson G/F 6-0 So.
22 Brittany Mitch G/F 6-2 So.
15 Bridgette Mitchell F/G 6-0 So.
23 Wanisha Smith G 5-11 Sr.
5 Jasmine Thomas G 5-9 Fr.
34 Krystal Thomas C 6-4 Fr.
4 Abby Waner G 5-10 Jr.
2 Emily Waner G 5-8 Sr.

Last year's minutes and scoring average show Duke has 60 minutes to fill and 25 points that need to come from them to stay up with last year.

04 Abby Waner.........28.5 14.1
10 Lindsey Harding....30.4 13.6
43 Alison Bales....... 29.1 11.9
23 Wanisha Smith......27.4 9.4
30 Carrem Gay......... 23.3 8.8
21 Joy Cheek.......... 15.7 5.3
15 Bridgette Mitchell. 12.3 4.9
02 Emily Waner........ 15.0 3.6
22 Brittany Mitch..... 14.9 3.3
31 Keturah Jackson.... 8.9 2.0

Cheek, Mitch, Mitchell and Jackson go from freshmen to sophomores. Black and Krystal Thomas get to take over for Bales, And the Waner's, Smith, Jasmine Thomas, and Christmas get to fill in for Harding. This Duke team has good balance and great scoring potential. Can't wait to see what McCallie can do with these players. She never had it this good in Michigan.

Despite her mini-meltdown v RU in the tournament Lindsay Harding was a POY and will be tough to replace. But Duke has a great guard prospect in Jasmine Thomas who just made the U19 team with Krystal Thomas the center. Duke could even be improved over last years great team with these two and Black back. They can go 6'5 6'4 6'2 6'2 6'1 on the front line with Black, Thomas, Gay, Mitch and Cheek. Better height than any team but Tennessee. And Abby Waner and Wanisha Smith are great guards..

By mid-season this Duke team may be the best in the ACC even with losing more than Maryland. Who knows - maybe McCallie can do what GG couldn't and will this team into the Championship game. No one should be too surprised to see Duke in the Final Four. Don't dismiss Duke.

Next Edition of North Carolina

2007-07-21T00:15:00.001-04:00

The 2007-08 UNC Tarheels

2 Erlana Larkins 6-1 F Sr.
3 Trinity Bursey 5-10 F So.
11 Alex Miller 5-6 G Sr.
14 Heather Claytor 5-8 G Jr
15 Christina Dewitt 6-2 F Jr.
21 Iman McFarland 6-3 F Jr.
24 Meghan Austin 5-7 G Sr.
30 LaToya Pringle 6-3 F/C Sr.
32 Rashanda McCants 6-1 F Jr
34 Martina Wood 6-2 F/C Jr.
51 Jessica Breland 6-3 F So
X Italee Lucas 5-8 G Fr
Xx Cetera DeGraffenreid 5-5 G Fr
XX Rebecca Grey 5-10 G Fr

2007 minutes and scoring average with departing Seniors in red

12 Ivory Latta 31.1 . 16.2
20 Camille Little. 28.2 . 13.7
02 Larkins, Erlana.. 26.3 . 12.9
30 LaToya Pringle 23.5 . 9.7
32 Rashanda McCants..21.2 9.4
51 Jessica Breland..... 14.4 . 6.5
11 Alex Miller......... 23.2 . 5.8
14 Heather Claytor.....13.8 . 4.4
15 Christina Dewitt.... 10.9 3.7
21 Iman McFarland......10.5 . 3.1
03 Bursey, Trinity 5.3 . 1.3
24 Meghan Austin....... 4.8 . 0.8

Like Duke UNC must replace two top scorers 30ppg and fill 60 minutes of playing time

UNC has nice balance with 6 guards and 7 F/C on the 13 player roster. Larkins, Pringle, McCants and Breland/DeWitt/McFarland give the heels a very experienced 6'3 6'1 6'1 6'2 6'3 6'3 front line subs. Miller and Claytor are the most experienced guards and Lucas and DeGraffenreid were highly sought recruits.

This should be an excellent UNC team that will be tough to beat come tournament time. The Tarheels will once again fight it out with Maryland and Duke for ACC honors and I would expect them to be an Elite Eight team come March/April. In fact it would not be surprising to see yet another UNC/Tennessee regional final for a spot in the Final Four.

It won't be automatic - Little and Latta were both great players, but there's plenty of talent in Chapel Hill and not much margin between the three ACC contenders.

Latta was the Tarheels only real 3 point threat. Claytor 33% and Miller 25% weren't very good so the Heels need to find some outside shooting to open up the inside.

If UNC's SOS is anything like as weak as last year UNC will have a bunch of cupcakes to bury before getting into the ACC and plenty of time to practice up before the NCAA.

Last year's UNC schedule featured:

177 East Tenn St W 96-35
302 Winston-Salem St W 83-32
264 Elon W 90-36
328 vs Sacramento St W 99-38
112 UNC Greensboro W 103-48
215 Wofford W 95-36
320 South Carolina St W 92-42
210 vs Coastal Carolina W 87-48
153 vs St. John's W 87-43
162 Delaware St W 87-40
222 Tennessee Tech W 93-52
203 Wake Forest

that's 3 of the worst RPI teams in the country (there are only 328)

My guess is that Tennessee will face UNC (a 2 seed) in the regional final again this year and win.

Count on the Cardinal as a Contender

2007-07-21T00:13:00.000-04:00

The 2007 - 08 Stanford Cardinal

2 Jayne Appel F/C 6-4 SO
24 Ashley Cimino F 6-3 FR
31 Morgan Clyburn F/C 6-4 JR
20 Hannah Donaghe G 5-11 FR
21 Ros Gold-Onwude G 5-10 SO
33 Jillian Harmon F 6-1 JR
5 Michelle Harrison F 6-3 SO
10 JJ Hones G 5-10 SO
0 Melanie Murphy G 5-9 SO
14 Kayla Pedersen F 6-4 FR
13 Cissy Pierce G 5-10 SR
23 Jeanette Pohlen G 6-0 FR
11 Candice Wiggins G 5-11.5 SR

2007 minutes played and scoring average. (departing Sr. in red)

11 Wiggins, Candice... 30.6 16.9
30 Smith, Brooke...... 32.5 13.9
02 Appel, Jayne....... 19.3 13.2
33 Harmon, Jillian.... 29.4 7.7
43 Newlin, Kristen.... 21.3 7.0
13 Pierce, Cissy...... 18.2 4.9
10 Hones, JJ.......... 24.3 4.5
05 Harrison, Michelle. 11.0 3.5
32 Murphy, Melanie.... 14.6 2.2
04 Bodensteiner, Clare 7.5 1.1
12 Titchenal, Christy. 2.8 0.8
03 Coleman, Markisha.. 4.9 0.7
31 Clyburn, Morgan.... 3.9 0.4

13 players on this new Stanford team. They must replace 5 graduated Seniors but Smith and Newlin were the only two who averaged over 10 minutes and 2 points. Still that's over 60 minutes of court time and 22 points a game that will come from others.

The good news is that Rosalyn Gold-Onwunde and JJ Hones will be back to run the point after injury and super Senior Wiggins will be free to do what she does best and score. Super sophomore Jayne Appel 6'4 with Harrison and Clyburn will be joined by Kayla Pederson 6'4 and Ashley Cimino 6'3 to help offset the loss of Smith and Newlin on the front line.

The Stanford recruiting class has top 10 Pederson and top 20 Pohlen with Cimino, and Donaghe. Pederson needs to work out well for Stanford to be a NC contender. Stanford should be the team to beat in the West and is a good bet to be an Elite Eight 2 seed. Wiggins is one of the best players in the country.

When Tennessee visits Palo Alto early in the season it will be a good test of where both teams stand.

BIG TEN ???

2007-07-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

the OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY roster for 2008

55 Allen, Star F 5-11 JR
24 Daniel, Cherise G 5-11 SO.
32 Jamen, Alice C/F 6-3 Sr.
20 Little, Shavelle G 5-8 SO.
33 Mason-Cox, Lesslee F 6-2 SO
14 Moeller, Maria G 5-7 SO
45 Riley, Tamarah G/F 6-2 Sr
51 Walker, Andrea C 6-5 SO
22 Packer, Marscilla G 5-9 Sr.
00 Trebilcock, Ashlee G 5-9 JR.
Xx Lavender, Jantel C 6-4 Fr ranked 3
Xx Brittany Johnson G 5-11 Fr ranked 34

tOSU's 2007 minutes and ppg

50 Davenport, Jessica. 32.5 20.0
01 Hoskins, Brandie... 31.6 14.3
22 Packer, Marscilla.. 29.8 10.4
55 Allen, Star........ 21.4 10.1
00 Trebilcock, Ashlee. 18.8 5.7
14 Moeller, Maria..... 32.7 4.3
51 Walker, Andrea..... 10.1 3.8
34 Blanton, Stephanie. 12.4 3.4
45 Riley, Tamarah..... 13.0 3.2
33 Mason-Cox, Lesslee. 5.1 2.3
20 Little, Shavelle... 10.0 1.8
24 Daniel, Cherise.... 5.1 0.8
32 Jamen, Alice....... 5.2 0.8

tOSU loses their top two scorers (Hoskins was lost before the end of last season to injury) this team lost to Marist in the NCAA. They add number 3 Hoopgurlz Jantal Lavender to replace Davenport and will fight it out with Purdue, Minnesota, and who else in the Big Ten. I don't see them challenging the top 12 above given their tendency of blowing it in the tournament.

PURDUE"S ROSTER FOR 2008

3 Natasha Bogdanova SR Forward 6-4
15 Danielle Campbell JR Center 6-4
14 Brittany Dildine SR Guard 5-9
45 Kalika France SO Guard 5-9
24 Lakisha Freeman RS SO Forward 6-1
55 Laura Garriga SO Forward 6-0
00 Jodi Howell JR Guard 5-11
20 FahKara Malone SO Guard 5-3
11 Lauren Mioton SO Guard 5-9
32 L Wisdom-Hylton RS Forward 6-2
XX Samantha Woods Fr F 6-2 rank 51
Xx Michelle Clark Fr G 5-8 rank 77
Xx Lakeishia Mosley Fr F 6-1 rank 87

Purdue's minutes and ppg for 2007

01 Gearlds, Katie..... 36.7 19.1
32 Wisdom-Hylton, L... 32.8 14.8
35 Lawless, Erin...... 29.5 10.1
20 Malone, FahKara.... 30.5 8.4
00 Howell, Jodi....... 20.6 6.8
15 Campbell, Danielle. 17.4 4.7
24 Freeman, Lakisha... 21.1 4.3
11 Mioton, Lauren..... 9.5 1.2
45 France, Kalika..... 4.3 0.6
55 Garriga, Laura..... 3.2 0.5
14 Dildine, Brittany.. 3.1 0.1

Evidently Lindsey Wisdom-Hylton is now out for the 2008 season putting a real dent in the Boilermaker's chances for 2008. They also lost the recruiting battle for Xavier's Ta'shia Phillips. They do add three top 90 recruits per Hoopgurlz but none over 50. They need a couple of Sidney Spencer's in that group to be a NCAA contender.

MINNESOTA's 2008 Roster

31 Jordan Barnes G 5-10 Sr.
5 Korinne Campbell G 6-0 So
22 Kristen Dockery F 6-4 Fr. 2 star scout pick Smallbone’s teammate
21 Ashley Ellis-Milan F/C 6-2 So.
4 Emily Fox G 5-9 Jr.
20 Zoe Harper C 6-3 So.
34 Lindsey Jaede G 5-7 Sr.
45 Leslie Knight F 6-1 Sr
12 Brittany McCoy G 5-10 So.
35 Katie Ohm G/F 5-11 So.
32 Tanisha Smith F 5-10 RFr.
10 Kay Sylva G 5-8 Jr.

Minnesota minutes and ppg in 2007

03 Roysland, Kelly 29.5 13.2
04 Fox, Emily 33.3 12.9
21 Ellis-Milan, A 27.9 9.1
12 McCoy, Brittany 31.2 8.9
45 Knight, Leslie 20 .8.3
05 Campbell, Korinne 20.8 6.2
35 Ohm, Katie 15.0 4.3
20 Harper, Zoe 11.0 3.0
15 Salley, Breanna 8.6 1.9
31 Barnes, Jordan 12.4 1.8
32 Smith, Tanisha 2.7 0.7
34 Jaede, Lindsey 2.0 0.0

Despite Emily Fox's good showing in the Pan Am games it will be tough for Minnesota to be an NCAA contender given the loss of their top scorer and limited additions to the 17 - 16 2007 squad.

I will take a look at Michigan State and Penn State to add to this later but the Big TEN doesn't look too promising this year so far.

TEXAS A&M - best of the Big 12

2007-07-20T20:55:00.000-04:00

2 Buchanan, Damitria F 6'-2" So
3 Starks, Takia G 5'-8" Jr
10 Franklin, A'Quonesia G 5'-3" Sr
11 Gulley, LaToya G 5'-8" Sr
12 Micheaux, La Toya C 6'-3" Jr
21 Atunrase, Morenike G/F 5'-10" Sr
23 Pounds, Katy F 6'-0" Sr
24 Reado, Patrice F 6'-0" Sr
33 Horton, Ashlaa F 6'-1" So
42 McGowen, Adrian G 5'-10" So
44 Limbaha, Katrina F 6'-3" So
55 Gant, Danielle G/F 5'-11" Jr
xz Colson, Sidney G 5’-8” Fr

Last years minutes and scoring average

03 Starks, Takia...... 33.2 14.2
55 Gant, Danielle..... 29.0 10.8
21 Atunrase, Morenike. 26.9 10.0
10 Franklin, A'Quonesi 34.9 9.9
24 Reado, Patrice.... 22.6 7.1
12 Micheaux, La Toya.. 26.0 6.2
42 McGowen, Adrian.... 8.1 3.3
52 Zimova, Lenka..... . 6.0 2.4
23 Pounds, Katy....... 5.6 2.2
44 Limbaha, Katrina.. 7.1 1.7
33 Horton, Ashlaa..... 6.5 1.3
02 Buchanan, Damitria. 4.9 1.1
11 Gulley, LaToya.... . 5.2 0.6
22 Wilks, Jennifer.... 4.9 0.4

Only two Seniors depart the 13-3 in conference A & M team that beat OU twice last year. With 5 Seniors and 4 Sophomores for this season the experience level is up on a team that learned how to win. Since this team seems to know how to top OU they may be the best of the Big 12 contenders.

George Washington knocked A&M out of the NCAA last year and the downside is that essentially the same 7 loss team returns. The record may improve but I don't see how they compete with the other teams profiled thus far in this series of posts.

Mid Majors Xavier, Geo Wash, MTSU

2007-07-20T20:51:00.000-04:00

XAVIER with a big frontline

23 Askew, Megan 6-0 Guard FR #153 by Scout
12 Barringer, Alesia 5-6 Guard SO
15 Byorik, Aly 6-0 Guard FR #41 by Blue Star
11 Harris, Amber 6-5 Forward SO
13 Hester, Maureen 6-1 Forward SO
1 Jennings, Special 5-6 Guard FR #99 Hoopgurlz recruit
25 Johnson, Stephany 5-9 Guard FR unranked 3 star by Scout
34 Martin, Der-ryka 6-3 Forward SO
42 Phillips, April 6-0 Forward SO
53 Phillips, Ta'Shia 6-6 Center FR #28 Hoopgurlz recruit
20 Reed, Tudy 5-11 Guard JR
24 Taylor, Jerri 5-7 Guard JR

XAVIER'S MINUTES AND PPG 2007

11 Harris, Amber...... 34.0 16.3
21 Granderson, Suntana 31.0 13.5
01 Clyburn, Joei...... 26.4 11.4
23 Miller, Michele.... 34.1 10.1
03 Green, Miranda..... 33.2 7.8
24 Taylor, Jerri...... 18.5 4.6
42 Mason, Deanna...... 13.8 4.5
13 Hester, Maureen.... 8.5 1.5
12 Barringer, Alesia.. 8.3 1.3
52 McCall, Bionca..... 1.8 0.6
34 Martin, Der-ryka... 2.0 0.0

Signing Ta'shia Phillips the McDonalds 6'6 AA Center to go along with 6'4 Amber Harris gives Xavier a frontline that mid-majors seldom enjoy. Xavier could give GW and MTSU a run for their money as the best of the mid-majors even with the loss of Clyburn and Granderson.

The George Washington 2007 Roster

1 Jessica Adair So. C/F 6-4
3 Whitney Allen Jr. F 5-11
5 Kimberly Beck Jr. G 5-8
11 Robin Murphy Fr. F 6-0
12 Faith Peters So. G 5-10
15 Chantelle John So. F 6-2
20 Kenan Cole Sr. G/F 5-10
21 Jazmine Adair So. F 6-3
22 Stefani Munro Fr. G 5-7
25 Lora Mitchell Jr. F 6-1
32 Sarah-Jo Lawrence Jr. G 5-11
33 Jamila Bates So. F 6-1
34 Ivy Abiona Fr. F 6-2
35 Lisa Steele R-So. G 5-11

Last year's minutes and ppg

32 Lawrence, Sarah-Jo. 31.8 13.4
01 Adair, Jessica..... 24.5 12.9
05 Beck, Kimberly.....36.1 11.3
20 Cole, Kenan........ 31.0 10.8
03 Allen, Whitney.....28.4 6.1
21 Adair, Jazmine..... 15.0 4.9
35 Steele, Lisa....... 7.9 2.8
15 John, Chantelle.... 7.5 2.2
12 Peters, Faith...... 7.7 1.9
33 Bates, Jamila...... 8.2 1.6
55 Murphy, Robin.....5.1 1.2
54 Abiona, Ivy........ 6.1 1.1
10 Munro, Stefani....3.7 0.4
25 Mitchell, Lora..... 2.8 0.3

Sports Illustrated picks GW as the tenth best team in the USA next year and they could be right. The Colonials only lose one senior Kenan Cole who accounted for 11 points in 31 minutes average.

GW does not add any top 100 Hoopgurlz or Scout prospects to the lineup but they get back a more experienced team that lost only to Maryland, Tennessee, UNC and St Joseph's in the finals of the A 10 tournament by 2 points. This team beat Georgia by 12 and Texas A&M by 12 in the NCAA Tournament.

GW may be the best of the mid-majors

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE BLUE RAIDERS

00 Chelsia Lymon G 5-5 SO-1L
1 Amber Holt G/F 6-0 SR-1L
2 Johnna Abney G 5-4 JR-2L
10 Jackie Pickel G 5-10 SO-1L
12 Starr Orr G 5-8 SR-3L
14 Latoya Barclay G 5-4 SR-3L
21 Brandi Brown F 6-2 So-1L
23 Angelique Burtts F 6-0 FR-RS
31 Lakira Boyd F 6-2 SR-3L
Morgan Boyd G 6-1 FR-HS
Alysha Clark F 5-10 JR-TR
Jasmine Duffey F 6-7 SO-TR
Jawanda Duffey F 6-4 FR-HS
Anne Marie Lanning G 5-11 FR-HS
Emily Queen F 6-1 FR-HS

Last years minutes and scoring

22 Givens, Chrissy..... 35.6 22.6
01 Holt, Amber......... 31.0 . 16.7
04 Horton, Krystle..... 24.9 . 9.2
21 Brown, Brandi....... 15.9 7.0
00 Lymon, Chelsia...... 16.3 5.5
02 Abney, Johnna....... 20.5 . 5.5
12 Orr, Starr.......... 29.2 5.5
10 Pickel, Jackie...... 10.0 . 4.8
14 Barclay, Latoya..... 8.6 . 1.9
31 Boyd, Lakira........ 10.4 . 1.7
03 Mason, LaCondra....7.8 . 1.4
11 Tate, Whitney....... 2.4 . 0.3
15 Cobb, Carden........ 2.9 . 0.2

Chrissy Givens is gone but Amber Holt and Brandi Brown are back - Amber led the team in scoring in the NCAA tournament. Insell adds the Duffey sisters and Jasmine was Blue Star #18 - top recruit to ever sign with Ga Tech - at 6'7" she gives the Blue Raiders some height they need. Sister Jawanda at 6'4" give MTSU their version of the Paris twins along with the 6'plus Boyd sisters.

Don't know what happened to Ke Ke Stewart from Oak Ridge who signed up in 06. Anybody know?

Insell has fifteen players and he's a top coach. MTSU will be NCAA material and they have the chance to make some noise. This team won't challenge Tennessee for state supremacy this year.

HOW ABOUT OKLAHOMA?

2007-07-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

Oklahoma's 2008 Roster.

1 Nyeshia Stevenson 5-9 F SO
2 Jenny Vining 5-9 G FR
3 Courtney Paris 6-4 C JR
4 Abi Olajuwon 6-4 C SO
5 Ashley Paris 6-3 F JR
10 Carlee Roethlisberger 6-1 F FR
11 Jenna Plumley 5-4 PG SO
13 Danielle Robinson 5-9 PG FR
15 Carolyn Winchester 5-11 F SO
21 Amanda Thompson 6-0 F SO
31 Rose Hammond 5-9 G SO

Last years minutes and scoring average

03 Paris,Courtney..... 30.3 23.5
24 Rush,Leah.......... 26.7 9.8
22 Welch,Chelsi....... 21.1 9.1
05 Paris,Ashley....... 21.6 7.4
21 Thompson,Amanda.. . 15.9 5.7
11 Plumley,Jenna...... 16.4 5.2
34 Higgins,Erin....... 26.9 4.6
33 Brown,Britney...... 17.9 3.9
20 Moore,Kendra....... 13.0 3.7
01 Stevenson,Nyeshia.. 8.5 3.3
04 Olajuwon,Abi....... 3.9 2.2
32 Sanchez,Krista..... 5.6 1.3
31 Hammond,Rose....... 4.5 0.2
15 Winchester,Carolyn. 2.4 0.0

Six Seniors graduate from this OU team that lost to tOSU, T A&M twice, Texas, and Ole Miss leaving 110 game minutes and 32 ppg to fill from 6 Sophomores, 2 freshmen and the Junior Paris twins. Woe be OU if anything happens to Courtney.

It's tough to see how OU improves with 6 Seniors including Rush, Welch, Higgins, and Brown gone. Danielle Robinson is Hoopgurlz #21 and 13th ranked guard.
Jenny Vining is Hoopgurlz #33 and the 17th ranked guard
Carlee Roethlisberger is an unranked 3 star prospect

Looks to me like OU is a year away from being a better team. I'll have to run A & M, Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, and the other Big 12 teams to get a feel for how they stack up but against the nine already profiled I don't see OU in the hunt. Plumley, the Paris twins, and Thompson couldn't get past Ole Miss in April and the new players don't seem to add up to what was lost.

New Coach in TEXAS

2007-07-20T20:49:00.001-04:00

4 Erika Arriaran 5-10 Jr. G
20 Erneisha Bailey 5-9 Sr. G
34 Crystal Boyd 5-11 Jr. G
43 Aubry Cook 6-3 Jr. P
3 Carla Cortijo 5-7 So-RS G
23 Niqky Hughes 6-1 So F
35 Ashley Lindsey 6-4 Jr. F
15 Gabriell Mattox 5-11 So G/F
32 Kristen Nash 6-3 So F
10 Brittainey Raven 6-0 So. G
00 Earnesia Williams 6-1 So.-RS F
xx Rachel Rentschler 6-2 Fr P rank 26
xx Kathleen Nash 6-1 Fr P rank 40

Last season's minutes and points per game

33 Jackson, Tiffany... 35.1 16.8
04 Arriaran, Erika.... 30.5 10.5
00 Williams, Earnesia. 25.6 9.5
10 Raven, Brittainey.. 25.6 7.9
20 Bailey, Erneisha... 29.8 7.5
03 Cortijo, Carla..... 31.5 7.4
23 Hughes, Niqky...... 13.7 4.2
35 Lindsey, Ashley.... 11.3 3.3
34 Boyd, Crystal...... 6.2 2.6
15 Mattox, Gabriell... 8.1 2.0
43 Cook, Aubrey....... 7.2 1.9
44 Robinson, Katrina.. 10.3 1.8

So what can the genius of GG do with a Texas team that lost 14 games and did not reach the NCAA tournament? Well with two top 40 recruits she may be able to improve on last season. Still Texas will start the year with something like 4th place in the Big 12 as the expectation.

Anybody want to make a prediction?

BAYLOR

2007-07-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

22 Haylee Abbe G 5-10 SO
14 Rachel Allison F 6-1 JR
1 Jessika Bradley F/P 6-3 SO
13 Latara Darrett G 5-9 SO
Kelli Griffin G 5-8 FR
Melissa Jones G 5-10 FR
3 Jessica Morrow G/F 6-0 JR
44 Kaitlin Oberg F 6-2 SO
15 Jhasmin Player G 5-10 JR
20 Angela Tisdale G 5-7 SR
Kendrea Walker P/F 6-2 JR Transfer
11 Danielle Wilson P 6-3 SO

Could not find season stats for Baylor so these are from the NC State game points and minutes

03 Morrow, Jessica.....13 37
14 Allison, Rachel..... 10 17
15 Player, Jhasmin..... 4 30
20 Tisdale, Angela..... 12 35
32 Mosby, Bernice..... 12 29
01 Bradley, Jessika... 2 11
11 Wilson, Danielle.... 10 20
12 Wyatt, Latoya....... 0 2
13 Darrett, Latara..... 5 19

The end of Mosby's career at Baylor brings JC transfer Kendrea Walker and Daniellle Wilson as replacement starters. 2 freshmen guards are added Kellie Griffin is a 5 star 7th ranked guard by Scout. Melissa Jones is a 5 star 7th ranked guard by Hoopgurlz.

Baylor lost to A&M twice and OU thrice last season and to Purdue, Nebraska, and NC State. Should be another race between OU A&M and Baylor this year. OU appears to have lost the most but OU has Paris.

The TRUTH evades TAURASI

2007-07-12T06:54:00.000-04:00

Journal Inquirer story on Caroline Doty

Excerpt: She made an unofficial visit to Storrs for UConn's Senior Night game with Marquette last February and returned for the Huskies' "First Night" program in October.

That weekend she found herself sitting in Auriemma's office with former UConn All-America guards Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi eating a Wendy's meal.

"I was hanging out with them, having normal conversations, feeling comfortable," Doty said. "I just felt like, 'Wow, I could see myself here.' I wanted to give the other schools an opportunity for me to feel that way and I did go to other schools. It was just that moment was stuck in my head and it still is."

I am not an expert on NCAA rules and when former players can and can not have contact with recruits. I would have to go research the specifics. But my basic understanding is that the contact must be incidental and very limited and not arranged by the school or allowed or facilitated by the school.

This was a PUBLISHED newspaper report. How many other schools' compliance reps saw it and spit their coffee out? Was Auriemma also present? If so, I'd say it's 100 percent a recruiting violation. If not, I don't know. Can a recruit use the coach's office to have lunch with former players?

NCAA Regulations (unofficial visits)

13.7.2 Entertainment/Tickets.

13.7.2.1 General Restrictions.

During an unofficial visit, the institution may not pay any expenses or provide any entertainment except a maximum of three complimentary admissions (issued only through a pass list) to a home athletics event at any facility within a 30-mile radius of a member institution's main campus in which the institution's intercollegiate team practices or competes. Such complimentary admissions are for the exclusive use of the prospective student-athlete and those persons accompanying the prospective student-athlete on the visit and must be issued on an individual-game basis. Such admissions may provide seating only in the general seating area of the facility used for conducting the event. Providing seating during the conduct of the event (including intermission) for the prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete's parents [or legal guardian(s)] or spouse in the facility's press box, special seating box(es) or bench area is specifically prohibited. (Revised: 1/10/90 effective 8/1/90, 1/11/94, 4/24/03)

so it was an unpaid unofficial visit that Doty made to UConn so

13.7.2.1.1 Meals.

A prospective student-athlete on an unofficial visit to an institution may pay the actual cost of meals (or the regular cost of training-table meals) and eat with other prospective student-athletes who are on their official visits or with enrolled student-athletes.

THIS SAYS NOTHING ABOUT EATING WENDY'S IN THE COACHES OFFICE WITH FAMOUS ALUMNI

13.7.2.1.7 Student Host.

A student host used during an unofficial visit must either be a current student-athlete or a student who is designated in a manner consistent with the institution's policies for providing campus visits or tours to prospective students in general. (Revised: 8/5/04)

I DON'T THINK DT AND BIRD QUALIFY AS STUDENT HOSTS AND i DOUBT THAT GENO'S INNER SANCTUM IS ON THE TYPICAL COLLEGE TOUR

13.7.3 Activities During Unofficial Visit.

An institution may not arrange miscellaneous, personalized recruiting aids (e.g., personalized jerseys, personalized audio/visual scoreboard presentations) and may not permit a prospective student-athlete to engage in any game-day simulations (e.g., running onto the field with the team during pregame introductions) during an unofficial visit. Personalized recruiting aids include any decorative items and special additions to any location the prospective student-athlete will visit (e.g., hotel room, locker room, coach's office, conference room, arena) regardless of whether or not the items include the prospective student-athlete's name or picture. (Adopted: 8/5/04; Revised: 5/14/05, 4/27/06)

HMMM HAVING A COUPLE OF ALL AMERICANS WHO JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE AN EXTRA WENDY'S MEAL SITTING IN THE COACHES INNER SANCTUM WHERE THE RECRUIT CAN PICTURE HERSELF---------- well I guess i can see how one might find that a bit sketchy.

Taurasi also assumes Tennessee might be angry about alleged contact between alumni and recruits during on-campus visits by former UConn players who return to see coach Geno Auriemma and his staff.

"All these reasons are ridiculous," Taurasi said. "If you are going to blame Coach Auriemma for having players who love him and come back to see him, then it's just too bad. When I visit him, and I try to do so as often as I can because of all his family did for me when I was there, the only people I talk to are the current players." From the Angry Taurasi Fires Back Article

Well DT according to Caroline Doty "I was hanging out with them, having normal conversations, feeling comfortable," Doty said. "I just felt like, 'Wow, I could see myself here.' I wanted to give the other schools an opportunity for me to feel that way and I did go to other schools. It was just that moment was stuck in my head and it still is."

So which is it Diana?
Did you just talk with current players?
Or did you buy Caroline Doty a Wendy's meal and sit and talk with her with Bird in Geno's office IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF NCAA REGULATIONS?
Who is telling the truth?
You or Caroline?

A Second Problem with the TRUTH
Jimmy Hyams on Sports Animal Radio
Jimmy went into some detail about his short conversation with Joan Cronan

Cronan said the Taurasi article was the first time she heard Taurasi's name specifically attached to the ride complaint. I assume that means that Tennessee was not the source of the ride complaint. That does not mean that Taurasi's name didn't come up in another part of the complaint.

Quote: "I reported yesterday that Joan Cronan said she'd never heard of the charges filed by Taurasi regarding giving Maya Moore a ride in Atlanta. Pat Summitt declined comment on the issue."

Evidently Caroline Doty called Pat Summitt to tell her of her decision to go to UConn " after her lunch with Geno, Bird and Taurasi in Geno’s office." UConn will probably claim that it was just a coincidence that Bird and Taurasi were both on campus when Caroline came for a visit and for lunch and that it was not set up that way which evidently would be a violation because ALUMNI are not supposed to be involved in recruiting other than to answer questions when they happen to run into recruits unplanned. If you believe that one well I've got this bridge to Brooklyn.

Paraphrasing as closely as possible:

"UT filed complaints about other recruiting concerns regarding UConn, but I don't know ALL of them. I do think UT has a problem with UConn former players helping UConn recruit in ways that violate NCAA rules.

Also, Summitt told Geno why she was stopping the series and Joan told the UConn AD Jeff Hathaway why UT was stopping the series. So, if Geno and the AD say they don't know why, I don't believe them. I believe Cronan, who confirmed this to me."

So Maria has been correct in her assumptions that the ride and the sign were either no part or a minor part of the SEC complaint to the NCAA..Jimmy Hyams doesn't know ALL of the complaint and he's trying to find out the complete complaint

UConn has not released the complete complaint and the DAY and the Courant are trying to say the ride and the sign were "two primary allegations". If these are the only TWO primary allegations why doesn't UCONN release an official statement with the entire complaint? Tennessee, the SEC, and the NCAA are not allowed to release the information but UCONN can.

According to Hyams Joan told the UConn AD and Pat told Geno exactly why they chose not to sign the contract. The fact is that only UConn can make the entire contents of the SEC complaint known.

UCONN EXPOSED - CHAPTER SEVEN

2007-06-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

The next seven posts should be read in reverse order from the bottom up

CHAPTER SEVEN
Wrapping it up for now.
7 Chapters for 7 Championships

This little 'book' was written for TENNESSEE Women's College Basketball Fans and any potential Lady Vols who might drop by The SUmmiTT from time to time.

It was written by an Orange Blooded Tennessee Fan and does not pretend to be from an unbiased perspective. However it all depends on the FACTS and the actual records and schedules of the Tennessee Lady Vols and the Connecticut Huskies and their coaches Pat Summitt and Geno Auriema

The comparative analysis of the Strength of Schedule and the verifiable record leaves no doubt that the Tennessee record was built on playing ranked opponents approximately 50% of the time while the Connecticut record is built on playing ranked opponents less than 20% of the time. This writer and observer believes that to be incredibly significant in comparing the two programs.

A potential recruit attempting to make a life changing decision concerning her four years at one of these fine Universities and excellent Women's College Basketball programs should know that there are major differences between the two programs.

Part of that is due to the measurable superiority of the Southeastern Conference in fielding teams that are highly ranked year in and year out. But even larger is the out of conference schedule that takes the Tennessee Women to most of the strongest programs in Women's College Basketball across the country.

In addition to this dramatic difference at the top of the WCBB world there is the unranked portion of the schedules of both teams. In 2007 Tennessee played four games against teams ranked below the top 100 in RPI. Coach Summitt's alma mater Tennessee Martin, The University of Alabama in conference, Louisiana Tech - a perennial powerhouse that for the first time in history failed to make the NCAA tournament and Drake University in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile the Connecticut Huskies played 14 games against teams with RPIs below 100, 200 and even 300. Five of these teams were part of the Big East conference, one was the NCAA opening round opponent, and the rest were out of conference elective games with Colgate, Colorado State, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Richmond, Oakland, and Boston University. Some UConn fans say these games are played to "help out" these undermanned teams. I will wonder aloud how it helps to be soundly over-matched and beaten by a superior team?

But the choice is clear to incoming recruits and it could play a significant part in any decision that is made. On the surface in terms of winning percentage and National Championships there seems to be little difference between the two programs. Once you look beneath the surface the difference is huge.

Playing for the University of Tennessee is the most difficult and the most rewarding experience available for a young woman who has what it takes to be invited to be a Lady Vol. In terms of difficulty the Tennessee schedule is so far above the rest that nothing really compares. If you seek to be the very best then you play the very best all season long. Stronger players improve by playing against stronger player.

Fans will always compare their teams with others who assert comparable achievement in any sport. UConn fans are great fans. They assert that UConn is comparable to Tennessee - an equal or better team in terms of accomplishment. This little book is my answer to their assertions. It was written to give my fellow Tennessee fans some ammunition when they find themselves debating or discussing WCBB with fans of other schools. It was written to give potential recruits something to think about when making a choice if the choice is very close between UConn and Tennessee. And it was written to illuminate the significant differences I have found while researching the comparable differences between Tennessee and UConn in the WCBB world.

I have posted these chapters to THE LADY VOLS WEBLOG so they can be accessed at any time after this disappears from The SUmmiTT messageboard. Please feel free to use any portion at any time for any purpose. Journalists who may find this information helpful are encouraged to borrow it and use it.

I want to thank all of the SUmmiTTeers who would just a soon see this subject disappear from the SUmmiTT for their patience in putting up with it's presence during the past several days and I especially want to thank those of you who wrote such kind comments about the content.

I hope all of you who know how great it is to be a Tennessee Lady Vol Fan now know a little something more about how great it really is.

UCONN EXPOSED CHAPTER SIX

2007-06-29T17:57:00.000-04:00

CHAPTER SIX
A Look at the Rosters

In terms of the players which Coach has the better record for doing more with less?Given the 9 win and 17 loss misery of UConn over the past 3 years . The utter futility of 3 years with no NCAA Final Fours one might conclude that the cupboard was bare.
What about the players that UConn has had in their program over these 3 years of drought and decay. Lets take a look:

Tahirah Williams 2005 Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year...four-time Street & Smith honorable mention All-America
Ketia Swanier 2004 Georgia AAAA Player of the Year.
Renee Montgomery 2005 McDonald?s All-America...2005 Gatorade West Virginia High School Player of the Year...2005 Street & Smith Third Team All-America...Associated Press West Virginia Player of the Year as a senior...2005 WBCA Honorable Mention All-America
Charde Houston USA Today 2004 All-USA Second Team...2004 McDonald's All-America Team...2004 WBCA All-America Team...ranked as the No. 2 senior nationally by All-Star Girls Report...2004 Cal-Hi Sports Division I All-State First Team...named Parade Magazine First Team All-America as a senior
Mel Thomas 2004 McDonald?s All-America Team...2004 WBCA All-America Team...2004 Associated Press Ohio Co-Player of the Year
Tina Charles 2006 USA Today National Player of the Year...2006 McDonald's National Player of the Year...2006 Parade Magazine National Player of the Year...2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year...2006 WBCA National Player of the Year...2006 EA Sports National Player of the Year...2006 Miss New York Basketball...member of the 2006 USA Basketball U-18 National Team...2006 Street & Smith's First Team All-America...2006 WBCA First Team All-America
Kalana Greene 2005 WBCA All-America...2005 So Carolina Gatorade POYKaili McLaren 2006 Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year...2006 WBCA All-America Team...2006 McDonald's All-America Team...2006 WCAC First Team
Brittany Hunter 2003 Parade National Player of the Year...consensus top-rated player in the nation in recruiting rankings by All-Star Girls Report, Full Court Press, Blue Star and All-Game Sports...first team Parade and Street & Smith All-America.
Cassie Kerns 2005 McDonald's Honorable Mention All-America...2005 WBCA Second Team All-America
Nicole Wolff -- 2002 McDonald's High School Player of the Year and Naismith Player of the Year finalist.. Parade Magazine, WBCA and McDonald's First Team All-American...
Ashley Battle -- WBCA All-America team Parade All-America Fourth Team named West Virginia Player of the Year...
Wilnett Crockett -- Two-time Nike All-American WBCA and McDonald's All-American Third Team All-USA TODAY honoree...UConn's second consecutive CA. Gatorade State Player of the Year
Jessica Moore -- Parade All-American fourth team honoree WBCA Honorable Mention All-American...twice Gatorade Alaska POY
Barbara Turner -- 2002 First Team All-American by USA TODAY, WBCA, and Parade Magazine...also named a First Team McDonald's All-American 2002 Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year Ms. Ohio Basketball...2002 Naismith Player of the Year finalist.
Ann Strother 2002 Naismith, USA TODAY, WBCA, Parade Magazine and Gatorade National High School Player of the Year... Two-time High School All-American and 2002 Consensus First Team All-American... Twice named USA Today and Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year

4 National Players of the Year
10 MacDonald?s All Americans
7 Players of the Year from Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, West Virginia (2), New York, New Jersey, Ohio (2) Alaska, California, and Colorado

The Tony fans from UConn blithly predict UConn dominance to come because Charles and Moore are National Players of the Year. But Geno couldn't post a winning record vs ranked teams with 4 National Players of the Year and 10 MacDonalds All Americans and a dozen Gatoraide State Player of the Year over the past three years

In fact Geno either needed TASS or Diana to post winning seasons vs quality opponents. Sure he makes it look good with the sub 100 RPI cupcakes and the weak Big Least but when it comes to beating top 20 foes this past 3 years he's 9 and 17 with all of these great players.

Is Geno the wizard TonyConnecicut fans think he is or does it take Diana to make Geno a winning coach.

Meanwhile Pat has been to 8 Final Fours since 98 while Geno only made 5 with 3 of those due to Taurasi

Taurasi got Geno a 7 and 1 record vs Tennesee but Geno couldn't get to the final four for rematches in 98, 05 or 07 when Tennessee had the better team.

Now Tennessee has a 42 and 10 record playing the Top 20 over the past 3 years with

Alexis Hornbuckle Named as the (WBCA) 2004 High School Player of the Year and the WBCA All-America Game Most Valuable Player (2004)...McDonald's All-America and McDonald's All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (2004)...Parade Magazine and Street & Smith's First-Team All-America (2003).
Candace Parker USA TODAY National Player of the Year (2003, 2004) Naismith and Gatorade Prep Player of the Year (2003, 2004).Parade Magazine, Street & Smith's, USA TODAY and Student Sports First-Team All-America (2003, 2004)...McDonald's and Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American (2004)
Nicky Anosiki Parade Magazine Second Team All-America (2003 and 2004)...McDonald's All-America (2004)
Cait McMahan Street and Smith's third team All-American (2005)...Parade All-American Third Team (2006)...EA Sports All-America second team (2003, 2004)
Alex Fuller (WBCA) All-America (2004)...McDonald's All-America (2004) Street & Smith's Second Team All-America (2003).
Sidney Spencer 2003 "Miss Basketball" by the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA)...ASWA 6A Player of the Year in 2003 Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year
Shyra Ely 2001 Naismith Prep Player of the Year USA TODAY National Player of the Year.. USA TODAY and Sports Illustrated as the number one women's high school player USA TODAY, Parade magazine, Street & Smith's and Nike All-America selection
Shanna Zolman Naismith Player of the Year top- five finalist first team All-America honors from USA TODAY Parade All-American first team...McDonald's All-American Gatorade State Player of the Year as well as Indiana's Miss Basketball
Brittany Jackson USA TODAY, Nike and Street & Smith's All-America honors...Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American 2001 Tennessee AAA Miss Basketball Award
Loree Moore USA TODAY All-American in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, including a first-team nod after her senior season...2001 Parade magazine and Street & Smith's first-team All-America
Tyesha Fluker Parade Magazine All-American McDonald's All-American Sybil Dosty adidas All-American Street and Smith All-America - on roster two years
Lindsay Moss Parade Second Team All-American - on roster one year
Shannon Bobbitt, Alberta Auguste, Dominick Redding and the remaining players like Abby Cannon, Elizabeth Curry, and Aubrey Gustalli did not come with any All American High School honors
Sade' Wiley Gatewood came with several All American honors but played in only 13 games her freshman year and 9 in her second year.

3 National Players of the Year
7 MacDonalds All Americans
Alabama and Indiana Miss Basketball

Granted Nicole Wolff and Brittany Hunter have had injury plagued careers but Candace Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle, Sade Wiley-Gatewood and Loree Moore also missed considerable action due to injury. It appears that Coach Pat Summitt has done more with less in terms of player personnel

Sidney Spencer, Shannon Bobbitt, Alberta Auguste, Tye'sha Fluker, and Nicky Anosiki didn't have the glittering All American accolades of some of their peers, but Coach Summitt seems to have a knack for getting the most out of her players.

UCONN EXPOSED CHAPTER FIVE

2007-06-29T17:47:00.000-04:00

CHAPTER FIVE

BREAKING DOWN 2007
A STUDY IN STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

1 North Carolina = 103.54
1 North Carolina = 103.54
1 North Carolina = 103.54
2 Tennessee = 103.36
3 Duke = 103.23
4 Connecticut = 99.49
5 LSU =98.27
5 LSU = 98.27
5 LSU = 98.27
6 Rutgers = 96.75
6 Rutgers = 96.75
6 Rutgers = 96.75
6 Rutgers = 96.75
7 Purdue = 96.17
8 Maryland = 95.00
9 Georgia = 94.17
9 Georgia = 94.17
10 Arizona St. = 92.94
11 Oklahoma = 92.90
12 Vanderbilt = 92.64
12 Vanderbilt = 92.64
13 Mississippi = 92.45
13 Mississippi = 92.45
14 Stanford = 91.65
15 Ohio St. = 91.52
16 Middle Tennessee = 90.65
17 Bowling Green = 90.21
18 N.C. St. = 89.99
19 Geo. Washington = 89.96
20 Baylor = 89.27
21 Marquette = 88.63
21 Marquette = 88.63
26 Louisville = 85.94
26 Louisville = 85.94
27 West Virginia = 85.79
27 West Virginia = 85.79
29 Marist = 85.29
30 Pittsburgh = 85.12
30 Pittsburgh = 85.12
31 Notre Dame = 85.09
31 Notre Dame = 85.09
35 Kentucky = 84.11
40 South Florida = 83.27
40 South Florida = 83.27
41 Auburn = 83.14
42 Texas = 83.13
48 South Carolina = 82.61
48 South Carolina = 82.61
57 Virginia = 80.72
58 DePaul = 80.67
62 Arkansas = 80.18
68 Mississippi . ST = 78.89
73 Chattanooga = 77.45
78 UCLA = 76.70
82 Seton Hall = 76.38
84 Hartford = 75.92
89 Cincinnati = 74.57
91 Florida = 74.32
104 Louisiana Tech = 73.49
128 Georgetown = 70.77
129 Oakland = 70.76
138 Villanova = 69.95
139 Alabama = 69.86
146 Richmond = 69.37
152 Sacred Heart = 68.68
156 Providence = 68.42
160 St. John's = 68.22
171 Boston U. = 67.31
196 Syracuse = 65.34
200 UMBC = 65.16
201 Tennessee-Martin = 65.06
220 Holy Cross = 63.44
235 Colorado St. = 62.14
303 Colgate = 53.93

Tennessee played SEVENTEEN GAMES vs the top 20
Uconn played SEVEN
Tennessee played THREE GAMES vs below 100 teams
UConn played FOURTEEN

That discrepancy is horrendous - nearly unbelievable for two team that are considered by their fans to be the leaders in the sport.

Another interesting RPI comparison on the College RPI page
Tennessee SOS is 6683
Connecticut's SOS is 6050
a difference of 633
To get that difference below Connecticut
you have to go to James Madison with SOS ranking number 73 of 5419
which is 631 beneath UConn
So Tennessee's SOS number 1
is to UConn's number 6
as UConn is to number 73 James Madison.

UCONN EXPOSED CHAPTER FOUR

2007-06-29T17:41:00.000-04:00

Chapter Four

Pat vs Geno

the Coaching Numbers

Despite playing the toughest schedule in Women's College Basketball year in and year out Coach Pat Summitt has a better overall winning percentage than Geno.

It is interesting that the University of Tennessee website actually lists Coach Pat's winning percentage vs ranked teams and breaks it down by Top 10 and 11 to 25 rankings

VS. RANKED TEAMS OVERALL: 396-151 (.730) "updated to reflect last year.

RANKED 1-10: 165-111 (.600)

RANKED 11-25: 217-37 (.854)

I can find no like analysis on the UConn website and it's little wonder. We know for instance from chapter one that Geno has gone 9 and 17 vs top 20 teams for the past three years. The comparison that UConn played only 26 ranked foes since 2004 and Tennessee played 17 top 20 foes last year alone tells us that the comparison is not very flattering to Geno.

We also know that Geno gave the UConn fan's a thrilling schedule of 14 games vs teams with RPI's of less than 100 last year alone. So Geno's overall coaching record must be viewed under the microscope of a weak Big East, a penchant for lining up sub 100 RPI out of conference foes and the 9 and 17 record of the past three years while Pat's record reflects nearly 50% of

Tennessee's games vs Top 25 opponents 547 of 1127 games played vs the top 25

Pat Head Summitt - 33 seasons as head coach

OVERALL: 947-180 (.840) vs Geno 621 - 120 ( 834)

HOME: 431-42 (.911)

AWAY: 311-79 (.797)

NEUTRAL: 205-59 (.776)

SEC GAMES

OVERALL: 379-57 (.869) vs. all SEC

HOME: 169-12 (.933)

AWAY: 143-29 (.831)

NEUTRAL: 67-16 (.807)

NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
OVERALL: 568-123 (.821)

SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS (14 out of 28) 1980, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007

SEC TOURNAMENT TITLES (12 of 28) 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006
OVERALL: 55-16 (.782)

TITLES: 12 out of 28

VS. RANKED TEAMS

OVERALL: 382-148 (.721)

RANKED 1-10: 165-111 (.600)

RANKED 11-25: 217-37 (.854)

UNRANKED TEAMS

OVERALL: 565-32 (.947)

NCAA TOURNAMENT

OVERALL: 98-19 (.838)

FIRST/SECOND ROUNDS: 40-0

24 REGIONAL SEMIS: 22-4

20 REGIONAL FINALS: 17-5

16 NCAA FINAL FOURS: 19-10

NCAA TITLES: 7 (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007)

SEC COACH OF THE YEAR7 (1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007)

NCAA COACH OF THE YEAR7 (1983, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2004)

NAISMITH COACH OF THE CENTURY 2000

Head Coach Geno Auriemma thru 2006

All-Time: 589-116 (.835/21 yrs.)

NCAA Tournament: 61-14 (.817)

UCONN EXPOSED CHAPTER THREE

2007-06-29T17:35:00.000-04:00

CHAPTER THREE

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

- and Head to Head Competition

Dissecting the UT vs UCONN record

Perhaps the greatest single record that mars the impeccable history of Tennessee Women's Basketball is that record marked 9 and 13NINE wins vs THIRTEEN losses between Geno's UConn and Pat's Tennessee. How did this happen and what are the underlying factors that led to this result?

Jan. 6, 2007
Huskies: No. 5Lady Vols: No. 4
Tennessee 70Connecticut 64(At Hartford, Conn.)
Candace Parker nets 30 points (including a second-half dunk), 12 rebounds and six blocks. Led by Charde Houston's 23 points, UConn erases an 18-point deficit but still falls short.
Jan. 7, 2006
Huskies: No. 7Lady Vols: 1
Tennessee 89,Connecticut 80(At Knoxville, Tenn.)
Lady Vols pull away in final minutes for their second straight win in the series after six consecutive losses.
Jan. 8, 2005
Huskies: No. 15Lady Vols: No. 10
Tennessee 68Connecticut 67(At Hartford, Conn.)
Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood converts three-point play with 15 seconds left for 68-66 lead. UConn's Ann Strother then misses 2-of-3 foul shots and UT ends six-game skid.
April 6, 2004
Huskies: No. 6Lady Vols: 2
Connecticut 70,Tennessee 61(At New Orleans)
UConn becomes second team to threepeat with Diana Taurasi (21.6 career average vs. Lady Vols) again leading way.
Feb. 5, 2004
Huskies: No. 4Lady Vols: No. 1
Connecticut 81,Tennessee 67(At Knoxville, Tenn.)
UConn plays solid and steady, and grinds out win in physical battle. Diana Taurasi scores 18 before fouling out in final minute.
April 8, 2003
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 4
Connecticut 73,Tennessee 68(At Atlanta)
UConn hits 10 treys and shoots 51 percent from field. Diana Taurasi scores 28 points as Huskies repeat.
Jan. 4, 2003
Huskies: No. 3Lady Vols: No. 5
Connecticut 63,Tennessee 62 OT(At Hartford, Conn.)
Diana Taurasi's 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left sends game into overtime. UConn goes on to win 51st straight game.
March 29, 2002
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 6
Connecticut 79,Tennessee 56(At San Antonio)
UConn posts its largest margin of victory in the series in front of the largest crowd in women's history (29,619).
Jan. 5, 2002
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 2
Connecticut 86,Tennessee 72(At Tennessee)
Sophomore Diana Taurasi explodes for 32 points; Lady Vols miss 45 of 72 shots from field in front of record 24,611 fans.
Feb. 1, 2001
Huskies: No. 2Lady Vols: No. 3
Tennessee 92,Connecticut 88(At Tennessee)
Sophomore Gwen Jackson tallies 28 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in one of top games in rivalry.
Dec. 30, 2000
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 2
Connecticut 81,Tennessee 76(At Hartford, Conn.)
Lady Vols rally from 17-point deficit to cut lead to three with one minute left, but Sue Bird wins it with late free throws.
April 2, 2000
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 2
Connecticut 71,Tennessee 52(At Philadelphia)
Huskies take third meeting of season, win second NCAA title and end season with 36-1 mark and 17-game win streak.
Feb. 2, 2000
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 4
Tennessee 72,Connecticut 71(At Connecticut)
After trailing by six at half, Semeka Randall sinks winner with 4.4 seconds left for Huskies' only loss of season.
Jan. 8, 2000
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 2
Connecticut 74,Tennessee 67(At Tennessee)
Sue Bird scores career-high 25 points. Vols shoot just 33.8 percent from field and go 14-for-33 from foul line.
Jan. 10, 1999
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 2
Tennessee 92,Connecticut 81(At Connecticut)
After Lady Vols beat country's top-ranked team, teams swap spots in top 25. Holdsclaw, Randall each score 25.
Jan. 3, 1998
Lady Vols: No. 1Huskies: No. 3
Tennessee 84,Connecticut 69(At Tennessee)
Tennessee winning streak reaches 21 on way to perfect 39-0 record, third consecutive NCAA title.
March 24, 1997
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 10
Tennessee 91,Connecticut 81(At Iowa City, Iowa)
Entering postseason with 10 losses, third-seeded Vols win Midwest final matchup en route to NCAA title.
Jan. 5, 1997
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 8
Connecticut 72,Tennessee 57(At Hartford, Conn.)
Vols suffer regular-season losses to La. Tech, Stanford, Georgia, Arkansas, LSU, Florida and ODU.
March 29, 1996
Huskies: No. 2Lady Vols: No. 4
Tennessee 88,UConn 83 (OT)(At Charlotte, N.C.)
In battle of No. 1 seeds, Vols eliminate Huskies in national semifinals to win first of three straight NCAA titles.
Jan. 6, 1996
Huskies: No. 2Lady Vols: No. 4
Connecticut 59,Tennessee 53(At Tennessee)
Vols lose just four games during '96 title run, but this UConn win snaps UT's record 69-game home win streak.
April 2, 1995
Huskies: No. 1Lady Vols: No. 3
Connecticut 70,Tennessee 64(At Minneapolis)
UConn (35-0) wins national championship to become second team in NCAA history to post undefeated season.
Jan. 16, 1995
Lady Vols: No. 1Huskies: No. 2
Connecticut 77,Tennessee 66(At Connecticut)
Huskies take first-ever meeting in series that becomes women's college basketball's greatest rivalry.

The explanation is simple and straight forward. Tennesse went 1 and 7 vs UConn during the tenure of Diana Taurasi. Tennesse was good enough to make the Final Four during the Taurasi era losing to the Huskies in San Antonio, Atlanta, and New Orleans for 2 losses per year.

On the flip side when Tennessee has had the upper hand in 1997 and 1998 with the Championship teams of Chamique Holdsclaw; UConn wasn't good enough to make the Final Four. The same is true for 2 of the past 3 years when Tennesse made it to Indianapolis and Cleveland but UConn failed to get out of the regional .

UCONN fans like to brag that UCONN hasn't lost a head to head NC game to Tennessee Problem with that is that UConn hasn't made it far enough to suffer those probable losses because they weren't good enough to make the title games when Tennessee was fielding the superior teams.

Tennesssee fans should concede the fact that the teams of the Taursi era and TASS were the best teams of their time. Tennnessee was clearly second best during those years. But when Tennessee was fielding the greatest teams of the late 90's UConn couldn't get to the game. The same has been true since Diana left UConn.

The one year that was a stinging disappointment for Lady Vol fans was 2004 when Tennessee was actually ranked above UConn yet lost to Diana in her Senior year twice.

Another way to see this relationship clearly is in the overall NCAA Tournament Record
TENNESSEE
26 NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES - NOT ONE SINGLE NON-APPEARANCE26 SWEET SIXTEEN APPEARANCES
18 FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES
12 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
7 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
5 RUNNER UPS
5 THIRD PLACE
A 98 AND 19 RECORD IN NCAA GAMES

CONNECTICUT
19 NCAA TOURNAMENTS8 FINAL FOURS
5 CHAMPIONSHIPS
3 THIRD PLACE
A 61 AND 14 RECORD IN NCAA GAMES

Every record has a back story and underlying factors that tell the tale of how that record was made. The Tennessee UConn record swung heavily in UConn's favor during the Taurasi era. Tennessee is a victim of it's own success in making this record. The Lady Vols played second best to number one UConn for four years. For Tennessee fans it's too bad that UConn couldn't make the NCAA final fours in the years where Tennessee was clearly the better team.

Since the UConn vs Tennessee head to head series has now ended this may be the last time it is appropriate to bring up this subject on the SUmmiTT. My apologies to those of you who are tired of the UConn story. My hope is that this will summarize the history of the rivalry that is now history and put it into perspective.

UCONN EXPOSED CHAPTER TWO

2007-06-29T17:30:00.000-04:00

THE BEAST OF THE BIG LEAST

What advantage is gained by being one of 16 teams in the Big East?

Chapter Two

By playing these ridiculously easy out of conference games Geno has an extended exhibition season to work on his team's capabilities, pad his players stats, build his winning percentage, and strengthen his bench with lots of court time. Recruits are fed the fabulous stats and the great win loss percentage without being bothered with the quality of the opposition.

The press is complicit in this charade - sure they mention from time to time that Tennessee plays the toughest schedule - but they never make the actual comparison.The NCAA is complicit since they fail to reward teams that play the more difficult schedules. On top of the miserable out of conference schedule is the part played by being in the Big East

The top of the Big East last year
Top Twenty
Connecticut
Rutgers
then a fairly serious fall off to
Twenty to Fifty
Marquette
Louisville
West Virgina
Pittsburg
Notre Dame
South Florida
followed by a drop to
58 DePaul
89 Cincinnati
128 Georgetown
138Villanova
156 Providence
180 St John's
196 Syracuse

So teams like Marquette, Louisville, Pittsburg, WVa, ND, & DePaul get to go dancing with Rutgers and UConn while Auburn and Kentucky stay home and the Big East fans cry foul when South Florida is denied a berth. The top 10 Big East teams pretty much start the season with a 6 win advantage because the bottom of the conference features Cincy at 89 and 5 teams beneath 100 in the RPI.

Meanwhile Auburn and Kentucky in the SEC face at least four top 15 foes - Tennessee, LSU, UGA, and Vanderbilt and two of those twice. So an Auburn or Kentucky has one sub 100 team (Alabama) and four top 15 teams for 6 games - a 1 win 6 loss setup vs the Big East middle class with a 6 and 2 setup. This nets the Big East 8 tournament berths to much hoopla over on the Boneyard as if it somehow demonstrates Big East strength instead of Big East weakness. It's an easy mistake to make if you don't really pay attention.

As the tournament progressed only 2 of 8 Big East teams get past the round of 32 compared to the SEC with 3 of 5. LSU destroys UConn by 23 and Tennessee takes out Rutgers by 13

Playing in the Big Least is a definite advantage because the bottom of the Big East is so weak. Playing in the SEC means playing in one of the toughest conferences. The Big East has seen significant NCAA tournament success at the top UConn, Notre Dame, Rutgers all have reached the Final Four. 12 Times Big East teams have reached the Final Four. But that success pales in comparison to the SEC record: 31 times teams from the SEC have reached the NCAA Final Four including Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Vanderbilt

UCONN EXPOSED CHAPTER ONE

2007-06-29T17:23:00.000-04:00

CHAPTER ONE

The UCONN Record AD DT. (after Taurasi)

UCONN vs the Top 20

What kind of record vs Top 20 teams over the past 3 years would be required for a team to be known as an elite program? How many of you realize what UConn's record is vs Top 20 teams since Diana left Storrs? It may surprise you. So take a guess before you read onUConn had a tough year in 2005 - some could characterize it as terrible The Huskies played 10 games vs Top 20 foes winning two
2005 UConn schedule link
North Carolina L, 65-71
at Arizona State L, 50-61
Michigan State at HCC L, 51-67
TENNESSEE (HCC) L, 67-68 CBS
NOTRE DAME * (GP) L, 59-65
at Rutgers * L, 62-76
at Boston College * L, 48-51
vs. No. 2 seed Stanford (NCAA Regional Semifinals) L, 76-59

UConn did beat Rutgers and Notre Dame in rematches during the Big EastTournamentand they won a game with Texas (This particular UConn schedule/results does not supply the national rankings of opponents)Let's be generous not knowing the ranking of RU and ND and call this record 2 wins and 8 losses

2006 UConn schedule link
#7/8 NORTH CAROLINA (HCC) L, 54-77
at #1/1 Tennessee L, 80-89
#3/3 LSU (HCC) W, 51-48
at #12/11 DePaul* W, 84-75
RUTGERS* (GP) L, 56-60
at Rutgers* L, 42-48
vs. Georgia in Bridgeport W, 77 to 75
vs. Duke L, 61-63, NCAA Regional in Bridgeport

So the record vs Top 20 teams in 06 was 3 wins vs 5 losses

2007 Schedule Link
9/9 Purdue at Gampel Pavillion W 66 - 55
4/4 TENNESSEE (HCC) L, 64-70
2/2 at North Carolina L, 76-82
23/25 RUTGERS (GP) W, 60-50
at 7/7 LSU W, 72-71
at 21/22 Rutgers W, 70-44
vs. 19/19 Rutgers (HCC) L, 47-55
vs. 12/11 LSU (NCAA Regional) L, 50-73

Now we are aware from the colorcoded schedule comparisons that UConn plays a lot of uncompetitive teams and relative to Tennessee few Top 20 teams The 2007 win loss record vs Top 20 teams is 4 wins and 4 losses even though RU was not ranked in the Top 20 for that win at Gampel Pavillion.

The answer to the question is 9 wins vs 17 losses to Top 20 teams in 3 years with only 2 of those 9 wins coming outside the state of Connecticut - at DePaul and at LSU by 1
Since Diana left Storrs Coach Geno's accomplishments include gaudy records
32 and 4
32 and 5
25 and 8
89 and 17 Total
Vs opponents of equal or near equal ranking in the Top 20 the record is 9 & 17

So here are a few questions to consider:
Is Geno really the greatest WCBB coach as UConn fans claim?
When Geno doesn't have the vaunted TASS force or the great Diana Taurasi and is forced to play with HS All American's like Strother, Wolff, Crockett, Thomas, Turner, Houston, Hunter and Charles can he take those teams and mold a real winner that can compete and beat competent competition?

Perhaps some of us were aware of this record vs the Top 20 - I wasn't because I hadn't looked at it as a body of work. I found the results to be surprising.

Mandy

2007-06-29T17:09:00.001-04:00

CONNECTICUT SCUM

2007-02-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

CONNECTICUT SCUM CONSIDER PAT SUMMITT'S SEXUAL ORIENTATION AN APPROPRIATE TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION ON A PUBLIC MESSAGE BOARD

CONNECTICUT FANS
DoggyDaddy, CTHskzfan, and cferraro are among those who believe it is OK to float unfounded rumors about Pat Summitt on ESPN's WCBB message board.
This practice is evidence that every report and rumor that the UConn coach uses Sexual Orientation fear mongering as a weapon in recruiting is true.
There are many stories about recruits who eventually came to play at Tennessee from very conservative or religious families who had parents or guardians who were told that Tennessee is a "lesbian program' and that the sexual orientation of the player could be changed if that recruit decided to attend Tennessee
The thread linked above contends that Pat Summitt should have something to say about Micki DeMoss's resignation from the University of Kentucky as head coach.
This is only one of a number of threads on ESPN where UConn fans claim that Pat is a Lesbian and that her divorce is a result of an affair with an assistant.
Of course nothing could be further from the truth.
These UConn fans are despicable scumbags

Vicki Baugh wears Orange

2006-11-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

Snow for LSU - Bayou Bengals can't win

2006-02-09T03:11:00.000-05:00

Snow on the ground in Knoxville Thursday Feb 9 2006 spells big trouble for warm blooded LSU Tigers.

Atlanta Fans gather for the ND Game

2006-01-01T07:52:00.000-05:00

Click on each image to enlarge

Tia & her family

Standing til we score

Dave Brian Cindy & Laura

Bobbie & Marilyn

MandG & Monica

RNA & family

LVguru & Sub4miler

INTENSITY at STANFORD - voldawgie22's pictures

2005-12-09T05:59:00.000-05:00

Mary Jones took these great action pictures and Voldawgie22 was kind enough to share them with us. They really capture the intensity of the Stanford win and the serious effort required by the Lady Vols. I hope we can get them to send more so I can post them later. Please encourage them by offering your opinion in the comments section below or on The SUmmiTT

I am going to request captions from The SUmmiTT readers and participants. Please put your suggestions in the comments section below by clicking on comments.

Thank you Voldawgie (Donna) and Mary for these truly outstanding pictures.

AtlLadyVolFan's Stanford Pictures

2005-12-08T00:41:00.000-05:00

K-Law and Elmo looking great at Stanford

Holly and Nicky with Coach Tara

Fraternizing with Coach Tara - AtlLadyVolFan

AtlantaLadyVolFan & Emster hang out with LMO

EmsterCA with Coach Holly

EmsterCA with Candace who is icing that finger

Emster's BMW sports great vanity plates

AtlantaLadyVolFan at 5'10 tries to solve the Candace height debate

BLAZING RIGHT THROUGH TEXAS

2005-12-03T10:55:00.000-05:00

LIKE A MAD DOG CYCLONE --- Guy Clark

The Final Score

Lady Vols on Fire 102 to 61

The burnt orange awaits an unknown fate

Smokey knows we're about to skate

OUT OF THE LIGHT

and On FIRE all night.

HIGH FIVES

Getting ready to rumble

All Together Now

The about to be badly "BURNT" orange

The Tip Off

TJ looks shell shocked as Z takes control

Z in a Texas Drive by shooting

Great Defense
Nikki Steals from TJ
Boxing Out

Candace makes a move

Z - Alexis - Sa'de - Candace

After four straight losses to Texas the Lady Vols poured out their frustration in an Orange and White tornado that blew the Lady Longhorns off of the Summitt by 41 points. It was an astounding display of athletic excellence from all of the Lady Vols and a night to remember.

Pictures from Paradise - by AtlLadyVolfan

2005-11-26T08:46:00.000-05:00

AtlLadyVolfan sent these pictures from Paradise last night so we can all be envious of the lucky fans who made the trip. Thank you AtlLadyVolfan.

Atlanta Lady Vol Fans in Paradise

Where they even paint their boats

Orange and White

Cruise Ships in the Harbor at Saint Thomas

Frenchman's Reef - the Lady Vol Paradise Hotel

Sybil Dosty at the Scorers Table

Lady Vol and Michigan State Coaches

BOOO !! on the MSU Bench

A Meanie Head in Paradise

Lady Vol Fans in the Stands

Lady Vol over MSU

Lady Vols Huddle Up

Final Score over MSU

LADY VOLS 92 CHATTANOOGA 50

2005-11-22T13:34:00.000-05:00

The FINAL SCORE

The Fireworks before the fireworks

The Starters Gate

What does that say?

Pre-Game Scrum under the lights

TIPOFF to TENNESSEE

The Stats board was working

JUMBOTRON CONTROL CENTER

My nice view from the not so cheap seats on the row with

Dr. Boling, Senator Lamar Alexander and AD Cronan

in front of Dr. Peterson

SCARIEST MOMENT

CP goes down hard and leaves the court

for the locker room

Later CP gets a

Smack in the nose

the STARTING FIVE

Z the POG - automatic

Sa'de to Candace over the top

LEX AT THE LINE

CP FT

SID, LINDSAY, ALEX, & DOM

COACH PAT

CANDACE

COACH PAT

SID AND LINDSAY

SHANNA AND CANDACE

LADY VOLS 83 STETSON 33

2005-11-20T19:19:00.000-05:00

It was a VERY SLOW start for our Lady Vols

But things got out of hand early for Stetson

EXCELLENT DEFENSE holds Stetson to 6 points in 15 minutes

ALEXIS FOR TWO!!!

Candace, Nikki, Sa'de, and Alexis

four of the six-pack !!!

CANDACE AT THE LINE

BEAUTIFUL FORM = BOTTOM

Score was 49 to 12 as the Lady Vols head to halftime

Starting LV's stand as the second team sits

during a late timeout

Stetson Women fought hard but were undermanned

Bridget Gordon looks over the bench in her tall hair and tall heels

HOME DEPAT is the new Stylish Look in Meanie Head wear-

and check out those pants !!!

Candace Parker became only the 10th Freshman to start her first game as a Lady Vol

Candace was high scorer with 19 points and selected Player of the Game. She came very close to making her first dunk as a Lady Vol late in the first half, reaching the rim with a layup.

There were some terriffic passes during the game. Two great assists that fed Sidney Spencer for easy inside buckets and helped her to the second most points of the game coming in strong off the bench. Alexis Hornbuckle was scintillating. Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood ran the team very well. It was an excellent effort by all the Lady Vols.

HOME TEAM: TENNESSEE 1-0

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

03 Parker, Candace..... f 6-10 0-0 7-9 6 4 10 0 19 2 0 2 3 25

55 Anosike, Nicky...... f 0-3 0-0 4-4 1 4 5 0 4 1 5 0 2 16

50 Fluker, Tye'sha..... c 1-6 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 1 2 1 1 1 1 17

05 Zolman, Shnna...... g 5-10 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 1 11 1 2 0 1 24

14 Hornbuckle, Alexis.. g 4-10 0-2 5-6 4 2 6 1 13 4 0 0 2 22

01 Spencer, Sidney..... 5-8 3-4 0-0 0 3 3 1 13 2 3 0 0 14

13 Redding, Dominique.. 3-6 2-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 8 0 2 0 1 11

15 WILEY-GATEWOOD,Sa'de 3-8 2-7 0-0 0 4 4 1 8 3 1 0 1 25

21 Moss, Lindsey....... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 2 0 2 0 11

33 Dosty, Sybil........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 14

44 Fuller, Alex........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 5 0 5 3 2 1 2 0 1 21

TEAM.Totals.............. 29-65 9-21 16-19 21 30 51 14 83 17 16 6 13 200

ALL CANDACE ALL THE TIME

2005-11-13T14:58:00.000-05:00

From ESPN the MAGAZINE

The LADY VOLS LOCKER ROOM

2005-11-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

Coast to Coast chart on the entrance wall
With every lady vol past (in Orange) and present (in White)

SEC Championship Trophies in the Lady Vols game preparation area.

The Olympic Gold Medal Jerseys of Holdsclaw and McCray

The GRADUATION POLE
A support where every Lady Vol that graduates signs her name.
Every Lady Vol Basketball Player that has spent four years at TENNESSEE has graduated.

Pictures adorn the walls in the halls

Whirlpools for sore muscles

Each individual locker has the name of the current Lady Vol and the names of every occupant who had prior use. There are lots of shoes.

Surrounded by GREATNESS

2005-11-09T16:03:00.000-05:00

Everywhere one looks in the Lady Vols Locker Room they are reminded of the tradition of greatness. It has to rub off on every player who is blessed enough to wear the Orange and White and Baby Blue of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers

Individual Award Winners

Olympians and All Americans

SEC Championship Teams

Picture of a packed house and more trophies in the rec room

The Recreation Area with pool table

The Television Lounge

The TV viewing area again

Z on the wall in the TV Room

White House visits pics and more trophies

Tour of the Lady Vols Offices

2005-11-09T15:22:00.000-05:00

The All Sports Trophy Wall

The O4 - 05 Lady Vols Team Pic on the wall in the hall

The Retired Jersey Cases

The National Championship Teams

Picture behind the office suite desk

Coaches picture in the office suite (Sorry about the flash Nicky)

The "SUMMITT COURT" dedication picture

The Inner Sanctum - Coach Pat Head Summitt's Desk and office

The Trophy Case with Six Sears NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Trophies

TENNESSEE 130 DALHOUSIE 40

2005-11-06T19:57:00.000-05:00

Slewbopper and CTH

2005-10-01T20:14:00.001-04:00

Delusional inbreds and Connecticut fans

Hey Slew
Make a fist with your right hand
Now put that fist on a stool with the thumb stuck straight up
Now position that fat house painter's ass directly over the thumb
Sit on it a rotate while you hold your breath

Invite CTH and DoggyDaddy over to watch
and wait for the phone to ring

let me know when you're ready for the call

2005-08-17T20:22:00.000-04:00

No TonyC Con Job for UConn

2005-07-21T00:16:00.000-04:00

The good news is the whole UConn team is back
The bad news is the whole UConn team is back (good or bad depends on point of view)

What's new? Maya Moore

2 Tahirah Williams JR. G 6-0
11 Ketia Swanier sr. G 5-7
13 J Fernandes so. G 5-9
14 Meghan Gardler so F 6-0
20 R Montgomery jr. G 5-7
24 Charde Houston sr. F 6-1
25 Mel Thomas sr. G 5-9
31 Tina Charles so. C 6-4
32 Kalana Greene jr. G 5-10
41 Kaili McLaren so. F 6-2
44 Brittany Hunter sr. C/F 6-3
51 Cassie Kerns So. C/F 6-3
x Maya Moore FR F 6-0
XX Lorin Dixon FR G 5-8

Here's the minutes played and scoring average vs that schedule we know so well in 07

20 MONTGOMERY 31.6 13.3
31 CHARLES, 23 12.7
24 HOUSTON, 26 12.5
32 GREENE, 29 12.4
25 THOMAS, 31 10.5
44 HUNTER, 9 5.6
11 SWANIER, 22 5.3
41 MCLAREN, 12.5 3.6
02 WILLIAMS, 8 1.8
14 GARDLER, 8 1.3
51 KERNS, 5 0.7

This is the team that hasn't been to a Final Four in three years. This is the team that lost at home to Tennessee, lost at UNC, and got beat in the Big East Finals by Rutgers and was tromped by LSU by 23 in the West Regional finals. Good news is these were the 4 teams in last year's final four. The bad news is LSU and Rutgers are the same once again and the Lady Vols should be improved.

UNC's loss of Little and Latta could give UConn the place they desire in last of the big dance. But UNC won't be that bad and Maryland and Duke will be out for that spot too along with Stanford.

Charles and Hunter give UConn a 6'4 6'3 frontline with Kerns at 6'3 and McLaren at 6'2 and that's it for height. They started Charles and Houston at 6'1 last year with Greene, Thomas, and Montgomery. The UConn fans seem to think Moore may be a starter sometime in the season instead of Thomas or Greene. But Moore will have to add something that Greene or Thomas or Houston aren't providing to make an improvement. This UConn team has been pretty productive and there is no obvious weak link with this balance.

Balanced scoring is an understatement. The top scorer Montgomery at 13.3 and Thomas the 5th at 10.6 sandwich three at 12 ppg. Montgomery was a 31 percent 3 point shooter with 46 of 148. Thomas was 87 of 205 for 42 percent. Thomas averaged 3 of 7 vs teams ranked below 80 in the RPI early in the season and only 2 of 6 in the NCAA tournament late in the season. Thomas causes a good deal of dissent among UConn fans. Her 3 pt. percentage is slightly better than her 2 point shooting but both are over 40%.

Hunter and Charles have the best shooting percentages on the team. But given the 14 games vs below 100 RPI teams it's tough to know how effective they are when playing the better post defenders. Charles went 0 for 5 vs LSU's Fowles in the final game.

Montgomery was the 2nd best player on Alexis Hornbuckle's HS team and is the leading scorer for the Huskies.

As long as Connecticut is playing sub-100 teams they should have no trouble continuing to rack up wins by large margins. They can probably continue to take 2 out of 3 from Rutgers. It will be interesting to see how UConn does vs LSU and UNC this year. They should have good shot vs UNC at home. LSU will be a different matter knowing what they know from this past year. But UConn should find themselves with an easy one seed this season.

Without the trip to Tennessee they stand a good chance of being undefeated if they can get by LSU and UNC. The rest of the schedule looks easy except for Rutgers. Could RU take 2 of 3 this year?

We can hope for a National Championship match up with UConn. It would be sweet to meet them with the stronger team for a change so we can end that 0'fer 4 talk. But UConn will have to get past LSU or RU or Md or 2 of the 3 in the NCAA for that to happen.

________________________________________________________________________

additional comment after reading the Boneyard.

TonyC and the UConn faithful are going on and on about the 3 Players of the Year - Hunter, Charles, and Moore and how that makes UConn THE team to beat and THE best team in the country. For Moore to have any impact she will take minutes from one of the 5 starters who are part of the balanced scoring attack. For Dixon to have any impact she has to take time from the top scorer Montgomery and her back up Swanier. TonyC has her making a big impact. How's that gonna happen?

Is McLaren improved? How will we ever know? Does she take minutes from Charles or Hunter or Houston.

Will Charles be a much stronger player following her shoulder surgery? I thought she was plenty strong last year except against Fowles or Vaughn. She shot 60%, led the team in rebounds and had only 67 turnovers which was 4th on the team. What more could one ask of Charles? Charles played only 11 minutes vs TN and 13 vs UNC Hunter played 19 and 18. She played 30 in the loss to RU scoring only 8 points while Hunter played on 3 minutes and went 0 fo 5 in 21 minutes vs LSU in the last game while Hunter played but 6. So Charles got more time on the court as Hunter lost time as the season progressed. Sure Charles will improve and get more time than Hunter. She still has to score over Vaughn, Fowles, or Anosiki/Cain/Parker/Baugh to help UConn take a National Championship.

Is Moore's time going to come from Greene? Greene was the big bright spot for UConn last year. She was a 50% shooter and the third best rebounder after Houston and Charles. Is Moore going to out do that as a freshman? Sure Moore will be another fine option for the Huskies on a team of fine options. I don't see her having Candace Parker impact on that team. Candace averaged 31 minutes and 17 ppg her first season on the court at Tennessee. There is no way that happens with Maya. There just isn't room in the lineup for those minutes. Last years starting rotation will do fine vs the typical early season UConn cupcakes so she won't be needed to win. Maybe she blows Greene or Thomas out of the lineup by out working them in practice?

So the Players of the Year? Well it's either Charles or Hunter on the court not both and Moore has to play her way in to the lineup over productive starters. There are 14 players on the UConn roster and everybody has to take a cut in playing time to fit Moore and Dixon into the lineup. That's not a recipe for great chemistry. Nobody likes to improve their game and get less playing time.

Tennessee has 42 minutes to fill and four freshmen of 10 players. That's going to be one happy team because nobody has to play much less than last year for everybody to get good court time.

LADY VOLS FAN DAY PICTURES

2005-04-25T04:47:00.000-04:00

ALEX FULLER

ALEXIS HORNBUCKLE

CANDACE PARKER

NIKKI ANOSIKI AND DOMINIQUE REDDING

NIKKI ANOSIKI

SA'DE WILEY-GATEWOOD

SHANNA ZOLMAN

SIDNEY SPENCER

SYBIL DOSTY

TYE'SHA FLUKER

FAN DAY AUTOGRAPH SESSION

2005-04-23T19:46:00.000-04:00

The tables were set - awaiting the team

We did not have to wait long until they arrived in LV Blue

They took their places and the signing began

Sidney and Alex were the first in line

followed by Abbey who was left alone by camera shy Tyler

Then Nikki and Dominique

Then Alexis and Candace and Candace and Candace (so photogenic)

Then Shanna and Tye'sha

Sybil and Coach Dean Lockwood

Coach Nicky and Coach Holly

And only the GREATEST COACH IN WCBB HISTORY

If anyone would like a copy of any of these pictures by
e-mail - leave me a message in a reply and I will be happy
to send them to you.

FAN DAY'S GREATEST HIT

2005-04-23T14:38:00.000-04:00

What could cause everyone to turn their attention to one thing?

Even the President of the University John Peterson?

What could make Tye and Shanna break out such big smiles

What could make Candace and Alexis totally crack up

What could bring a grin this big to Nikki's face - Dom de Dom Dom Dom

What could make Sa'de react like this

And make Sybil blush?

And cause Shanna to glow

And Nikki to grin?

None other than our own Real Tall Shorty and PrimaDonnaNot

with their special verses of song for each and every player

They were clearly the hit of the Fan Day show
aside from the team and the coaches
They were even interviewed by Maria
and filmed for TV.

Congratulations RTS & PDN - You made the Fan Day fun for all.
Thank you

A TRIP TO THE FINAL FOUR

2005-04-04T22:05:00.000-04:00

We left Knoxville at 9am and arrived in INDY at 2pm

On our arrival in Indy we made our way to Champps
The Tennessee Pep Rally Bar at Washington & Illinois

It was impossible to miss the Sea of Orange outside

The band and the cheerleaders entertained the crowd outside

Under the Indianapolis Artsgarden

The inside was so packed it was difficult to move
Our party of 5 won two of the doorprize drawings
Mine was an autographed Pat Summitt 880 wins poster

Inside we had lots of Volunteer Celebrities !!!!

after the rally we made our way past the State Capitol

Down a street lined in Orange & White under the Final Four banner

The street was named TENNESSEE WAY

We followed it to the intersection of Tennessee Way & Michigan State

Orange Clad fans waited to enter the RCA Dome

Lining up and

Getting In - the security staff was very plesant & they allowed cameras
without having to smuggle them in!!!

The USUAL SUSPECTS were there!!!!

along with EmsterCA(shown here in the hat) & friends

The RCA Dome was split with these temporary stands
This is a horrible venue - the acoustics made it impossible to hear much
from the temporary stands. The sound system sucked.

My seat (after moving down 20 rows) was the best seat in the house.
I was 8 rows behind the press with a better viewing angle.

T.O. was in the House - sitting a row in front and 3 seats away.
He spent some of the game with an O & W shaker on his head
while waving another wildly.

COME BACK TOMORROW FOR A REVIEW OF THE GAME

880 and looking for 884 this year.

2005-03-23T13:54:00.000-05:00

Today's Knoxville News Sentinel Front Page

The front page of the KNS Sports Section

The South stands at TBA - a part of the 13,000 witnesses to history

95% or so of the fans stayed for the presentation ceremony for
Coach Summitt. They had to wait for a long TV interview with no audio
in the arena. Bad planning on the part of ESPN2 and the NCAA.
None the less we waited patiently in honor of Coach Summitt and her
magnificent accomplishment. A great time was had by all.

A great picture of Pat and her extended family
from the Official Tennessee Lady Vols Website

879 Ties a Record and so does Z.

2005-03-20T23:52:00.000-05:00

CRISPY at TBA with Pom Pom Man, PrimaDonnaNot, Aceland, & Real Tall Shorty
Aurabass's Mom thanks Crispy for the Z and Hornbuckle Pins!!!!!

Meanie Heads practice looking MEAN

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 28 Z's for Shanna Zolman
who ties her own game high record
and the Z signs were out all night.

Pom Pom Man demonstrates the reversed Z.

SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP in Greenville SC.

2005-03-07T14:41:00.000-05:00

LADY VOLS are SEC CHAMPIONS!!!!!

First Auburn

Then Vandy

RTS & PDN Gettin Sidney Wit It

TIKI BOB'S was Lady Vols Pep Rally Headquarters

Lady Vols Athletic Director Cronan & UT President Peterson at Tiki Bob's

Our ex-of-UCONN UT President Peterson leads the cheers!!!

Former Alumni Assoc Presidents Bozeman & Lashlee confer with Pres. Emeritus Boling at Tiki Bob's

Howard Bozeman - oldest living UT Alumni President(86) & Torchbearer wife Barbara enjoy the festivities at Tiki Bob's (my parents)

Dr. Boling, T.O. Lashlee, Howard & Barbara Bozeman, and John Fugate watch Dr. Peterson lead the cheers.

Tiki Bob's had Big Orange Crowds dancing inside.

Singing Rocky Top outside

Big Shanna fan's dancing with Smokey

Everybody had a great time

Greenville was a great place on a beautiful weekend
It could not have been better. An SEC Championship
Great restaurants & a beautiful setting.
The unique suspension bridge over Reedy Falls in downtown Greenville.

Howard & Barbara Bozeman on the bridge over the Reedy River

Reedy Falls and the park

Up stream on the Reedy River from Main Street

Main Street in Greenville - 10 blocks of restaurants and shops

The Westin Poinsett - Team hotel for the SEC Champion Lady Vols on Main

Pandemonium in the Bi Lo Center
TENNESSEE WINS

A Foot "touching" the Line

2005-03-06T17:38:00.000-05:00

AN EXPERIMENT IN TOE TOUCHING PHOTOGRAPHY

Left angle is from a location approximating center court above and behind the line
Center angle is directly above the shoe.
Right angle is from in front of the shoe.

The shoe and the "line" remained in exactly the same positions.

Cameras and angles obviously can make a foot look like it is touching a line when it is not.

STOP THE PRESSES - I FOUND MY DVR RECORDED A REPLAY OF THE BAMA-LSU TOE JAM AT HALFTIME OF THE AUBURN UT GAME. HERE ARE THE PICS.

Three screen shots of the toe "touching" the line in three resolutions.
The camera that caught this shot was in front of the foot.
It was at wide angle.
I shot a digital picture of the DVR image on my SONY WEGA HD TV.
This is the exact size of the image on the 36" Sony

Notice the way the line bleeds and the black shoe bleeds.(adjacent pixels contain some of the black color and shadow)
This is very very close but I discern a miniscule space between the shoe and the line in the picture. On the HD TV it is more distinct.
The SEC quarter finals were not shot or broadcast in High Definition. This means the resolution is less than half as good as high definition.

Note the shadow/bleed in front of the right shoe.
Between the shadow, the bleed, and wide angle of the camera shot it is almost impossible to tell. It was that close.

I think that's a ridiculous difference for officials to make a call that decides a game.

In the UCONN-Rutgers BEast Championship a similar call was made.
This time I was able to watch the same replay the officals saw on that ridiculously small monitor on my 36" Sony in High Definition from the ESPNHD feed on cable.

On my monitor it was clear that the toe was NOT touching the line.
The officials said it was and called it a 2 point shot.
They were clearly wrong.
I don't know if their monitor was High Def or not but if officials are going to review this "touching" the line stuff that closely they should have adequate monitors on which to view the proximity of the foot to the line.

Read the responses from officials on The Officiating Forum and this thread on The SUmmiTT for more views on this controversy.

Thanks to the good folks at the excellent WOMEN'S HOOPS WEBLOG for the link.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN - in the SEC Men's Tourney
South Carolina hit a 3 to tie the game.
The officials consulted this tiny monitor:

and decided they couldn't tell for sure it was a three
and called the game for Ole Miss

post your comments below.

SEC Brackets and Picks

2005-02-27T20:31:00.000-05:00

FIRST ROUND - Thursday, March 3
Game 1 #8 Florida vs. #9 Alabama 1:00 p.m.
Game 2 #7 Auburn vs. #10 Kentucky 3:15 p.m.
Game 3 #5 Ole Miss vs. #12 South Carolina 7:00 p.m.
Game 4 #6 Mississippi State vs. #11 Arkansas 9:15 p.m.
SECOND ROUND - Friday, March 4
Game 5 #1 LSU vs. Game 1 winner 1:00 p.m.
Game 6 #2 Tennessee vs. Game 2 winner 3:15 p.m.
Game 7 #4 Georgia vs. Game 3 winner 7:00 p.m.
Game 8 #3 Vanderbilt vs. Game 4 winner 9:15 p.m.
SEMINFINALS - Saturday, March 5
Game 9 Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner 7:00 p.m.
Game 10 Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 winner 9:15 p.m.
FINALS - Sunday, March 6
Game 11 Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner 7:00 p.m.

My picks -
Alabama over Florida
Without Mosby on the Florida roster Alabama has an excellent chance for an upset

Auburn over Kentucky
Auburn took Kentucky by 15 on Feb 13 and Kentucky has lost 6 or their last 7 games

Ole Miss over South Carolina
This one reqires no explanation

Miss State over Arkansas
Miss St lost at Arkansas by 12 in January but they have won three of their last four games and played pretty well at Tennessee on Senior night. Arkansas has lost 4 straight and 6 of their last 7 SEC games

Alabama vs LSU
LSU easily

Auburn vs Tennessee
Tennessee in a good game

Ms State vs Vanderbilt
MS State in a mild upset to insure an NCAA bid. They took Vandy to OT and won 3 of their last four.

Ole Miss vs Georgia
Georgia wins

Tennessee over MS. State in the semi-finals
LSU over Georgia

TENNESSEE MEETS LSU in the Finals.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Freshman Finale

2005-02-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

Alexis Hornbuckle and Nikki Anosiki were a huge factor in the Lady Vols final season game at Alabama.

55 Anosike, Nicky...... c 6-8 0-0 7-8 4 0 4 3 19
14 Hornbuckle, Alexis.. 5-5 1-1 6-6 3 2 5 5 17

Anosiki's 19 and Hornbuckle's 17 were both game highs.
Hornbuckle was named Player of the Game and she was perfect shooting.
Alexis even used all of her fouls.

With three top freshmen out for the season and sophomore Sidney Spencer joining them on Knoxville Kneedy row it was comforting to see that Nikki and Alexis have the ability to step up their games to this level.

Alabama shot extremely well in the second half to keep the game interesting (57%)
It was Senior night and their coach Rick Moody was on the bench for the last time in Tuscaloosa.

Sa'de Smiles

2005-02-25T14:16:00.000-05:00

SA'DE SMILES

Awhile back in an interview Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood was asked what she missed most about California and home. Among the familiar family and friends and eternal sunshine she listed her favorite food; Hamburgers from the IN-N-OUT BURGER

As a resident of Redondo Beach and San Pedro California for a number of years I too developed an affinity for the IN-N-OUT Burger. When Sa'de's tendonitis flared up again I decided to do something for her.

I e-mailed the IN-N-OUT 'contact us' site telling them about Sa'de and how she missed them. To my great surprise someone called me back within the hour.

IN-N-OUT mailed me a 'care package' containing wrappers, bags, logos and other IN-N-OUT stuff with a nice letter wishing Sa'de a speedy recovery. I gave the package to Sa'de last night after the Mississippi State game along with a copy of the picture above taken at Boost-Her Night last fall.

I told Sa'de that it wasn't as good as the real thing but when she gets burgers in Knoxville she can put them in the IN-N-OUT wrappers and bags and pretend.

I was rewarded with a hug and a huge Sa'de smile.

I've been smiling all day.

Thank you Can I open a franchise in Knoxville?

MeanieHeads on Senior Night

2005-02-24T23:20:00.000-05:00

As the teams left the court for half-time

The Brain Trust looked decidedly discontent

But the MeanieHeads - wearing Senior Jerseys - put the Mean Mojo on
and helped motivate the Lady Vols to a 22 point win over Mississippi State

MeanieHeads anonymous possibly represented by
LongTallShorty
Oaknot
CTKell
Ellvaceland
BackSeatGrumpy
JollyParton
CrispyWhit
RefLisa Readabook
and AuraBob among others.

The names have been changed to protect the public.
.

Camp Summitt - not roughing it

2005-02-24T13:48:00.000-05:00

The barbecue pit/kitchen is behind the garage type door to the right.
The top opens up and the bottom is a counter/bar. The area just to the left with the huge fire place is for eating and partying.
To the left the doors lead in to the Home Theater and media room.

The area to the far left has sleeping accomodations for the entire team.
To the right is the entrance and bathroom facilities.
The hot tub is in the foreground next to the pool.

This is the state of the art media room under construction.
Sound and video are also routed in to the party/picnic area outside and to poolside.

Pat's home is across the way from this building and both the home and Camp Summitt are on the lakeshore. It's a one of a kind facility that sets UT apart from everyone.

Pat and her husband spent a great deal of money to build this addition to share with the team.

NEARING CRUNCH TIME

2005-02-20T13:14:00.000-05:00

As the season speeds toward the conference tourney's and the NCAA's excitement builds. Everything that has gone before is simply prelude to this wonderful time of year.

The WCBB message boards are heating up:
Visit THE SUMMITT
THE BONEYARD
or the ESPN WCBB boards to join in the fun.

A new forum has been opened at VOLUNTEERS FOR AMERICA for WCBB fans of every team. This is a 'free-for-all' board where no posts are deleted although some may be moved to SMACK CITY or NEVER NEVER LAND if they run afoul of the 'serious smack and flame rule' and contain profane, racial, sexist, or over the top personal attacks. Anyone who wants to make a fool of themselves is welcome to mix it up on VFA.

Posts from negative fans like BackSeatLimogirl are welcomed as long as they understand that the gloves come off of those who oppose them as well. It's not for the faint of heart.

We look forward to a great run at the National Championship for the Lady Vols.
Pat Summitt has done her usual superb job getting the team ready for the push to the Championship.

Rubick's Vols

2005-02-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

Starting 5's for the Lady Vols this year

SPEECHLESS !!!!!!

2004-12-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

Dook Devil Blues

2004-12-03T01:52:00.000-05:00

The Five in a line "offense"

At least there is ONE thing we can count on
Miss Automatic at the line.

Players and the sitters go their separate ways

Can anybody figure this out??
From "They call yeller bammers the crimson lied; call me dookin blues":

Got the Dook Devil Blues
Miss this shot and we lose
We can't take more bad news
Got the miserable Dook Devil Blues.

At least the Cheerleaders looked good

Christmas lights shine on the Tennessee River
Best view of the night.

A Work of Art .... UT 71 - GWU 41

2004-11-24T05:08:00.000-05:00

Our Lady Vols in the Light

Sa'de & Candace ......... Sybil

The Sensational Shyra

Maria & Beanster with a friend

Ginko's Ablaze in the Light

Candace & Alex all smiles & Brittany at the Line

City Lights on the Tennessee River at Night from TBA

ESPN 2 Screen Shots from NCSTATE game

2004-11-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

The Super Six Freshmen

Candace in the Dunk Contest

Candace looks on

Injury Row

Move over Sid - we can't see

Lady Vols 77 - West Coast Allstars - 36

2004-11-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Autumn Afternoon outside TBA
The Ginko's were yellow
The Maples & the court were ablaze in Red and ORANGE
Dr. Boling was in attendance at the game.

Beanster & Fido's skinmom hard at work

Candace let's her hair down & was looking GOOD
Alex still on crutches

Warming up

Rugby Scrum?

Spreading the floor & creating space

Sid & Loree worked hard

We had tiny purple cheerleaders at halftime

Alexis suffered a scraped left arm and hand in the 2nd half.
The staff was partially through providing medical attention when WCA started bringing the ball upcout. Before the bandaid could be applied Alexis says "I've got to go!" and dashed back on the court.

Tye'sha, Nicky, Aubrey, Sidney, Loree, Candace, & Brittany look on as Coach Summitt coaches.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT IN THE "COMMENTS" SECTION
............ CLICK ON "COMMENTS" in the next line. Thanks

LV Basketball Time in Tennessee

2004-11-07T20:05:00.000-05:00

A few views of the November opener against Carson Newman

IT'S LADY VOLS BASKETBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE
Loree, Shanna, Shyra, Sidney, & Tye'sha prepare to take the court

Lady Vols on offense early in the game

With 15 on the bench it's hard to see Coach Summitt.

The view from Thompson-Boling after the 105 to 47 win.

Brittany Loree Nicky & Shanna

Alexis Dominique Shanna & Shyra

HOME TEAM: Tennessee 0-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Spencer, Sidney..... * 4-8 1-1 0-0 1 4 5 2 9 1 0 0 1 23
05 Zolman, Shanna...... * 3-5 2-3 2-2 2 2 4 1 10 2 0 0 3 19
21 Moore, Loree........ * 3-6 1-3 2-4 2 1 3 0 9 3 2 0 2 22
43 Ely, Shyra.......... * 9-14 1-1 1-3 1 6 7 0 20 2 1 0 0 26
50 Fluker, Tye'sha..... * 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 6 10 2 4 4 0 1 2 20
12 Canon, Abby......... 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
13 Redding, Dominique.. 6-7 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 13 0 1 0 0 12
14 Hornbuckle, Alexis.. 5-8 1-2 3-4 2 5 7 2 14 7 2 3 5 21
25 Jackson, Brittany... 5-9 3-4 1-2 1 1 2 1 14 1 0 1 1 19
31 Guastalli, Aubrey... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
33 Dosty, Sybil........ 4-5 0-0 0-1 3 3 6 1 8 1 0 2 1 10
55 Anosike, Nicky...... 1-3 0-0 2-5 1 2 3 5 4 4 1 2 2 20
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 42-73 10-18 11-23 19 36 55 15 105 26 7 9 17 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-36 50.0% 2nd Half: 24-37 64.9% Game: 57.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 55.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-12 50.0% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 47.8% 6

Special kudos to Dominique for her 6 for 7 shooting and 13 points in 12 minutes

Lady Vols edge LSU for Number one ranking

2004-11-04T05:44:00.000-05:00

From ESPN.com news services
The Southeastern Conference boasts three teams in the top five of the ESPN/USA Today preseason women's basketball poll released Wednesday: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 LSU and No. 5 Georgia.

The Lady Vols, who got 15 of the 40 first-place votes and 944 points, also were picked as the preseason No. 1 in the SEC's voting and in some "unofficial" preseason polls.

Just 10 points behind, LSU got 10 first-place votes to go with its No. 1 nod from SLAM, and Texas was right behind the Tigers at No. 3 with nine votes for the top spot. The Longhorns got the No. 1 nod in Athlon's preseason rankings.

Defending champion Connecticut got the remaining six first-place votes in the coaches' poll and is ranked No. 4. The Huskies topped the Lady Vols 70-61 in April to win their third straight national title.

Duke, Stanford, Baylor, Ohio State and Texas Tech round out the top 10, with the last two tied for ninth. The Buckeyes weren't ranked at the end of the 2003-04 season.

Notre Dame is No. 11, followed by North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Minnesota and Purdue. Interestingly, Vandy, which is ranked eight below Georgia by the national coaches, was the SEC's pick for preseason No. 3 over the Lady Bulldogs.

No matter how you stack the top teams, though, the SEC looks fully loaded.

Rankings: Week 1 Preseason
RANK TEAM RECORD PTS PVS
1. Tennessee (15) 0-0 944 2
2. LSU (10) 0-0 934 3
3. Texas (9) 0-0 908 10
4. Connecticut (6) 0-0 883 1
5. Georgia 0-0 2 6
6. Duke 0-0 7 5
7. Stanford 0-0 4 7
8. Baylor (688) 0-0 1 1
9. Texas Tech (555) 0-0 1 7
9. Ohio State 0-0 5
11. Notre Dame (483) 0-0 2 NR
12. North Carolina (472) 0-0 2 1
13. Vanderbilt (468) 0-0 1 3
14. Minnesota 0-0 5 4
15. Purdue 0-0 0 9
16. Michigan State 0-0 7 NR
17. Rutgers 0-0 4 NR
18. Boston College (259) 0-0 1 4
18. Kansas State (259) 0-0 1 5
20. DePaul (232) 0-0 2 5
21. Penn State 0-0 6 6
22. Louisiana Tech (165) 0-0 1 2
23. Maryland 0-0 3 NR
24. Arizona 0-0 7 NR
25. Oklahoma (139) 0-0 1 8

Freshmen at Boost-Her Night

2004-10-25T16:00:00.000-04:00

6 of the 7 - Sade had to go to class
Abby, Nicki, Alexis, Alex, Candace & Sybil

Nicki says she's put on 20 pounds of muscle and she loves the food in Tennessee

Nicki & Alexis witty and spirited

ALEX needs a little help from Candace without crutches

SADE SMILES

Cyber Stalker Alert

2004-10-22T09:23:00.000-04:00

Over the past days one particular long time participant here on ESPN has adopted a string of identities and used them to post messages on the NCAA Women's Basketball board and on my profile wall. These messages have included personal attacks and vulgarities and the moderators removed them at my request.

The screen names involved are Slewbopper, Bauraass, and now Nameredacted - not much problem with those - I can handle them but Thursday evening 11/1 this poster used my real last name followed by _bass as yet another ESPN identity.
Again today 11-6 he used my real names (first and last) in two posts on a thread that has now been removed from the board by the moderators.

'Slewbopper' and I had become acquainted here some 4 years ago and even exchanged email after becoming friends of sorts. He also posted on The SUmmiTT under the screen name CTWhitey having been banned from posting on the Boneyard - or so he said. One night he posted a completely offensive rant on The SUmmiTT in what he later revealed was a drunken stupor. At that point I broke off all communication with him and later made it plain that I think interaction between UConn and Tennessee fans on The SUmmiTT is a bad idea to be avoided for the time being until the animosity over the cancellation is in the distant past.

Over the past months I have ignored his presence on the ESPN NCAA Women's Basketball board and on The SUmmiTT where he uses the identity BoldBidder. Evidently that has enraged him and he has now launched a series of personal attacks and rants at an alarming rate.

Once he decided to bring my real identity into the situation he crossed a line that I can no longer ignore. Slewbopper approached that line twice in the past addressing me by my first name instead of the screen name adopted for the internet. The use of my last name Thursday night was the final straw and I reported the situation to ESPN. Slewbopper aka Bauraass aka Nameredacted is the same person and I am urging him to cease and desist from using any part of my real identity on the internet.

To use private information gained from friendship as an attack on a public message board is the lowest form of behavior. I have refrained from answering or replying to 95% of the posts by Slewbopper for months now. His use of multiple identities is transparent. I was completely open to coexistence without contact, but Slewbopper has some ax to grind and simply will not leave it alone. It would be good if he would and we could continue to ignore each other. It seems he cannot abide by the simple rules of common decency suffering the absurd notion that anyone would find it acceptable to post private real identities of message board posters as an act of revenge.

The Candace Parker Archive

2004-09-09T16:18:00.000-04:00

Parker named top prep player:

ATLANTA -- Tennessee recruit Candace Parker has been selected as the 2004 Naismith Prep Basketball Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday. Parker helped lead Naperville Central High School to its second consecutive Illinois Class AA State Championship with a 33-2 record. Naperville Central won all 24 games she played, finishing the season with a total of 30 straight wins.

Parker Wins Dunk Contest

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. -- There are moments, stunning indelible moments, that transcend sport, crumble barriers and create icons.

There's Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome in 1973. Brandi Chastain clinching the Women's World Cup in 1999. Annika Sorenstam teeing off at the Colonial last May.

Candace Parker's history-making victory in the 2004 Powerade Jam Fest will be aired
On Monday night, in a cozy high school gymnasium southeast of Oklahoma City, a 17-year-old high school senior named Candace Parker turned in the latest moment. Parker beat out five male competitors to win the Slam Dunk contest of the McDonald's High School All-American Game.

She won with aplomb, too, darting down the left side of the lane, covering her eyes with her left arm and flushing home a right-handed dunk. At 9:06 p.m. CT, Parker sparked a raucous ovation, chest bumps from her teammates and officially launched herself as the female answer to LeBron James.

The Next Great Thing?

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Since the day she dunked as a lanky 15-year-old sophomore, Candace Parker has lived with the lofty expectations of becoming the next big name in women's basketball.

So far, she's living up to them.

"Candace has the chance to be the greatest female player on the planet. I really believe that," said Andy Nussbaum, her coach at Naperville Central High School in suburban Chicago.

Welcome to the Lady Vols Weblog

2004-04-20T10:45:00.000-04:00

The AV system at casa aurabass

2004-01-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

On the Right from top black box
1)Onkyo Integra DTR 7.2
2)Sony 400 DVD Changer/Player
3)Comcast/Motorola DVR (silver box)
4)JVC S-Video Recorder
5)Carver amp for Right Ribbon HF
5)Kenwood 1000 amp for Right 8" Mid-bass
On the Left from top
1)Dual Cassette recorder
2)Sony 300 Disk CD player
3a) Carver amp for left Ribbon HF (behind keyboard for data entry to Sony DVD & CD changers)
3b) Nakamichi 200 Disk CD changer
4) Kenwood 1000 amp for left 8" Mid Bass
5) Fostex Amp for Subwoofer under SONY WEGA Monitor
The center channel speaker (open) is amplified by the Onkyo Integra
The AMD 2000 Windows XP computer is on the left
The monitor for the computer is in the foreground.

Computer room left to right
Monitor for photoshop/photopaint internet computer
Monitor for Pinnacle Video Editing computer
Video monitors for VCR and post capture
Monitor for Video Capture computer