NOOOO!!!!
Somebody has to tell Amy that Prince only needs 2 Assists for a triple double!!!
Somebody has to tell Amy that Prince only needs 2 Assists for a triple double!!!
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WBB 2025-2026 Season Thread
- Thread starter BGRed
- Start date
The standing ovation for Callin was great. Regardless of the sport, Husker fans "get it" and appreciate what Husker athletes do.
Allison's coming back!! She's not being honored today.
Well, "I" didn't think USC would be a top team without Juju Watkins; but, the AP and Coaches certainly did.
Preseason polls aren't worth the digital "ink" they're produced with. Since we have men's and women's tournaments in basketball and playoffs in football, IMO we'd be better off if the AP and Coaches (or more accurately, the Sports Information Director at each school, who actually votes for the HC because the coach's got more important things to do) stopped doing the polls entirely. The coaches/SIDs and most AP voters don't have the time to watch as many games as they should because they're busy doing their jobs.
I think they're particularly bad in women's basketball. Or, well, maybe it's just ESPN and Charle Creme who is over reliant on them in terms of how he evaluates the strength of teams and conferences. It's difficult for a non-P4 team to get ranked in the preseason poll, never mind multiple non-P4 teams from the same conference, and that hurts both individual teams and non-P4 conferences all season.
I will probably always have a beef with ESPN and Creme, this year it's just a different one than my beef with them in years past. In years past, I think Creme's been "behind the curve" on the Huskers. This year I think he's been too generous with not only the Huskers but multiple P4 teams. IMO, because so many Big Ten and SEC teams were/are ranked, he's over valued the strength of those two conferences and given unranked and mediocre teams from those conferences better seeding than they deserve, pending the conference tournaments of course.
For example, he's got #19 Ole Miss as a #5 seed despite an 8-7 SEC record. Ole Miss shouldn't get more "credit" for most of those 8 wins, because only of them has come against a ranked SEC team. They do have some close SEC losses, but also got run over by Georgia (7-8 SEC), Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Florida just a few days ago. They've also got a bad OOC loss to KSU. IMO, they aren't the 19th best team in the country.
Perhaps the worst example is the team he predicts Nebraska will play in the tournament, 11-seed Mississippi State. MSU's 18-11, 5-10 in the SEC. They do have two good wins over then-#7 Kentucky and on the road at then-#15 Tennessee in January, but they're 2-7 against ranked teams overall, and have bad losses to Missouri, Florida and Texas A&M.
The SEC is probably the best conference in women's basketball overall, with 7 teams in the Top 25, plus Tennessee at #27/28 after being #21 last week, and multiple potential Final Four teams. The Big Ten is probably the 2nd best conference with 7 teams in the Top 25 plus USC at #34 and Illinois at #37 in the AP poll and Washington #39 in the AP, #31 in the Coaches Poll. But IMO that shouldn't mean their mediocre teams get in over a second team from non-P4 conferences like the A-10 [Rhode Island (25-4/16-2), George Mason (21-8/16-2) or Richmond (25-6/15-3)] or a second team from the Summit League [either ND State (26-3/15-1) or SD State (24-6/14-2).]
Overall, the NET gets it more correct than the human voters, albeit with a couple of outliers, Nebraska being one and Mississippi State being the other obvious one IMO. (FWIW, the fact the NET is a "proprietary machine learning algorithm" the NCAA won't make public is really annoying!)
According to the NET, Richmond (#37) SD State (#43), ND State (#45), Rhode Island (#47), James Madsion (#48, 23-8 overall in the Sun Belt) and Arizona State (#52) are tournament teams. Most of those teams won't make it. Creme doesn't even have JMU in his Top 76! Instead, he ranks teams like Colorado (#46 NET) in his Last Four In, and Utah (#55 NET) in his First Four Out. That list suggests he'd put Utah in before #43 SD State, #48 JMU and #52 ASU.
At least I don't have to disagree with Creme's U Conn bias this year. And, there are no regionals in the NE this year.
I've liked looking through the collection of sites that Massey gathers as it gives a little more objective look based on metrics. With many not updated regularly and ranges like Nebraska's #25-#43 range, it still shows how much of an inexact science seeding the teams can be.
I do find it interesting that the NCAA introduced the NET ratings as the maybe the primary tool; but, then seems quick to discount it when it results in Nebraska being ranked quite a lot higher than a team like Baylor.
Massey Ratings - College Basketball Women's Rankings
College Basketball Women's computer rankings and polls, weekly composite
masseyratings.com
FWIW - Nebraska is locked into the #12 seed and playing #13 Indiana as the first game of the Big Ten tournament. game is 2:30 Central time on Wednesday.
A win would move them to the #5 seed, which will be either Ohio State or Minnesota, assuming Ohio State holds onto a 23 point lead over Michigan State with 4 minutes to play in their game
A Minnesota win over Illinois would then give Minnesota the 4-seed and Ohio State the 5-seed. If Minnesota loses to Illinois, Minnesota is the 5-seed and Ohio State the 4-seed. So, either way, if Nebraska is to get to the semifinals on Friday night, they'll have to beat Indiana, Ohio State, and Minnesota.
I'm going to go out on a limb and pick an Illinois home upset of Minnesota... I'm probably more interested in the bracket than most because my wife (Iowa grad) and I will be attending the full tournament in Indy for the second straight year.
A win would move them to the #5 seed, which will be either Ohio State or Minnesota, assuming Ohio State holds onto a 23 point lead over Michigan State with 4 minutes to play in their game
A Minnesota win over Illinois would then give Minnesota the 4-seed and Ohio State the 5-seed. If Minnesota loses to Illinois, Minnesota is the 5-seed and Ohio State the 4-seed. So, either way, if Nebraska is to get to the semifinals on Friday night, they'll have to beat Indiana, Ohio State, and Minnesota.
I'm going to go out on a limb and pick an Illinois home upset of Minnesota... I'm probably more interested in the bracket than most because my wife (Iowa grad) and I will be attending the full tournament in Indy for the second straight year.
Well, I was wrong Minnesota held off a great effort from Illinois, winning 78-73. Our path changes only in the order of teams:
If we don’t beat Indiana, do we miss the NCAA Tournament?
I'm not sure. The NET has Nebraska at #25 and most of the very few available computer ratings systems have Nebraska in the 9-seed area (#34 on average).
Massey Ratings - College Basketball Women's Rankings
College Basketball Women's computer rankings and polls, weekly composite
masseyratings.com
So, if you look at the entirety of the season and the NCAA-preferred metric, it seems like they could lose the Indiana game and hold on to a spot. But, if you listen to Charlie Creme and also acknowledge that the team has not really looked good in the second half of the season (and finished 12th in an 18-team conference), I could also see making the case for a second team from the Atlantic 10 (Richmond/Rhode Island) or Summit League (So Dakota St/ No Dakota St) getting a shot.
By comparison, the NET and these computer rankings systems show Notre Dame at #24 in the NET and #30 on average, barely ahead of Nebraska. But, Creme has Notre Dame as a #6 seed. Nebraska also sits well ahead of Iowa State in the NET and slightly ahead on average; but, Iowa State is shown as a 9-seed by Creme (injuries played into some losses and they are healthy again).
I think Charlie has consistently undervalued Nebraska in the past and it seems to be showing again this season...even though I'd have an extremely hard time arguing that Nebraska is one of the top 25 teams in the country if you go purely by NET.
Yes.
Heading out to Indy shortly. Hoping to see a Husker win today!
In other news, the Big Ten All-Conference Women's Team was announced yesterday. I disagree with naming TEN players to the first team. Sure, there are probably ten great players worthy of being considered first team; but, you can only start five in basketball.
Husker honorees:
Britt Prince, Coaches Second Team & Media First Team
Callin Hake, Big Ten Women’s Basketball Sportsmanship Honorees
In other news, the Big Ten All-Conference Women's Team was announced yesterday. I disagree with naming TEN players to the first team. Sure, there are probably ten great players worthy of being considered first team; but, you can only start five in basketball.
Husker honorees:
Britt Prince, Coaches Second Team & Media First Team
Callin Hake, Big Ten Women’s Basketball Sportsmanship Honorees
If the Huskers lose this, I'm sorry but it's time for a coaching change.
Jeff Griesh is trying to sell this as "an Indiana vs. Nebraska thing" because a team has come back like this multiple times in the Nebraska/Indiana series.
The Huskers have collapsed multiple times against multiple teams this season. You'll lose Prince and the recruiting class but it's time to make a HC change.
The Huskers have collapsed multiple times against multiple teams this season. You'll lose Prince and the recruiting class but it's time to make a HC change.
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Up by 18 with 15 minutes to go against a team below you in the standings, and you can’t get to the finish line? So sad.
Edit: To be fair, only the other collapses on the season. Up by 10 against Oregon with 8!to play and lost. Up by 13 against Wisconsin and lost. A few other times they were competitive and then dropped at the end.
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