Lady Cards have clinched a spot in the ACCT

[PushupMan]

18 conference games and we have to finish in the top 15 to reserve our spot in the ACCT.

We are 5th place at 9-3, and 16th place is Pitt (2-9), plus we own the tiebreaker over the Panthers. We are officially in the ACCT at this point!

Still have work to do to lock down a first round bye, however. We need to be the 9 seed or higher, and the current 10th place is a 3-way tie between BC (W), UVA (W), and Clemson (?), all with a 4-8 record. Since we haven’t yet played Clemson, our magic number to clinch a first round bye currently sits at 2.

A home win against Clemson at the end of this month would clinch a top 9 seed for us, but we do have four games before that one - we could clinch even before we play that game.

It will be a major uphill climb to snag one of those top four seeds and a double bye (magic number of 8, with just 6 games left in the regular season), but it cannot be said that we do not control our own destiny with regards to that quest. Four of our remaining 6 games are against the current #1 seed (@ND), #3 (@FSU), #4 (@Duke) and #6 (UNC) in the ACC standings. We will need to win 5 of our last 6 to accomplish that goal.

 

[Bardman]

Tough sledding ahead.

 

[2330859]

Interesting finish for sure. UL has some advantages based on who we have left on our schedule, versus who some of the other ACC members must play.

 

[PushupMan]

The Cards fell just right today … got the W over Stanford to move to 10-3 in conference, and then BC, UVa, and Clemson all lost today, leaving Syracuse alone in 10th at 4-8. Since we own the head to head tiebreaker over the Orange, the Cards have clinched a first round bye in the upcoming ACCT!

 

[2330859]

The trip to FSU on Thursday is a huge challenge, but it’s also a great opportunity to steal some separation in the ACC standings.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I have no doubt that we will play really good the first 3 quarters, it’s the 4th quarter that kills us.

 

[PushupMan]

Big win for the Cards today at FSU! Moved us into 4th place with a decent chance at the ACCT double bye. Cards are now 11-3, and FSU falls to 6th place at 9-4. North Carolina is currently in 5th at 9-3. They lead Virginia Tech 42-38 in the 3rd quarter. Our magic number to clinch the ACCT double bye currently sits at 5 with 4 games to play.

If we can beat Clemson and North Carolina at home, our chances improve drastically. UNC has tough games against Duke and NC State left.

 

[PushupMan]

UNC gets the benefit of the home whistle and makes two free throws with 5 seconds left to knock off NC State 66-65. That was a big game that we wanted to go NC State’s way - would have helped a great deal in getting us that double bye.

 

[2330859]

We still have control of our own destiny, as we travel to Duke on Thursday before hosting UNC on Sunday. Pretty challenging scenario, but after going to Tallahassee and beating FSU …… I am much more encouraged now than just a few weeks ago. Some of these talented Freshman appear to be increasing their understanding of what Jeff is expecting from them.

 

[Mayoman]

Amazing how gaining experience makes such a huge impact on ones performance if they are coachable and desiring to improve..

 

[2330859]

Great point Mayoman!!! needed your reminder, as I was starting to give up on this season a few more weeks back, until I witnessed the confidence and performance increase with the freshman class kids. They are definitely getting more comfortable each game.

 

[ulcards1]

I like Coach Walz having some extra days to game plan Duke, who looks pretty athletic.

Sidenote-I love the way he gets the ball into Curry's hand at the end of games when we are leading. She's awesome at the line and you know the other team is trying to deny her.

 

[PushupMan]

Big win at Duke tonight! Cards move into a tie for 3rd with UNC at 12-3. Duke falls into a 2 way tie for 5th place with FSU at 11-4. Cards also now own the head to head tiebreaker over both Duke and FSU, so our magic number to clinch the double bye has been reduced to 2 with 3 games left to play in the regular season.

Big home game Sunday against North Carolina. Would be nice to win that and get the inside track on the 3-seed, so we don’t have to face Notre Dame in an ACCT semifinal. Go CARDS!

 

[KozmasAgain]

We have beaten 2 nationally ranked teams back to back on their home courts. So we should be ranked but if we are they will probably rank us at 25 with a question mark.

 

[ulcards1]

Georgia Tech is ranked 20th, we beat them like a drum and their non conference schedule was a joke.

 

[2330859]

I try to be as careful and as objective as possible when discussing ULWBB this season, as there were times when my own expectations early in the season were low. However, the media and coaches bring a level of hypocrisy when it comes to voting in the polls, as it becomes evident to me, that once a team like UL starts out poorly and drops out of the polls, there seems to be a reluctance to acknowledge that it might have been premature in writing them completely off, and equally slow to reconsider the improvement over the course of the season.

For e ample, it was a little strange to hear the ACC TV crew mention “how difficult Duke’s schedule was”, but failed to acknowledge that UL’s SOS is one of the most difficult in the country. When one considers our losses to ND, NCST, UK, UCLA, Oklahoma, and our wins over ranked GT, California, FSU and now Duke should be worthy of far more respect. For those who want to use that horrible beat down at home at the hands of NCST as justification for our ranking, I would defer you to what UConn did to the Gamecocks in Columbia SC as what can happen in one game.

UL teams in the past have been rewarded with favorable rankings and more than fair seeding in the NCAA tournament, so I do not think there is any prejudice towards UL, but I rather assign this to the pollsters focusing too much attention to early won/loss records and insufficient appreciation for SOS, and how a team like UL is trending towards the end of the season.

 

[Rollem Cards]

Over the years we have all seen high ranking and seeds go to hell at tournament time.

Personally, I prefer a hungry, dissed team. It makes a coach’s job much easier.

Plus, whoever draws us thinks, in the back of their mind, “they can’t be that good” if we’re not ranked. As mentioned above, how many times have we been beat as a higher seeded fav?

I remember One year when the MBB team was undefeated and Denny told a reporter “you can’t tell them anything. They’re undefeated and know it all”…..or words to that effect.

I’m happy where we are. But that’s just me.