03-17-2014, 05:13 PM
In some ways, being seeded 2 in our own regional is an advantage. When we were seeded 2 to Maryland in Candice's senior year we used that "slight" to fuel us and walloped them in Spokane. And if we win through to the sweet 16 and elite eight we will be playing at home. What difference would it make if we were a 1 seed playing South Carolina as a 2 seed or vice versa at home? No, I am not terribly broken up about the 2 seed in that regard.
The true costs of the 2 seed though is that we are being sent to Ames Iowa. Since Iowa State is a 7 and has to play at home, they have to play a 2. With Duke and Baylor as 2s locked in close to home that meant that the remaining 2s West Virginia and Stanford had to travel since the remaining 7s are both hosting--Iowa State and LSU. Once we were a #2 we had to go to either Iowa or to Baton Rouge.
In the first round we have the South Dakota State Coyotes, who we played in Mexico. That is a blessing that we already know them somewhat.Â
But to atone for losing to Washington and SC we will almost certainly have to defeat Iowa State on its home court. If we can do that, then it is back to Maples where we could play Penn State and South Carolina. Both of those teams are tough draws. South Carolina came within a couple points of defeating us last year, and Dawn Staley knows Tara and her system inside and out.
I think the selection committee simply decided that it was no longer going to concede anything to Stanford's reputation, and that we would really have to prove ourselves. No benefit of the doubt this year--maybe because we are hosting a regional, something that won't be allowed again. After all, we can't really complain that much about Iowa State having a home court advantage when we will be playing to create a similar advantage for ourselves. And how humiliating if we lost in Iowa and did not get to play in our own regional.Â
And, dare I say it, Charlie Creme was once again proven to be a true friend of Stanford--he overestimated our seeding and location as per usual.
The true costs of the 2 seed though is that we are being sent to Ames Iowa. Since Iowa State is a 7 and has to play at home, they have to play a 2. With Duke and Baylor as 2s locked in close to home that meant that the remaining 2s West Virginia and Stanford had to travel since the remaining 7s are both hosting--Iowa State and LSU. Once we were a #2 we had to go to either Iowa or to Baton Rouge.
In the first round we have the South Dakota State Coyotes, who we played in Mexico. That is a blessing that we already know them somewhat.Â
But to atone for losing to Washington and SC we will almost certainly have to defeat Iowa State on its home court. If we can do that, then it is back to Maples where we could play Penn State and South Carolina. Both of those teams are tough draws. South Carolina came within a couple points of defeating us last year, and Dawn Staley knows Tara and her system inside and out.
I think the selection committee simply decided that it was no longer going to concede anything to Stanford's reputation, and that we would really have to prove ourselves. No benefit of the doubt this year--maybe because we are hosting a regional, something that won't be allowed again. After all, we can't really complain that much about Iowa State having a home court advantage when we will be playing to create a similar advantage for ourselves. And how humiliating if we lost in Iowa and did not get to play in our own regional.Â
And, dare I say it, Charlie Creme was once again proven to be a true friend of Stanford--he overestimated our seeding and location as per usual.