Texas vs Gonzaga 3/29/24 Sweet Sixteen

The distance from Spokane, WA to Portland, OR is 350 miles or so. That would make it like a 5 hour drive. So, that would be like driving from Austin to OKC which is 390 miles. Would folks be claiming Texas had a home court advantage if this game were being played in OKC ? Doubtful.

While I do think Gonzaga will have a lot of fans in Portland, I'd rather be facing them there than UConn in Albany, NY. In 2026, one of the regionals will be in Fort Worth; if things continue to progress with our program as expected, we get to play there. I doubt Vic will be complaining then; so, probably best not to complain now.
 
Moooooo said:
The distance from Spokane, WA to Portland, OR is 350 miles or so. That would make it like a 5 hour drive. So, that would be like driving from Austin to OKC which is 390 miles. Would folks be claiming Texas had a home court advantage if this game were being played in OKC ? Doubtful.

While I do think Gonzaga will have a lot of fans in Portland, I'd rather be facing them there than UConn in Albany, NY. In 2026, one of the regionals will be in Fort Worth; if things continue to progress with our program as expected, we get to play there. I doubt Vic will be complaining then; so, probably best not to complain now.
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Good thing is, as Vic said, we recently got prepped in Kansas City for what we may experience in Portland. I am an eyewitness to that environment in KC. The only time anyone, other than our own fans, cheered for us were some of the KSU fans when we played KU. Other than that we were never the crowd favorite, and that tournament was well-attended.
 
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Moooooo said:
The distance from Spokane, WA to Portland, OR is 350 miles or so. That would make it like a 5 hour drive. So, that would be like driving from Austin to OKC which is 390 miles. Would folks be claiming Texas had a home court advantage if this game were being played in OKC ? Doubtful.

While I do think Gonzaga will have a lot of fans in Portland, I'd rather be facing them there than UConn in Albany, NY. In 2026, one of the regionals will be in Fort Worth; if things continue to progress with our program as expected, we get to play there. I doubt Vic will be complaining then; so, probably best not to complain now.
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When the higher seed is traveling 2,000+ miles, I think Vic still has a legit gripe. Four regionals where each one seed gets closest location makes much more sense which is what Vic wants to return to. Two regional locations in order to improve attendance might make some sense IF you didn’t put them in the extreme northwest and northeast.
 
WCBBNUT said:
When the higher seed is traveling 2,000+ miles, I think Vic still has a legit gripe. Four regionals where each one seed gets closest location makes much more sense which is what Vic wants to return to. Two regional locations in order to improve attendance might make some sense IF you didn’t put them in the extreme northwest and northeast.
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So, the northwest and northeast should be never get to host? And, schools located in those areas should always be forced to travel further just because they are not centrally located?

They rotate. Birmingham, AL will get one next season. Fort Worth will get one the year after that.

My gripe is 3 consecutive years in northwest cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Spokane.

Would Vic be complaining if Gonzaga weren't our upcoming opponent? We're luck it's not Oregon State in Portland.
 
This is going to be tough. I was hoping Utah beat Gonzaga but we’ll be ready. Going to be tough because Gonzaga does a great job of getting their shooters open so we are going to have to rotate well. My biggest concern is their big who shoots like 38% from beyond the arc. Going to need Gaston to hedge and get back immediately!!
With that being said this game will be on Moore and Booker again. There will be a lot of one on one opportunities for Moore in the paint we just have to finish at the rim.
 
Good afternoon Horn Fans,

A Gonzaga Alum checking out the competition's message board before Friday's game.

Thanks to the posters posting that Portland is 350 miles away from Spokane. People outside the State of Washington seem to think every other city in Washington is a suburb of Seattle.

The Lady Zags, to the best of my knowledge have never played in the Moda Center. They play one game a year at the University of Portland - The Chiles Center which is located on the Pilots campus.

The Zags and Horns have two opponents in common this year, Alabama and Arizona. Both teams won both games. You beat Alabama 65-54 at home last week and we beat Alabama in Katy, Texas 68-58 in November. You beat Arizona 88-75 in Tucson in December and we beat Arizona a week later at a neutral site in Arizona 81-69.

If you have any questions about the Zags, give me a shout out, I'll be around most of the day.

ZagDad
 
Thomas R. Gerard said:
Good afternoon Horn Fans,

A Gonzaga Alum checking out the competition's message board before Friday's game.

Thanks to the posters posting that Portland is 350 miles away from Spokane. People outside the State of Washington seem to think every other city in Washington is a suburb of Seattle.

The Lady Zags, to the best of my knowledge have never played in the Moda Center. They play one game a year at the University of Portland - The Chiles Center which is located on the Pilots campus.

The Zags and Horns have two opponents in common this year, Alabama and Arizona. Both teams won both games. You beat Alabama 65-54 at home last week and we beat Alabama in Katy, Texas 68-58 in November. You beat Arizona 88-75 in Tucson in December and we beat Arizona a week later at a neutral site in Arizona 81-69.

If you have any questions about the Zags, give me a shout out, I'll be around most of the day.

ZagDad
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Thanks for visiting and commenting!

1. Do they treat the 3 as a major component of their offense?
2. I looked at the their NCAA stats ranking for assists and they are way down there. What does this imply? Players just pick their shots and there's no pass-pass-pass to look for an optimal shot?
3. What do you think the result will be?
 
They rotate. Birmingham, AL will get one next season. Fort Worth will get one the year after that. My gripe is 3 consecutive years in northwest cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Spokane. Would Vic be complaining if Gonzaga weren't our upcoming opponent? We're luck it's not Oregon State in Portland.

Understand the complaint, particularly with three NW cities in a row. However, if you really want to see some favoritism, look how many times the final four has been held on the West Coast the last 25 years.

ZagDad
 
racerx5908 said:
Thanks for visiting and commenting!

1. Do they treat the 3 as a major component of their offense?
2. I looked at the their NCAA stats ranking for assists and they are way down there. What does this imply? Players just pick their shots and there's no pass-pass-pass to look for an optimal shot?
3. What do you think the result will be?
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Here is some facts from WCC Sports concerning Gonzaga, I think your source for assists is a little off.

Gonzaga boasts a balanced and experienced offense with all five of its starters averaging 10 or more points per game and combining for 361 starts. The Zags' offense is 11th in the country (81.2 ppg).

Gonzaga ranks in the top eight in the nation in nine different categories: three-point percentage (2nd, 39.8%), assists per game (4th, 19.9 apg), winning percentage (3rd, 91.2%), scoring margin (5th, 21.1 ppg), free throw percentage (6th, 79.8%), three-pointers made (7th, 9.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, 1.50), field goal percentage (8th, 48.6%), and rebound margin (8th, 9.4 rpg).

Yvonne Ejim of Gonzaga earned Associated Press All-America honorable mention honors, announced last Wednesday. This is the second-straight year a Zag has garnered AP honorable mention accolades (Kaylynne Truong, 2023).

Ejim is currently on four additional award watchlists: Wade Trophy, Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year, Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year, and USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year. Ejim is ninth in the country in field goal percentage (60.8%) and her program record 275 made field goals is seventh in the nation.

Kaylynne and Kayleigh Truong combined for 10 assists in Gonzaga's 75-56 win over UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Kaylynne (2.4) and Kayleigh (2.38) rank 22nd and 24th in the nation, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio. Kaylynne is also 14th in the country in assists per game (5.9 apg).

Brynna Maxwell is fifth in the NCAA in three-point percentage (44.7%) and eighth in three-pointers made (93).

In answer to your questions, the Zags play inside out. When Ejim is playing the post, the guards and wings shoot over 40% from 3 and the forward shoots about 37% from 3. Your choice, double Ejim and hope they miss from outside or play face up on the outside and try and play Ejim straight up. Gonzaga typically averages an assist on 60-80% of their made shots.

Who will win? If Gonzaga scores fewer than 70 points (it has happened only 3 times this year) Texas will be favored. If the Zags score 70-75 points the game will be a toss-up and if the Zags score more than 75 points, they will win.

Thanks for the questions,

ZagDad
 
With the upward trajectory of the popularity of women’s basketball the NCAA hopefully will have the courage to go back to four Regional Sites. Spread them across the country.
Tara Van Derveer is now saying she prefers four sites as well. So she’s on the same page as Vic.
 
Moooooo said:
So, the northwest and northeast should be never get to host? And, schools located in those areas should always be forced to travel further just because they are not centrally located?

They rotate. Birmingham, AL will get one next season. Fort Worth will get one the year after that.

My gripe is 3 consecutive years in northwest cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Spokane.

Would Vic be complaining if Gonzaga weren't our upcoming opponent? We're luck it's not Oregon State in Portland.
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Vic’s complaint is that a one seed is traveling 2,000 miles and two time zones for the privilege of being a one seed. The 4 seed is traveling 350 miles. Obviously no matter where it is placed someone will have a geographic benefit. This isn’t just about fans, it’s also about the players who are traveling great distances. And the locations are set way in advance so I know this isn’t against Texas or for Gonzaga. Just worked out that way.

But you ignored what I actually pointed out. The move to 2 regional locations (from 4) was to have larger crowds. That doesn’t make sense if you then stick them in opposite sides of the nation. If larger crowds are your intent then airport hubs or four interior states makes much more sense: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Vegas, Dallas, Salt Lake all come to mind.
 
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WCBBNUT said:
Vic’s complaint is that a one seed is traveling 2,000 miles and two time zones for the privilege of being a one seed. The 4 seed is traveling 350 miles. Obviously no matter where it is placed someone will have a geographic benefit. This isn’t just about fans, it’s also about the players who are traveling great distances. And the locations are set way in advance so I know this isn’t against Texas or for Gonzaga. Just worked out that way.

But you ignored what I actually pointed out. The move to 2 regional locations (from 4) was to have larger crowds. That doesn’t make sense if you then stick them in opposite sides of the nation. If larger crowds are your intent then airport hubs or four interior states makes much more sense: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Vegas, Dallas, Salt Lake all come to mind.
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That's the way it's always been. Back in the 80's and 90's, Texas often hosted a regional (pre-determined sites) despite not being the #1 seed; didn't matter that a team like #1 seed Maryland had to travel 1,500 miles to Austin and face #2 seed Texas and its 10,000+ fans in attendance in its home arena.

Vic knows good and well how this all works, and has always worked. While "neutral" sites are the goal, they still have to sell ticket and get fans in the seats.
 
WCBBNUT said:
Sadly, Gonzaga is only 5 hours from Portland so this is not as neutral a match up as it should be.
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Very true. I’m likening it to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City where Ka
Moooooo said:
That's the way it's always been. Back in the 80's and 90's, Texas often hosted a regional (pre-determined sites) despite not being the #1 seed; didn't matter that a team like #1 seed Maryland had to travel 1,500 miles to Austin and face #2 seed Texas and its 10,000+ fans in attendance in its home arena.

Vic knows good and well how this all works, and has always worked. While "neutral" sites are the goal, they still have to sell ticket and get fans in the seats.
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I think Vic’s assertion is that since women’s basketball’s popularity has grown exponentially, it’s now time to revisit having only 2 regional sites.
 
hornsup1986 said:
I think Vic’s assertion is that since women’s basketball’s popularity has grown exponentially, it’s now time to revisit having only 2 regional sites.
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We're barely in the second year of this new format. When it's in Fort Worth in 2 years, I think we'll be hearing a different (silent) tune on the matter from our side.
 
First you have to look at the money situation. While the NCAA currently distributes about $613 million per year, for MBB March Madness, they only distribute about $35-$37 million per year for not only Wbb March but it also includes televising the championships of most other non-revenue producing sports. So under the current TV contract, Wbb March Madness is only earning about 5% of the TV revenue as the Mbb March Madness. ESPN and NCAA signed a new deal which goes into effect in 2025 where the money will be about $115 million per year for Wbb March Madness but it still includes a total of 21 women’s and 19 men’s sports, adding tennis, track and field, men’s gymnastics, the women’s Division II and III volleyball and basketball championships and the men’s DII and DIII basketball championships. So TV revenue for Wbbg March Madness and all of the other sports is worth about 20% of the current Mbb March Madness TV contract. The new ESPN deal runs for 8 years starting in 2025. A big improvement from the previous contract but still a long ways from the Mbb March Madness Contract. Wbb March Madness should probably been broken out from the sports and negotiated separately and not combined with the non-revenue producing sports.

The Wbb NCAA committee was tired of empty gyms when the host team was not present at first two rounds of the tournament, so to guarantee attendance, the top-16 teams were selected to host the first two rounds starting in 2015. To generate more interest in the Wbb tournament, they went from four, 4-team regionals to two, 8-team regionals starting last year. Initial comments by the NCAA committee seem to indicate the two, 8-team regionals were an improvement.

A recent interview with the head of the WBB NCAA Committee noted there were scheduled to discuss the current tournament layout after the 2025 tournament, but with the new TV package, they might revisit later this year.

That is all I know,

ZagDad
 
You’re right. Vic is a whiner and nothing should ever be questioned or changed. We’re heading to Portland where we’ll beat Gonzaga. All good.
:beertoast:
 
WCBBNUT said:
You’re right. Vic is a whiner and nothing should ever be questioned or changed. We’re heading to Portland where we’ll beat Gonzaga. All good.
:beertoast:
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After about 40 post-seasons of always having 4 regionals sites, we're in year two of a 2-regional site format. "Change" finally happened.
 
After watching Vic 's presser I am ordering some of NRHorn"s Amazon burnt orange koolaid poppers.
Everyone can see why Vic's " kids"love playing for him.
To borrow WCBBNUT's phrase " it's All Good:hookem:
 
brnkj said:
They also ranked the "Top 25 Players" in the Sweet 16 and Madison was the only one named from Texas.
Let's go A-Mo!!!!
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Yep, A-Mo definitely should have been on the list over at least 3 other players. Well, at least Madison bumped up to No. 5.
 
Horn6721 said:
After watching Vic 's presser I am ordering some of NRHorn"s Amazon burnt orange koolaid poppers.
Everyone can see why Vic's " kids"love playing for him.
To borrow WCBBNUT's phrase " it's All Good:hookem:
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He is always complimentary of other coaches and the Big XII. I wouldn’t mind playing Baylor, Iowa State or KSU as non-conf games if they will come to Austin for national TV broadcasts. But not next year. Give us a rest for a year or two as we adapt and begin to dominate the SEC. Have no particular love for any of their fans and am boldly assuming we would win. Don’t think their coaches are afraid of us. So long as all are in the top 25, we would all benefit.
:hookem:
 
Moooooo said:
So, the northwest and northeast should be never get to host? And, schools located in those areas should always be forced to travel further just because they are not centrally located?

They rotate. Birmingham, AL will get one next season. Fort Worth will get one the year after that.

My gripe is 3 consecutive years in northwest cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Spokane.

Would Vic be complaining if Gonzaga weren't our upcoming opponent? We're luck it's not Oregon State in Portland.
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Tara, in her interview, makes a good point about how these sites are picked years in advance when no one knows exactly which team will be nearby. I agree with WCBBnut that major airport hubs would work best. I like the idea of 16 teams in Vegas, too. Next year, Tara will be traveling to the Eastern Time zone for ACC conference games, and with all the other conference rearranging, long and cross-country trips will be common for just about everyone. Also wonder how many more years Tara (or Geno) will want to continue coaching. It’s good, I guess, that there is growing interest in all parts of the country.
:bevo:
 
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Well. I’ve completed my relaxing mode (two rounds of golf). With only four hours until tip-off, I trust ya’ll have a good game plan for a Horns victory tonight. Oregon State wins, South Carolina looking good early. I’m picking NCState just because of Wes Moore and dislike of Tree. I’ve watched the Gonzaga coach in her presser and she’s impressive. I’d love for Zags to win in a different year. I’m feeling more confident than I was 3 days ago. I’m picking Horns by 6 with Gaston as the star. Gaston was sick last weekend and with her well now, she could be the player few are talking about. HOOK ‘EM
 
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